Written By: Addison S
What is MinneTrials?
MinneTrials is an event run during the offseason by a fellow Minnesota team, 2239, aimed at giving teams an opportunity to train their rookies. The MinneTrials season runs from October to December and acts as a scaled-down version of the FRC season. Teams build their robots to perform well during the game. The year’s game is Popcorn Premiere! If you want to learn more about MinneTrials or join, you can find more information here!
Teams in the Game
Build captains and deputies split the team in two, deciding on purple and pink (now whimsy). There are CADers, coders, and builders alike working together to make the optimal robot for this season’s game, themed on popcorn. The goal of the game is to score points by collecting popcorn (tennis balls) and butter (foam cubes) and depositing them in a box called the popper zone, to then be assembled by a human in popcorn buckets.
Kicking Off
With balls and cubes to collect and deposit, teams debated how to focus the mechanics of the robot, with team purple utilizing the screen projector to plan. Team Whimsy took a more hands-on approach, jumping into prototypes fairly quickly. Team purple took a needed frolick, and both teams went to pet the one and only Jasper, who donned a shark costume.
Overall
To summarize, on October 13, 2025, we kicked off MinneTrials by deciding on partners and teams, dividing the team into two groups for the event. The two teams are titled Team Purple and Team Whimsey, and both teams hopped into the spirit of the competition by reading the rules, jotting down notes, and then debating over strategy for the build. Prototyping and CADing have begun, and our wonderful Ellie brought her cat Jasper dressed in a shark costume to hype the participants! We all had a great time and are excited to have fun this year with MinneTrials.
Stay Connected With Us During The Entire Season!
If you want to stay connected with the team during the entire season. Feel free to check out our social media pages: