Mechanical Masterminds win Creativity Award at the Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional

Team 7068, the Mechanical Masterminds, secured a top-tier finish and earned prestigious hardware at the 2026 Minnesota 10,000 Lakes Regional Competition held March 25–28. The team impressed judges with their innovative engineering, earning the Creativity Award sponsored by Rockwell Automation for their unique climber design.

The Creativity Award sponsored by Rockwell Automation, celebrates a creative robotic component, concept, or attribute that enhances the strategy of play and was intentionally designed not discovered. The judges said, "This team chooses to address a unique challenge in a consistent way. They traveled down to climb up, ascending all the way to L2 to master this game."

Following highly competitive qualification matches, the team became the alliance captain for Alliance 6 joined by alliance members 2509 Tigerbots and 4539 KAOTIC Robotics. They finished 7th overall in the playoffs, capping off another successful season. The 2026 season marks another impressive showing for the Mechanical Masterminds.