Robot weekend

The Cloquet Ripsaw Robotics team, members pictured above at the Duluth Entertainment and Convention Center, was the top Carlton County finisher in the FIRST Robotics regional competition in Duluth last week. Cloquet finished 10th in Lake Superior Regional that pits the most experienced programs against each other for a chance at moving on to national competition. Cloquet finished just outside the group moving on. The team did win the Safety Award, a technical achievement that teams covet. The Carlton Doomsday Dogs, top right, finished 13th and Esko's SubZero team, bottom right, was 22nd. Barnum was 24th in the regional and the Moose Lake Circuit Breakers were 57th in the other regional, Northern Lights. There were 123 teams competing in the two regionals in Duluth, making it one of the largest single events run by FIRST Robotics. A team from Edina was the top finisher in the Lake Superior regional and a team from St. Paul won the Northern Light regional. Contributed photos