Until FIRST Kick-off
About
About FIRST® Team 88
In 1996, head coach Liz Calef, heard about FIRST and, with the extraordinary support of the partnership with Johnson & Johnson companies, TJ² was born.
That's pronounced, "tee-jay squared".
Our team name, TJ², was derived from the partnership between our school (whose mascot is the Trojan) and the Johnson & Johnson Companies.
Trojans = T & Johnson & Johnson = J²
Each September, TJ² recruits and welcomes new students from the ranks of Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School. The 80-90 students who initially sign-up for this popular program begin preparing for the upcoming build/competition season by engaging in the many team activities that are required for success; most importantly, fundraising. Through sponsorship, our annual Cape Cod Canal Day "bike-a-thon", and Gala Benefit Dinner & Auction, team members race to generate the money that the team depends on.
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TJ² Robotics is a year round program, part of the FIRST Robotics Program. What is this?
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Consisting of Students, Teachers, Engineers, Parents, Community Members and other professionals
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Members with broad ranges of interests and talents, working together to achieve common goals of accomplishment, success, and pride.
In early January, TJ² receives, along with more than a thousand teams from across the world, the new "Game" challenge. Then, for the next 6, intense weeks, the team strives to design and construct a robot that can successfully meet the challenges of game play. Once the completed robot is shipped, team coaches and members prepare for the competitions ahead. Those most dedicated students who have logged enough hours and raised the most money are selected for the "travel team". These will be the team representatives at the regional competitions and, with any luck, the National Championship in St. Louis in April.
Our "Specialist" Teams
TJ² is divided up into sub groups that each complete a specific task to help the team survive as a whole. This is a brief description of each of our specialist teams.
The Art Group
TJ² is known for their tie-dye shirts. Every shirt is designed and dyed by a TJ² member. We also make all of the headbands, wristbands, and bandannas. Art constructs posters, signs, bulletin boards, and other visual parts of the team. We strive to make the team look as great as possible and never leave a meeting without tie-dyed hands.
The Build Group
The build group is responsible for designing and manufacturing the robot. Students in the build group learn to use the many tools and machines that we use to manufacture the robot, such as a hand drill and milling machine. When students first join the build group they may have never used tools previously. Within a few years veteran members become mentors who teach skills to the new members. When students first join the build group, many of them have no experience with our tools and machines. Acknowledging that, for the first couple months, veteran members become mentors who teach the new members everything they need to know. It is incredible just how much the students learn in such a short period of time.
The Programming Group
The programming group is what makes a robot come to life. Our job on TJ² is to write the code necessary in order for our robot to perform its given task. The programming group also manages many of the electronics and sensors that the robot needs to function. Without the programming group the robot would be nothing. An impressive looking piece of metal that has no purpose.
The Public Relations Group
The public relations group, or PR for short, is responsible for TJ²’s involvement with the community. We are responsible for spreading the message of FIRST and making FIRST loud! FIRST is the organization that enables our team to create and innovate, FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. We put on demonstrations at elementary schools in the surrounding area and even at our high school. We host an annual STEAM Day out our school, STEAM stands for Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics. On this day, we to help students learn about how people use STEAM in their everyday lives. The PR group will be geared towards community involvement in an effort to interest young minds in the field of STEAM.These students create the Chairman's Award presentation, the Woodie Flowers Award submission, the Judge's pages, and maintains the team website.
The CAD Team
Trains our students to design and produce CAD drawings of our robot subsystems, parts, and then produce posters and PR signs for our team.
The Strategy Team
TJ²'s strategy group is in charge of choosing the strategic path that will lead the team to victory. At kickoff, the strategy group leads the discussion on the team’s priorities in the game. During the design phase, the strategy group makes sure that the robot is being designed to meet the team’s game priorities. At competitions, the strategy group is involved in scouting which is how our team gathers information about other teams. With the scouting information, the drive team can be advised on the best way to work with their partners and against their competitors. If our chosen strategy leads us to the final matches of a competition our team strategy selects other teams to form an alliance with our team.
Fundraising - our entire team is involved in funding the business plan of our team. We want this team to be open to all, so members are encouraged to raise more than they need individually to help others in need.