Programming & CAD Camps
June 16-17, 2025 @ Minnesota North College
Grand Rapids, MN
Summer Programming Camp
Through consultation & collaboration of NMRC member teams developing student program skills was identified as one of our top priorities for student growth. This led to the creation of our first annual programming camp in the summer of 2018. The camp was originally held on the campus of Bemidji State University.
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Today the camp is held at Minnesota North College's Itasca Campus in Grand Rapids, MN
This annual event would not be possible without the amazing support and financial contributions of our great partners Minnesota North College, Paul Bunyan Communications, & the North Country Vocational Cooperative Center.
The Northern Minnesota Robotics Programming Camp event allows First Robotics Teams opportunities and hands on training with programming FRC robots. The entry level two day course brings students through the foundations of programming all the way to the deployment and debugging of projects. We offer both a Level 1 and Level 2 options for groups. We strongly encourage first time attendees to register for level 1. First time attendees may enroll directly into level 2 with their coach's/mentors endorsement.
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Level 1 - This is an introductory course using Java for command based programming. Students will learn some Java fundamentals needed for programming. Students will create commands that are the building blocks for both autonomous and teleoperations. Students will use those commands to create and iterate an autonomous program to navigate an obstacle course with a ROMI robot.
Level 2 - This is an advanced course where the group will tackle problems brought by the students. Usually it starts with a review of the command based program model and how to "properly format ". Next, students look at how to use a gyro, encoders, PID commands. Time on motion magic and how to migrate that back into the command code will follow. Vision (limelight) is another popular topic with motion profiling. Ideally, teams have an area they want to explore and communicate that in advance.
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Our overarching goal of these courses is to help prepare students for programming during build season by providing time with experienced instructors prior to build season. This is also a great opportunity for students to collaborate/connect with other teams so they have resources and connections for working together when needed through out the season, their high school career, and beyond.
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CAD Level 1 - This is an introduction to CAD (Computer Aided Drafting) using OnShape as the delivery platform for this instruction.
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--- Camp is for NMRC students who will be in grades 9-12 for the upcoming school year. ---
