Iron Mosquitoes headed to Robotics World Championship

The Iron Mosquitoes, a robotics team based in Babbitt, Minnesota, is headed to the World Robotics Championship in Houston, Texas, after winning the Impact Award at the Lake Superior Regional Robotics Competition.

“We were all kind of like, ‘Guys, guys, I think this is us, I think this is us!’ said Hailey Lindquist, member of the Iron Mosquitoes. “And they finally said, ‘Team 5653!’ and we were all screaming and crying. It was absolutely surreal.”

The Iron Mosquitoes are a FIRST Robotics Competition team based in Babbitt, Minnesota, with student participants from schools in Cook, Ely and Babbitt.

The team was recognized for having the most significant and measurable impact among its participants and on their community. The Iron Mosquitoes developed a grocery delivering robot to aid the people of Babbitt during the Covid-19 pandemic, and have made numerous other efforts to benefit their community.

Watch the video essay by the Iron Mosquitoes 5653

A key message of the team is that even small, rural teams can have a big impact in the world.

“We’ve never actually made it to world’s before this is kind of a new thing for us,” said Owen Koivisto, another Mosquito. “There’s gonna be teams from all over the world. Like Canada, Israel, Spain and Australia, and they’re all coming to Houston to compete.”

The road to the Robotics World Championship is an expensive one, but the team is excited.

“We currently have a go-fund-me up, and that’s raised almost three grand,” said Lindquist. “It’ll pay for like, you know, travel, food, hotel, yeah just like every aspect of the trip pretty much.”

The World Robotics Championship will take place in Houston, from April 19th to the 22nd. The Iron Mosquitoes will be competing for a World Impact Award, in addition to the larger robotics competition.