 Well, the Northern Minnesota Robotics Conference laid out a new intricate game plan for their second annual competition. Reporter Cheryl Moore brings us into the bot arena for this week's community spotlight. The excitement of cool gadgets, intricate coating, and lots of brain power filled the auditorium of Bemidji High School over the weekend. During competitions, the adrenaline is just going 24-7. There's always things to do. This is the first time I've actually got to chill down a little bit since this competition started. The Northern Minnesota Robotics Conference was hoping to have more than 1,500 people at the event. And by the size of the arena, it looks like they scored big. We've tried to step it up a notch from last year. We brought in a lot more light sound and video NLFX. The local company here came in and they've absolutely knocked it out of the park. Tried to add more excitement. We are up a couple of teams from last year. I think we had 17 teams this year. We have 19. The teams will spend anywhere from six weeks to a year preparing for this big day. This time, the main goal of the game involved moving crates and stacking them onto a teeter totter for points. When you start to add in, you know, just the logistics of a tournament like this. You know, getting the field up from the Twin Cities, trucking, transportation, trained key volunteers, and then even locally with the business support that we need to sponsorships, even providing meals for all the volunteers. You know, it takes about 70 to 80 volunteers to put on an event like this. One of the big parts of this competition is not only working together with your own teammates, but also working together with the teams you see around us. The kids are out networking with other teams. They're scouting teams. They're interviewing with judges. A lot of the soft skills that go along with any job. There's a lot of excitement around building your robot from the ground up and then watching it compete in the ring. But for a lot of the kids, the friendships they make are equally worthwhile. For me, it's hard to really give one favorite part of robotics. I mean, I love spending time with the guys that we have on our team, guys and gals. I'm really excited for this year to see what we're going to build. Reporting of Amidji with this week's Community Spotlight, Cheryl Moore, Lakeland News. If you enjoyed this segment of Lakeland News, please consider making a tax-deductible contribution to Lakeland PBS.