History/Accomplishments

2022

March 2022

In 2022, we attend the Northern Lights Regional, and after qualifications we end up in 21st place. we are picked by team 2470, and work with team 4593 in the playoffs. We lose the first match due to our robot shutting down, but come back in the second match. In the final match, we come up short by 5 points, and end our playoff run.

2021

In 2021, we met occasionally to build an octocanum drive train, and expand our knowledge while FRC can’t be in-person.

2020

March 2020

In March 2020, we attend the Northern Lights Regional, and are able to compete with our robot a week before FRC shuts down due to Covid-19.

February 2020

In February 2020, we attend the Itasca pre-season event, and receive the Judges Award for our modular electronics board.

2019

March 2019

In 2019 at the Northern Lights Regional, after qualifications we are in 45th place, and are not picked by any team. Despite this, we take what we learned from this to better our robot for the 10,000 Lakes Regional in the Twin Cities. After qualifications we are in 9th place, and end up as Alliance 7 captain. We pick team 2509 and 2500. We win our first match, but fall short in the second and third quarterfinal matches.

2018

March 2018

In 2018 at the Northern Lights Regional, we find ourselves in 43rd after qualifications. Despite this below-average ranking, we are picked by 4174, and are working with team 2227 in the playoffs. We make an upset against the number 2 alliance in the quarterfinals, with both matches beeing sweeping victories for us. In semi-finals, our robot suffers mechanical problems making us lose that series.

2017

January 2017

The Talons begin their 4th year with the bar set high again after 3 years of success upon success. What to expect in Steamworks? Hard to say, but we have learned that in order to put ourselves in a position of being successful every year is to be able to do many things. Something new for us. Stay tuned.

2016

August 2016

A group of students participate in the Gitchee Gummee Get Together to keep our minds set to robotics as we enter a new school year and new game set in January.

May 2016

Our second straight trip to the MSHSL State Tournament. After a very successful year, our hopes were set to possibly bringing home a state championship. After competing hard, we end the day in the top 20 out of 30, but not selected in a championship alliance. The year is over, but left with a great many smiles on team members faces.

Late April 2016

Another learning experience in our first trip to the World Championships in St Louis. After 3 days of competition, we finish 56th on our field. There are 8 fields competing at one time. This shows the amount of teams from all over the world who are trying to get to the final field and matches. It is fun, and another bar raised in our short history.

April 2016

With weeks to raise money for a trip to St Louis, Missouri, parents and team members pull together a fundraiser at Skyline Lanes in Hermantown including dinner and silent auction. It is well-attended and the money is raised for our trip to St Louis and to Minneapolis for the state tournament.

March 2016

The Northern Lights Regional qualifying is successful. We did find that our robot is the best defensive robot based on the consistent defensive points it scores in alliances. Finishing in the top 15, we are asked to play defense in the Championship rounds paired with Talon 2502 and FRED 2883. We fly into the finals match and take the first match in a best 2-of-3 series. After losing the 2nd match, the final match is for the entire tournament. After hard fought match, our alliance won be a very small margin. In our third year, we have won the Northern Lights Regional, an entry into the state tournament and a trip to the World Championships in St. Louis, MO

January 2016

The Talons set the bar high with expectation in beginning our third year. With Stronghold, the game we decide to play is be the best defensive robot on the field. The robot is simple and built in weeks. We test it at the ICC scrimmage and find that it is a solid, defensive robot. But going into bag-and-tag, it is unclear how it will truly perform in competition.

2015

May 2015

We attend the MSHSL State Robotics tournament at the University of MInnesota. After a full day of competition, we finish in 11th place out of 30 teams and are not selected for the Championship alliance. Another first, and successful showing.

March 2015

We participate in the Northern Lights Regional and wind up in the top 8 after qualifying and pick an alliance that finishes short of the finals. With our great showing we qualify for the MSHSL State Robotics meet at Williams Arena in MInneapolis. Another year and we take another big step by again being in the Championship round and qualifying for State.

February 2015

We attend the ICC scrimmage in Grand Rapids and have a working robot when we arrive. This is great since the year before we attended with the robot not working. We have learned much in the one year in existence. We leave with a good understanding of how we are going to go into the regional.

January 2015

With the new build season upon the Talons, excitement of a new season looms large. After a successful rookie season, we are ready to build upon the success and take another step. With the unveiling of Recycle Rush, we are confident but deciding how we want to approach the year.

2014

August 2014

The Talons attend the Duluth East off-season exhibition, the Gitchee Gummee Get Together and finish out the first year of the Talons’ existence on a high note.

July 2014

With our rookie success, we take on the off-season with demonstrations and outreach including participating in the Hermantown Summerfest festivites. This included driving the robot down the annual parade route for over a mile, shooting candy out of the Aerial Assist robot (Talon-Ted) after some edits to the design. We hold a booth at the after-parade celebration at the baseball parks and gain some donations and demo the robot for the public.

February 2014

The Talons participate in their first scrimmage at Itasca Community College in Grand Rapids to learn more about their robot and to get a taste of collaboration, gracious professionalism and competition. We leave with a working robot, which was our first goal.

January 2014

The Talons attend their first competition at the Northern Lights Regional at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center (DECC). During the 3 days, we make many friends, are asked to re-wire the entire robot by inspection, bend the forks on our robot many times and learn that this is demanding and fun.
After a decent showing in qualifying matches, we wind up in 40th place out of a field of 56. As we are packing up our pit to get a jump on leaving, we are selected by Team 27 from Clarkson, MI and aligned with Duluth East Daredevils 2512 in the championships. We lose in the semi-final round, but have more than exceeded our expectations for our Rookie season.

2014

Talons

Talons coaches meet with the MInnesota state representative for FIRST to discuss the feasibility of creating a team for the upcoming year with no money, no students or idea of what the process would be like. After writing a grant proposal in one week to try and fund the Hermantown Talons, we get the email that gets us going. We receive $5000 from NASA to get the Talons in the upcoming year’s game.