Join the team

Who are we?

We are The Fighting Calculators, FIRST Robotics Competition team 2175. We are the official FRC team of the Math & Science Academy in Woodbury, MN.

The FIRST Robotics Competition is the world’s premier high school robotics competition. Every year students are given a unique engineering challenge, and have just eight short weeks to build a competitive robot from scratch. This is real engineering – no LEGOs, no construction kits, no toy software. FIRST gives students an experience they can’t get anywhere else.

Register today!

To participate, all students must be registered with both MSA and FIRST. The FIRST registration carries no additional cost. Any MSA student in grades 9-12 may participate.

  1. Register with MSA through the MSA Activities website. The program name is “First Robotics”.
  2. Register with FIRST through the FIRST Youth Registration System. Please ensure that you have completed FIRST‘s 2023 Consent and Release Form.

Finally, please join the team Slack to ensure you never miss important info. Instructions here.

Each parent is also required to complete a background check with MSA. Forms will be handed out at kickoff.

For any questions, please contact Ben Visness at ben@bvisness.me.

What can you do on the team?

No matter your interests, we have a place for you on the team. We have a variety of explicit roles for both students and adults, and there is always room for other endeavors.

Read more in our Team Manual.

Already on the team? See Parent & student info.

Students

First the obvious: you can build robots! We build large robots out of real materials, using real tools. Even if you’ve never held a drill before, you may discover a new passion for engineering.

Beyond building, there’s a host of other activities, including but not limited to:

  • CAD (computer-aided design): Design robot ideas in software to help find issues before we build.
  • Code: Write the code that makes our robots move, and learn about vision processing and autonomous navigation.
  • Scouting & Strategy: Become a game expert, invent clever strategies, and build systems for scouting at events so we can go into every match prepared.
  • Marketing & Media: Take photos, edit videos, make flyers, manage social media, make buttons and other swag to hand out at events, or whatever else you can dream up.
  • Outreach & Awards: Plan demos and community outreach events, write and present awards at competition, and help spread the message of FIRST in our community.

Adults

A FIRST team has many moving parts, and the students can only succeed with the help of committed adult helpers, especially parents. The following roles are open and we would love your help filling them:

  • Business Mentor: Lead our fundraising efforts! Teach students to write sponsorship letters and thank-yous, coach them on in-person presentations, and seek out relationships with local businesses.
  • Treasurer: Manage the team’s finances. Ensure that our financial records are accurate, track sponsorship amounts each year, and work with MSA administration to ensure compliance with school financial policies.
  • Travel Coordinator: We have to travel to two competitions this year instead of just one. Ensure that we are prepared for team travel, including reserving blocks of hotel rooms and coordinating food options.

In addition, we always welcome help with any of the core team activities described above. If you have experience with tools, CAD, project management, communication, graphic and web design, programming, or anything else, we would love your help this season in whatever way works for you.

Get in touch

Email lead mentor Ben Visness at ben@bvisness.me.

Also, please join the team Slack, the home of all official team communication. Ben Visness can get you an invite link. For more information, visit this page.