FIRST Robotics Competition Minnesota Returns To The DECC

DULUTH,  Minn. – The robots are back at the DECC after being sidelined for two years during the pandemic.

More than 4,000 high school students are packing the DECC to compete for fame and glory in the Upper Midwest’s FIRST Robotics Competition.

More than 100 teams of students have been designing and building their robots all year for this weekend, and they can’t wait to put them to the ultimate test.

“You can just feel the energy in the room. When you walk through the pits where they work through the robots between matches, you can just seem them sharing their ideas with all the other teams, and one team helping another team complete their robot with the skill set maybe the other team possesses,” said Mark Lawrence, chairman of FIRST Robotics Minnesota.

The event is such a big deal, it takes more than 200 volunteers to put it on.

Robot-to-robot competitions take place Friday and Saturday.

It’s free and open to the public.  All you have to bring is a mask.