Minnesota sports fans watching a FIRST Robotics competition for the first time may be surprised by the dynamics between teams. Though Minnesota is the state of hockey, you won't see anyone in the penalty box this weekend.
"The relationship between teams in FIRST is very collaborative," said Rachel Earl, a senior with Edina's team 1816 Green Machine. "If your team is failing, we'll find a way to help you, even if our robot is failing, too."
Relationships between FIRST teams are much friendlier than the rivalries found between teams in many other sports. One reason is that a team on an opposing alliance in one match may become an alliance partner in the next.
Another reason may simply be that the teams are Minnesota Nice. They may want to help each other solely for the purpose of seeing their friends and peers succeed. It's common to see teams offering each other advice, lending tools and cheering each other on. FIRST -- For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology -- embraces this value and has a name for it: Coopertition.
Last spring at a competition, Teens 'Nto Technology from Cambridge, Minn., was missing a few members because of illness.
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"They needed someone else," said Aaron Louks, a member of Inconceivable from Rochester, Minn. "I volunteered to go help them out; be their driver and work in their pit crew."
Such camaraderie isn't always the case, however. At last year's FIRST championship in St. Louis, an adult mentor for one team sabotaged the remote control system for all the robots on a field.
Andrew Luchenbach, a sophomore on Team Rush at Clarkston High School in Clarkston, Mich., was an eyewitness.
"I think that there was a problem, obviously," Luchenbach said at the Duluth competition on Thursday. "They didn't have appropriate precautions, but they didn't know that something would be so easy to happen like that."
Luchenbach said he believed the incident was handled appropriately, with the offender banned from further FIRST events after an investigation.
"FIRST has prohibited the individual from participating in any future FIRST event," said the Einstein Investigation, a report on the incident.
This year, spectators have been banned from using WiFi at FIRST events.
Colin Kealey-Swenson of the Duluth East Daredevils contributed to this report. Nick Studenski is a senior on Eagan High School's Blue Twilight team.
