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

When you walk into the TJ2 build room, there’s an aura that radiates from every wall, shelf, and comer. Whether it’s the pins scattered across the room or the pictures of bright, smiling faces, one rises above the rest. It’s a name that those of us here at TJ know, but has spread to national fame in FIRST. If you saw his smiling face upon entering the build room, you knew it was going to be a good day. Whether he was making wise-cracks or educating rookies about how to use power tools, this man built the foundation of TJ with his bare hands. When we went to competitions, you knew that he would be down in the pits with the drive team and simultaneously goofing off by flinging wristbands up into the crowd. The tie-dye legend was unmistakable in his jeans and suspenders and made each and every match special for both our allies and our competitors. When we learned that he was “officially” retiring down in Florida, our team members felt a torrent ofmixed emotions. On one hand, we couldn’t be happier that our beloved coach and mentor finally had some well-deserved relaxation time. On the other hand, every single person knew that TJ2 Robotics just wasn’t going to be the same after his departure. This year, when our rookies walked around the workspace, they would point to photographs and ask who the beaming man with the snowy hair and mustache was. Our simple reply was, “He is a man who defined TJ and shaped the spirit of FIRST forever. He is the mentor that shaped TJ into what it is today. That man is Moe. “Hats off to you, Moe, for your years of dedicated service and for your continued support of TJ2 Robotics. Oh yeah!

A Determined Team 88

By Cyann & Ali

Today was the first of the many competitions that we will be attending this season. Since this is a pre-season event many of the robots are not quite in working condition. Teams are still programming and working out the kinks. Each of the practice matches were followed by adjustments in the pits. But we’re doing okay now. We have now participated in our first qualifying match and won that 2 to 0. Most if not all the goals were scored by us but our human player got us a deduction by taking too long returning the balls to the field. These penalties were forgotten about until that point. Our second match, we also won 1 to nothing. Go TJ!!!

One of the teams in attendance today is Pirates of the Pythagorean, team 3125. This team, as most of you know got into a bus accident on the way to the Kickoff in New Hampshire. Sadly, one of their students was killed in the accident. This tragedy did not stop them from competing here today, however. A moment of silence was held in honor of the student during the opening ceremonies. TJ2 would like to encourage the Pirates of the Pythagorean to stay strong during this time and wish them, from the bottom of our hearts,  an extremely successful season.

More on this event later :]

By : Jess and Ali

Today, we have been working more diligently than ever before. Because the competition in Suffield is approaching rapidly, we are moving quickly in order to be prepared. In hopes of having a very successful drive team, we have been holding extensive drive practices. This is so the drive team members can be selected before the first regional we are attending. The kicker is being tweaked and fine tuned so accuracy will be improved. Also, the drive system has been worked on in order to gain precision and maneuverability.

Today, art finished the rest of the tie-dying. All that was left was what people requested beyond their usual t shirts. The shirts will be screened with our new logo on the back that is the normal team number “88″ with “Super-Nerds” written over it and “Depuy/BRRHS” underneath. Also, there is an additional factor that is a surprise for the competitions.

Chairman’s worked on the submission essay. We are using the one from last year but much of the information was outdated and needed to be replaced by more relevant events.

 The Animation group has been working all day as well. Their animation is well underway and will be completed on schedule.

By Ali &  Heather

The shirts are about 88% (haha ) tie-dyed and ready to be screened. This year, going along with Woodie’s “SuperNerd” theme, we have now added that to our team shirt over our number. We decided to this instead of our idea of selling separate SuperNerds shirts in order to increase our fan base, because, as it turns out, we are lacking in time to do such an endeavor. 

Build has been eventful….and cold… After testing and rethinking, some designs are being modified in order to work more efficiently. Most students are working on CAD modeling so that next meeting we can begin fabricating the new parts. By doing this we can hopefully cut back on time that is wasted by re-doing parts that either do not work at all or frankly, do not fit the dimensions. Hopefully, because of this forethought we will be finished long before the sendoff.

By Patrick O’Connor

TJ² is committed to spreading the message of FIRST and gracious professionalism any way it can. This is seen through the numerous community outreach programs that the team operates, such as our Green Days, our Conference, and our visit to India. Through our efforts to aid the environment and the community, as well as those outside of our community, we hope to have the FIRST message and gracious professionalism proliferate throughout New England and America.

            TJ² plans on organizing numerous ‘Green Days’ for the third year. Green Days are certain days set aside for members of the team to go out and pick up trash around town to be recycled. TJ² operates in partnership with the YESS club, Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School’s recycling and environmental club to try and give back to the community and raise awareness about environmental issues that are affecting the world today.

             Our conference was a successful attempt at recruiting new members to the FIRST family. We had many lecturers present at the conference holding seminars and informative meetings on how to do things such as start a new robotics team, how to secure funding, how to build the robots themselves, and how to train mentors in organizing and managing a FIRST team. Many who wished to start their own FIRST team came from far and wide to attend the conference and we tried our best to make sure that they left informed, confident, and passionate about starting their own FIRST team.

A former member of our team, Jay Dev, travels to India every summer, and last year he  took it upon himself to try and plant the seed of a robotics team in the local school. Jay went into classrooms and lectured on the importance of FIRST teams and also how to organize and manage a team effectively. The children were awed by the idea of having their own team and competing in the numerous competitions that take place every year. The adults were also highly interested in having their own team to manage. Jay helped to spread the message of FIRST and gracious professionalism across the ocean and helped to inform people about the advantages of creating, managing, and participating in a robotics team.