Northland robotics teams ready for the world stage – Duluth News Tribune

With four previous trips to the world championship coming in second place in 2015 the Daredevils' goal is to win the world championship this year, coach Tim Velner said, adding that it's a "cool thing" that this year's team has the specific mission of taking home a first-place win.

"They've had this self-consciousness that we're just some little team from Duluth ... then two years ago, we won second place at the world championships. So this team is believing that it belongs on this stage and that's so cool. It's one thing to want to get to the world championships, it's another thing to have a team that believes that they can win it," he said.

SubZero Robotics' goal this year is to have fun throughout the tournament, coach Justin Scheider said.

"That's been our team goal is to just go out there and have fun, whatever happens happens and we're going to do our best," he said.

The team's division will be competitive but the kids are excited and they feel good about their robot. He said "it's an incredible accomplishment" that the team is going to the championship for the second time since it started three years ago.

The team has two large groups of ninth graders and 11th graders, Scheider said. "The juniors have been here once, most of them, so they got the experience and it really inspired them last year. And our freshmen coming in will get a lot of cool things to see and do and they're excited to have the opportunity to learn from and see some of the best teams in the world."

Teams spent Wednesday speaking with representatives at the competition's College Row. In the past, Velner has had Daredevils figure out which colleges they want to visit based on those they spoke to at College Row. He added, "Even if they don't go to any of those schools, they engage in that conversation with some really high-powered schools."

Students could also spend Wednesday at the Innovation Fair, where national companies such as Boeing, Lego and Nokia demonstrate their industries and technology.

"I have seen kids literally develop dreams of what they want to do because of that, because they're talking to somebody and they go, man, I didn't even know that existed. All of a sudden, they have an idea of where they want to go. This isn't just about the world competition, this is also about them finding what their next steps are, what their dreams for the future may be because it's all here," Velner said. "We're here because people develop their pathways here. It's so cool to watch that happen and it's a big part of being here."

The rest is here:

Northland robotics teams ready for the world stage - Duluth News Tribune