The Blooming Prairie robotics team, known for its baseball-inspired uniforms and nickname – the Wrench Warmers – received a boost from Minimizer in 2017.
The aftermarket semi truck parts company donated components of “Shelby,” the Wrench Warmers robot, by utilizing a rare resource – Minimizer’s 3-D printer.
“The parts manufactured on Minimizer’s 3D printer are always the envy of judges and other teams,” said BP robotics coach Sarah Oelkers.
The Wrench Warmers won the Imagery Award at the regional competition, which took place in early March in Duluth, Minnesota. The award celebrates attractiveness in engineering and outstanding visual aesthetics.
“Minimizer has been a supporter of the program for both years it has been running,” said Oelkers. “We are forever grateful for the relationship our program has with our local businesses, especially Minimizer.”
In addition, Minimizer donated the time of two of its engineers – Martin Larsen and Jay Iverson – who assisted the BP robotics team with the design and construction of the robot.
“It is very rewarding to help so many students who have an interest in science and engineering,” said Larsen. “It is great to see first-hand how FIRST Robotics gives students the opportunity to use cutting-edge technology and inspires them to develop and apply new skills.”
At the end of the competition season, the Wrench Warmers ranked 60th out of 208 Minnesota high school teams.
“For a second-year team, we’re very excited about those numbers,” said Oelkers.
