ST. PAUL — Seven Northern Minnesota teams, including a defending state champion, will compete in the state robotics tournament in May.
Pequot Lakes Patriotics was a partner in the championship-winning alliance last year, along with Irondale and Becker.
Patriotics are ranked fifth in the state this year, qualifying for their sixth state tournament.
The Iron Mosquitos, a co-op between Northeast Range and Ely, are ranked ninth, advancing to their fourth state tourney and second straight.
The Bemidji RoboJacks will compete in the state tournament for the first time.
Also competing are Brainerd Warrior Robotics, Cloquet RipSaw Robotics, Thief River Falls ProDigi and Warroad F.R.E.D.
Robotics competitions require a wide range of skills — both technical and social — and students from smaller teams often serve multiple roles.
Two sets of three teams, called alliances, compete against each other in two-and-a-half-minute matches. Robots are autonomous for the first 15 seconds and then are controlled by a driver for the rest of the match as teams complete tasks to earn points. The exact tasks change each year.
But before the state tournament, five teams will travel to Houston for an even bigger event that outranks state in robotics: the FIRST Championship, also known as worlds.
FIRST is a nonprofit that organizes one of the major school-age robotics competitions. FIRST also partners with the Minnesota State High School League to put on the state tournament.
Over 500 teams from across the globe will compete April 29-May 2 in Houston.
Patriotics, Iron Mosquitos and F.R.E.D. also competed in 2025. This year, they'll be joined by the RoboJacks and ProDigi.
After worlds, teams will gather May 16 at Concordia University in St. Paul for state.
The state tournament can be streamed on NSPN.
