The BEST Inc. Mining Division has purchased a mine that contains sveral valuable resources in record-shattering concentrations-but there’s a problem:The mine is far too dangerous for humans. Consequently, the mine was decommissioned years ago and has since fallen into disrepair. Initial evaluations of the mine have revealed 5 lucrative materials at various depths beneath the surface-coal, iron, aluminum, copper and lithium. The objective of this BEST mission is to design and build a prototype robot to repair and operate an underground mine during a three-minute match. Much like the real mining industry,  success in the design competition will be determined by net profit and teams will be in direct competition with their opponents. Also the market values of the commodities will change overtime, so teams may have to adjust their priorities mid-contest.

The field is made of four quadrants called shafts (red, green, yellow and blue). The shafts are arranged radially, and are divided into four levels: the “ground level” and three sublevels. Each team has their own shaft, three levels which are off-limits to the other teams. Sublevel three is a part of all four shafts, and all teams are allowed to access it.

Paydirt Game Animation

Our team this year has not grown much with numbers, but we have received a drove of new recruits to replace our graduating seniors this year. We hope that in the following years our team improves all the more.

CEO- Shad Musick

Chief Engineer- Dillion Calkins

Engineer-Celeste Musick

Engineer-Dakota Bowen

Engineer-Vance Strommen

Assistant Engineer- Cody Simmons

Head Programmer-Cameron Newbold

Assistant Programmer-Anthony Spears

CFO-Brianna Suits

Head of Sales-Ayana Kovash

Graphic Designer-Codi Schaper

Graphic Designer-Abbie Zastoupil

Graphic Designer-Daicie Mindt

Graphic Designer-Jordanna Bouman

Executive Secretary-Michael Theesen

Sales Representative-Rachel Voigt

Mascot-Michael Hutchinson

Social Media Consultant-Lakken Bice

Social Media Consultant-Kasey Houghton

Head Researcher-Amber Kukla

Lee Majors

Our robot went through many changes over the course of Robotics, each time becoming Better, Faster and Stronger. The amount of blood, sweat, tears and caffeine put into Lee Majors has raised its value tremendously. Lee Majors is the Million Dollar Robot.

Our robot has many apparatus that assist us greatly in scoring many points. Our forklift, the white plastic with pennies strapped to it, allows us to pick up the minecart. Our servo claw, the big aluminum clamp in the front, can close and rotate, which allows us to pick up the core sample and to pick up and install the air filter. Our wheels are 4 wheel drive which allows  for ease of turning and speedy driving.

Preliminary Strategy- The first strategy is to go across the field as quickly as possible, take the minecart, put the magnetite into the minecart,take it back to the scoring zone, then grab the filter and put it into the slot. This strategy scores us 420 points.

Semifinals Strategy-Grab and insert the filter, grab the middle core sample, then take the minecart back. This strategy scores us approximately 284 points.

Finals Strategy-Grab and insert filter, grab the middle core sample, then grab as much coal we can. This strategy scores us approximately 225 points.