Background

Home

Team 440's agenda is described below. Expected team member participation, goals, and responsibiliies are outlined. Also described is the FIRST competition's background and scope, it's purpose, it's benefits, and its rapid growth as the world's premier techicalogical experience for high school students with a interest in science and technology.

As a  member of  the Team Ford FIRST sponsored alliance, the unofficial kick-off event for the 2005 season starts in late September of 2004. This event is designed to bring all Ford Motor Company Sponsored Teams (in the metro-Detroit area) together for fun and games. The time is used to introduce the teams to a "robot building challenge", have fun playing team games, and expose all our newest team members to the variety of robot  designs used for last year's FIRST Competition. The kick-off event is followed by an annual  "Sweet Repeat" robotics competition (mid October) where last year's FIRST game is repeated using the old robots. This competition serves well for exposing new team members to the FIRST experience and to the value of teamwork to succeed. In November, Team Ford FIRST sponsors a FIRST Technical Workshop (16 hrs) where teams are introduced to the programming, electrical controls hardware, pneumatics, and mechanical hardware (motors, gears, wheels) to successfully build a competitive robot. In December, Team Ford FIRST sponsors a XMAS Party where the teams are brought together to have fun and "show-off " to the other teams what they have learned designing, programming and building a prototype robot for the "robot building challenge" announced at the unofficial kick-off in September.

To be competitive, the collocated Robotics Team 440 is exposed to an environment that encourages the use of the internet to coordinate team activities and communicate design intent through CAD, animation, and web-page writing. Team members monitor their group activities on Team 440's group web site. The site is used to collaborate ideas between team members and archive procurement records, fund raising, community service, and picture taking activities. A robotics workshop area is set up at both schools. During the fall semester, team members at Cody HS formally meet every Wednesday from 2:15 to 5:00 pm while team members at Redford HS formally meet every Thursday from 3:30 to 5:45. Engineering mentors meet with the students at these times to review team progress. Informally, the students may meet any time during the week at their respective schools to work on robotic activities.

The official FIRST kickoff event ( January) takes place in New Hampshire where the game rules and scoring are described at the same time to all registrated team participants. Competition FIRST Kits Componets are also distributed at this time. Live broadcast will be shown at desiginated sites across the country. For 2005, Team 440 is scheduled to compete in the Detroit Regonial at Wayne State University. If they qualify at the regionals as winners, they invited to compete in the annual Nationals Robotics Competition at the Georga Dome in Alanta, GA.

After the national event, individual, team reconition, awards will be presented to team members: (1) most enthusiastic, (2) most improved participant, (3) best team leader, (4) best team supporters, (5) most activtive parent/teacher participant, and (6) best fund raiser.

Team Participation, Goals, Responsibilities:

Corporate Engineers -mentor, facilitate, and familiarize high school students with up-front vehicle engineering design guidance and assembly processes to progressively design, build and animate robot movements for effective competition on a national level. Conduct CAD classes for "hands-on" robot design and animation. Outline principles of game strategy, radio-controlled robot function, and computer programming control logic.

School Sponsors/Teachers and Parents -provide high school students with encouragement, support, guidance and supervision for all activities: (1) scholarship monitoring, (2) fund-raising , (3) robot crate construction & shipping , (4) trip planning and transportation, (5) managing tool inventory, (6) web surfacing for all team related FIRST events, (7) tracking construction supplies and hardware (8) robot scouting, (9) FIRST Year Book creation (10) cheer leading practice, (11) school logo buttons fabrication, and (12) token gift procurement.

High School Student Team Members-participate in all team related activities, accept ownership (a leadership role) and responsibility for some particular predesignated task, actively team-up with others (students, teachers, parents, and engineer mentors) to help them acheive their assigned task. The ultimate success of the team heavily depends on your commitment and dedication to sucessfully complete assigned task in a timely maner. Remember, the harder you work in this game, the greater and more beneficial this unique experience will be for you to acheive your highest future career goals.

Competition Schedule for 2005:

Sweet Repeat V, October 9, 2004, Rochester High School, Rochester Hills, MI (local competition hosted by Team Ford FIRST)

Official Kickoff Event: Jan.5, closed circuit broadcast from New Hampshire

Regional Competition: March TBD, Wayne State University, Detroit, MI.

National Competition: April 10-12, Georga Dome, Alanta, GA.

The Competition:

The First Robotics Competition is an annual design competition that brings professionals and young people together in teams to solve an engineering design problem in an intense and competitive way. The Competition is a program of FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 by inventor and entrepreneur Dean Kamen. The program inspires students to take a look at further studies and careers in engineering, technology and science, and motivates them to demand more exposure to these fields and the professionals who are active within them.

It's Purpose:

The Competition aim is to show students not only that technology hold many varied opportunities for success (being both accessible and rewarding), but also that the basic concepts of science, math, engineering, and invention are exciting and interesting. School teams recruit business, corporations, college, and university sponsors to actively participate in and support the team during the annual six-week robot design-and-build season. Following that concept-to-completion period of activity, teams can compete in regional events and the Championship, where there are team T-shirts and buttons, cheering sections, mascots and bands, referees and scoring, plus award trophies and medallions -- the all-important, well-deserved student and team recognition.

The real recognition comes from the effective learning experitnces/opportunites received by all who participate.

It's Benefits:

These exciting nationwide competitions are high-tech spectator sporting events, the result of lots of focused brainstorming, real-world teamwork, dedicated mentoring, project timelines, and deadlines. An experience that can greatly contribute to learning the value of cooperating and working with others, to be recognized for shared success, as well as develop strong self-confidence as an individual.  Involved engineers experience again many of the reasons they chose engineering as a profession, and the companies they work for realize the value of contributing to their community as corporate citizens while effectively influencing the preparation and recruitment of their future engineering workforce.Colleges, universities, corporations, businesses, and individuals provide scholarships to our participants. Available college scholarships has increased rapidly for FIRST students. At the 2001 Championship, over $1.2 million in scholarships were awarded to students participating on FIRST teams. In 2004, over 4 million in scholarships were awarded.

It's Growth:

The competition's reach has become extensive and it's growth is phenomenal: in 1992, the program had 1 competition, 23 teams, in 13 states; in 2004, the program has grown to include 15 competitions, 1500 teams, 42 states, District of Columbia, Canada, and Brazil. This rapid growth is because the program, very often, provides a life-changing, career-molding experience and because the competition is presented in a atmosphere that's fun for high school students to learn. As a result, word about the program's success has spread quickly and participation have expanded to more than 20,000 team members. Graduating high school seniors have been known to bring FIRST to college, get others excited, and get the new schools mentoring, competing and hosting robotics competition events.