The Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School / FIRST Robotics Team 88

I am back again; about halfway through junior year and three weeks into the build season. It’s all very exciting and a little overwhelming as well. Being a part of TJ2 has been a fun and interesting experience so far. I have made a few new friends and a lot of new memories. I am still going to the build, chairman’s, newsletter, and art groups. This has become more time consuming since the kick off of the new game, but I don’t mind. I am enjoying every minute of it. My favorite of the groups is the build group. I have been learning a lot about different tools and how they work and I think this will be beneficial for me in the future. Before joining this team I had no idea what certain tools were, let alone the throught that I would be using them. We have been designing, testing, and fabricating nonstop since the beginning of the season. I have no idea what I was getting myself into. It is hard work, but I am very glad that I joined the team this year and I can’t wait to see how the robot and the competitions go.

The FRC game for the 2010 season is called Breakaway. Breakaway is played similar to soccer, but there are some key differences. In Breakaway is a 3 vs. 3 match with two goals at each end of the field, and the objective is to score as many soccer balls as you can into the goals at your end of the field, each ball is worth one point. Another key difference is that there are two bumps that span across the field, and divide it into three sections. Robots need to be wary of crossing over the bumps, because the bumps are high and may cause robots to flip over. Also in the middle of the bumps is a structure known as the tower. From the tower teams can pull themselves up and hang at the end of the match for two bonus points. Also teams can hang from other robots for three bonus points at the end of the match.

This year’s game has just been announced and TJ2 is extremely busy building a robot to meet the high standards that we set with our success during last year’s competitions. These weeks are what we have been working towards all year and our excitement has been difficult to contain! This fact, however, does not mean we have been sitting idly by and letting time go to waste. Our team has been engaged, not only with other competitions, but also fundraisers to help our students obtain the funds required ofthem. This pre-season has been especially eventful for our students. During the VEX robot season, we reached triumphs that were unprecedented. During Savage Soccer, 2 of our 5 teams were in the top 8, allowing them to choose robots that were most complimentary to theirdesign and strategy. Most of our other groups were chosen during alliance selections, making only one of our robots left out in the qualifying matches. One of our teams went farther in the competition than any other. Bang it Out reached the finals and came in second for the whole event. The alliance that was able to beat them was the only undefeated team of the day. All while this was in process, a small group of our students and one teacher attended the Java Programming seminar that was available that day. This information is being used for the programming of our robot during this build season. After Savage Soccer was over and done with, a few students and two mentors attended Savage Soccer North. During this competition, TJ2 was able to dominate over the opposing robots. Every robot present participated in the qualifying matches, many being seeded in the top 8. One team in particular was ranked number one and later was able to win the whole competition. They also won the judge’s award in “Excellence in Design”. Never before have we been so victorious during the VEX season. Fundraising this year has, as always, been helped along by our annual auction. We were lucky enough to be able to acquire a larger function hall to accommodate the growing interest in this particular event. Also, many alumni were invited, increasing our number of attendees and also the total night’s profit. The whole night exceeded our expectations by raising over $12,000 for the team and the individual students that donated items. Some of our largest selling items were a Cape house rental, two kayaks, and a drum set that were competitively bid at. We hope that next year’s auction will do just as well, ifnot more so, than this year’s. The beginning of this season has been most eventful from a number of different outlooks. Our VEX robots reached a new height of excellence, while our auction raised more for fundraising than we dared dream. All that can be wished for now, is that our build season and competitions do just as admirably as these past occasions. We have our fingers crossed.

Our team is full of mentors. Some, like Mrs. Calef, are known throughout the entire organization. Every student knows them by name and has at least one interaction with them. Others, however, are less well known and yet contribute just as much to Team 88’s success during the season as any other mentor or teacher. Most students would not know Harry Jahnke unless they themselves attended the build sessions after the game is announced. The students that do attend these meetings know this man to be one of the most knowledgeable and helpful mentors that we are lucky to have. Since he is the master of the milling machine, he assists and teaches students how to use the machine while fabricating parts for the robot prototypes and later the actual robot we use in the season. In the general assembly and design ofthe robot, his ideas and workmanship are a huge factor that enable to compete as well as we do.

Last year, during the off-season, Harry showed his kindness and generosity to the team in an extreme way. Using the equipment in his own shop and precious time, he fabricated more than 4,000 key-chains. Thes e were designed in the shape of our team name and also available in a variety of colors. We used these for trading with other teams during the competitions and also as gifts to family and friends. Harry might not be well known throughout the entire team, but his help is evident within the robot’s design and construction. Every student received four of his key-chains last year to trade, and yet many knew not who they came from. Harry deserves the utmost respect and gratitude for all the time and energy he has put into this team.

By Ali

Last night was the official end of our hectic build season. Every year we celebrate this event with a send-off party to say goodbye to our robot until our first regional. We invite parents, teachers, volunteers, and this year, even our super-intendant and principle. We use this event to tell them all about our team, and just how we have been spending our time these past months. Art showed the new shirt designs, while Chairman’s read parts of the updated essay to all the guests. Animation was proud to unveil their “Excellence in Design” animation that was just recently completed. During a brief intermission, we thanked the volunteers that have helped us throughout the entire season. From build mentors to lunch helpers, each recieved a picture of the team in a frame that was built with recycled parts.

After a brief explanation of the build season, which included Building Fundamentals, Programming, and a summary of building this year’s robot, the robot was showcased to the guests. After climbing bumps and shooting goals, attendees were allowed to check out the bot close up and ask as many questions as they wanted. A reporter from Brockton Enterprise was even there and an article was featured today all about our team. Guests were then invited to attend the Boston Regional (March 25 -27). Hopefully this will make a large fan base for us while we are competing :]

To read more about it, check out the article about us in the Brockton Enterprise. Here.