DULUTH, Minn. (Northern News Now) – People often think of hockey when thinking of Northland sports, but the region is also becoming a leader around the state in a sport of the mind: robotics.
“Robotics is a place where you get to create and innovate and explore like you never would have thought you could before with your best friends,” said Cora Bruno, a junior from Duluth East High School and a member of 3D Robotics Duluth.
Lily’s sister, a freshman at Duluth East Cora, is one of her best friends and teammates at 3D Robotics Duluth where they say everyone feels like family.
“We have a really strong connection,” Cora said. “We’ve all been friends forever. Before I was on the Devil Dogs, I was part of our sister team the Rogue Cats.”
The Devil Dogs and the Rogue Cats are not the Bruno family pets. They are the names of two teams involved with the For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) Tech Challenge at 3D Robotics Duluth.
Students from grades seven through 12 compete.
“This is the FIRST Tech Challenge field,” the head coach, Patrick Mulcahy, said. “It’s a 12 by 12 field and the mission changes every year. Robots have to figure out how to grab the individual samples and take them back to the human player in the game, who can then put a clip on it and score.”
The Tech teams are the most advanced of the three levels offered at 3D Robotics.
Mulcahy helped establish the nonprofit in 2021 after seeing the lack of opportunities in the Northland for all ages.
“You get your kindergarteners, first graders and you would tell them, ‘Sorry you have to wait until you’re in fourth grade,’” said Mulcahy. “That just doesn’t feel good, so we said, ‘Well, what if we offered the explorer program?’”
Mulcahy said in that first year they had five teams sign up and four years later, they now have 20.
However, the introductory teams are not the only ones exceeding expectations. The competition teams are producing impressive numbers of their own.
Out of 250 competing teams statewide, three from 3D Robotics Duluth, including the Devil Dogs and Rogue Cats, are headed to the world championship competition in Houston, Texas.
It is the first time half of Minnesota’s qualifying teams for the championship competition hail from the same region.
“It is unbelievable. I don’t know that it has sunk in for anyone,” Mulcahy said. “I know that it hasn’t sunk in for me that we’re actually going to Houston.”
“We really want to be able to go to Worlds and enjoy our Worlds experience and just be able to suck it all up, but we also want to improve Thalassa,” Cora said.
Thalassa is the Devil Dogs‘ robot which was completely designed, built, programmed and operated by the team.
“The lift, it’s not as fast as we would like it to so we’re actually kind of just redesigning it in order to get the speed to be where we want it to,” Lily said.
However, Thalassa isn’t the only girl, or boy, the Bruno’s and the other older kids hope to see improve throughout the year.
They each serve as mentors for different younger teams.
“There’s going to be more of a need for engineers, and builders, and innovative thinkers and I think that’s why it’s really important to get kids into it early,” Lily said.
Cora actually won one of the state’s two Youth Mentorship Awards this year. She said she wants to pass along all of the knowledge she received at a younger age.
“I just love to see that lightbulb click on for them,” Cora said. “Whether that’s understanding the steps of the engineering design process, or if that’s finally getting your design to work, or even being able to format a sentence correctly in your presentation that you’re writing.”
Lily was named a FIRST Tech Dean’s List finalist, the most prestigious scholarship a student can receive at this level of competition.
Both girls are among the driving forces of robotics in the region and hope to serve as role models for other girls who want to start the sport.
“In my manufacturing technologies class right now, I’m one of two women,” Lily said. “I think the fact, especially for the younger girls that I mentor just seeing me.”
However, they also want to be a great example of knowing when to shift gears.
“I do robotics, and lacrosse, and cross country and then I also play an instrument,” said Cora. “Robotics doesn’t have to be your whole life. We really want people to be well-rounded and we want them to go pursue their other passions.”
The world championship competition takes place April 16-19.
The teams are holding several different fundraising efforts to cover the cost of going to the competition.
If you want to help, you can donate to their GoFundMe here.
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Robotics interest grows in Northland as sister duo among those headed to world championship – Northern News Now
