HomeMy WebLinkAbout2012-06-20 PACKET 02.A.REQUEST OF CITY COUNCIL ACTION COUNCIL AGENDA
MEETING ITEM #
DATE 6/20/2012 • •
PREPARED BY Administration Ryan Schroeder
ORIGINATING DEPARTMENT DEPARTMENT HEAD
COUNCIL ACTION REQUEST
Presentation: Park High School Robotics Team.
SUPPORT 11"IG DOCUMENTS
® MEMO /LETTER: Memo from Ryan Schroeder.
❑ RESOLUTION:
❑ ORDINANCE:
❑ ENGINEERING RECOMMENDATION:
❑ LEGAL RECOMMENDATION:
❑ OTHER:
ADMINISTRATORS COMMENTS
Date
COUNCIL ACTION TAKEN: [ ❑ DENIED ❑ OTHER
Document2
VILY 11UI I III IIJII aLUI
City of
Cotta Grove
Minnesota
To: Honorable Mayor and City Council Members
From: Ryan R. Schroeder, City Administrator
Date: June 13, 2012
Subject: Park High School Robotics Team Presentation
14
On May 19, 2012, in their second year participating in the competition the Park High School
Data Bits Team 3883 took top honors in the statewide competition. Minnesota is currently the
state with the third largest number of robotics teams in the country at 153 teams (compared to
157 hockey teams within the state). Robotics is a sanctioned sport governed by the Minnesota
State High School League.
As a result of a qualifying round competition in Duluth, at which 64 teams participated, the
Data Bits team qualified for the statewide competition held at Williams Arena on the U of M
campus. The team is mentored by Mr. Jim Huber and the Park liaison is Bob Bergen. There
are as many as fifteen students with differing roles participating on the team. Those roles
include everything from engineering and math to business planning and safety.
The teams registered into the competition are provided a different challenge each year which
is followed by six weeks of building the robotics to address the challenge. This can result in
preparation time of approximately 30 hours a week by each team member over that six week
design and development period leading up to the various competitions. The 2012 challenge
included constructing a machine that could balance on a platform and shoot baskets into a
standard basketball hoop.
This after school hours sport is funded entirely from private third party sources. In support of
the team's $11,000 budget necessary to provide funds to get to the state competition funding
was received from 3M and JC Penny (which sponsors 500 teams across the country). The
team did not have enough funding in 2012 to compete at the national level.
The timing of the Park High School Data Bits success in 2012 is notably coincident given the
same year timing with the Cottage Grove launch of the Business Enterprise Center (BEC) later
this same year.
The team has provided demonstrations at 3M, at JC Penny in Woodbury, and will be in
attendance at the Minnesota State Fair later this summer. The team has graciously agreed to
provide a demonstration to the City Council at your meeting of June 20, 2012.
Council Action:
Presentation only