2008 Varsity Robotics Team
John Tourville - President / Team Leader
Ian Brindle - CADD Leader
Lane Hawkins - Drive Station
Charles Keller - Programming
Kimberly Sheely - Programming
Scott Kelso - Lead Electronics
Andres Charry - RoboCoach
Chris Brumley - Arena
Chris Brummett - Mascot
Jared Covey - Safety Coordinator
Zaq White - Mascot Design / Drive Station
Jon Keegan - Welding / Pit
Jeff Uskert - Arm Design / Driver
James Baeta - Arena
Robby Sawey - Electronics / Driver
Catherine Gunter - Drive Station / Programming
Nathalie Bernigaud - CADD / Scouting
JD Baugher - First Year Representative / Scouting
Andy Stephenson - Website
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2008 Chairman's Award
Submission
In 1989, almost 20 years ago, inventor, Dean Kamen founded For Inspiration
and Recognition of Science and Technology, also known as FIRST, in order
to develop ways to inspire students in engineering and technology fields.
The organization is the foundation for the FIRST Robotics Competition,
the FIRST LEGO League, and the FIRST Tech Challenge competition. Ever
since Team 1742’s involvement in FIRST Robotics in 2006, two years
ago making this our third year, we have embodied this idea and have done
our best to make sure that as many people as possible know of it. We have
made presentations not only to students who are interested in careers
in engineering but to adults and teachers to help get students interested
in careers in engineering. We have gone to schools and tech centers all
around Oklahoma trying to get schools involved in the experiences involved
with designing and building a robot. We were proud to find that last year
that both Tri-County Technology Center and Metro Technology Center decided
to start teams and go to competition with us. Building robots and figuring
out who’s the best is not the idea for this competition. This competition
is about problem solving, team work, hard work, determination, and the
joy of building something that you can’t help but just look at it
and smile and saying, “Man that is the coolest thing I’ve
ever seen.”
Along our travels around Oklahoma we shared that FIRST is one of the greatest
hands-on experiences available to high school students. For our competition
we are given a challenge, a time limit, a cost limit, and limited knowledge.
In the six weeks that we have to work we have to work as a team to design
build and test our solution, all while staying under our budget. After
that we have a chance to take our robot to competition and put our robot
against those of the other teams. However, winning isn’t everything.
The most important thing is the lessons and experiences that will stay
with us as we seek careers in engineering. The greatest thing about what
we do during the build season is that we have fun working together and
learning as a team to get the job done. Through FIRST we prove a widely
believed myth that engineers sit in an office or a cubicle and work on
the computer or drawing sheets. Actually engineering is a group effort
where everyone contributes knowledge that they have and work together
towards a common goal. Not only is FIRST a great learning experience for
the students involved it’s also a way for mentors and teachers to
instruct students on how to think out-side the box and how to work together.
Our team has matured significantly in only three years since we started.
One major problem in getting people involved in FIRST is the cost. The
cost is a fairly large obstacle but we are fortunate to have companies
and individuals that see the long term impact on the lives of the students
that they are willing to help. Special thanks to the University of Oklahoma
College of Engineering, Johnson Controls/York International, Mickey Clagg
and Moore Norman Technology Center for they have all graciously provided
our team with much needed resources to. We have toured the OU College
of Engineering and participate in engineering contest sponsored by OU
every year. With help from Tim Long, an OU mechanical engineering student,
and his knowledge in machining we have been able to get critical parts
for our robot. Mickey Clagg found it acceptable to buy for us a trailer
that we can use for transporting our robot. With this trailer we are able
to take Sprocket and more recently Rampzilla to different schools and
presentations to help promote our success and get our word out to the
public. As a bonus, Houston Robotics has also graciously provided us with
a large grant to aid in our registration costs. To help out other teams
and to make sure they have gotten an equal chance as we have gotten we
have made presentations to the Oklahoma State School Board Association
(OSSBA) annual convention in Oklahoma City, the Oklahoma Career Tech Convention
in Tulsa, OK., the Oklahoma Pre-Engineering Conference, and the Career
Tech Directors meeting in order to try and procure funding for new teams
to promote the growth of new ones.
The cost may be a problem for some new teams but the experience gained
from FIRST is priceless. All of the students that are involved on the
First Robotics team have greatly benefited from the experience. Many of
the students involved were urged to do things that they normally didn’t
do to get them out of their ruts to get them to learn and try something
new. Some of the people who did programming had never done any kind of
programming before, yet still learned and excelled in it. Others that
did electronics had never seen or knew anything about speed controllers
or spike relays. Many others learned how to use and manipulate power tools,
drills, and other equipment needed to get the job done. As a whole all
the students learned to work together and get the job done. Not only have
people told to learn and do things they haven’t experienced before
there were some that were given major leadership roles and had to make
sure the team stayed on track. People that had these roles had to be role
models themselves and act accordingly, they also had to speak in presentations
and make appearances when trying to get the community involved in FIRST.
Our team has shown gracious professionalism during the last three years.
Last year we helped rookie teams finish or fix their robots so they were
able to get on the field and practice and compete.
This year we got a regional in Oklahoma, which was not an easy thing to
do. Tonya Scott with Ponca City was the major advocate in this incredible
task. She received nothing but help and support from Team 1742. To get
a regional you have to have at least thirty team sign up for the competition.
We have thirty-eight teams currently signed up for our Oklahoma regional.
Since last year so many new teams have been started, which means that
the efforts of all those that made it their goal to get spread FIRST to
as many people as possible is now that much closer. Having a regional
in Oklahoma will significantly increase the number of people who know
about it and possibly some of those in high positions that able to help
out the FIRST cause. Having the competition at the Cox center in Oklahoma
City will involve the news and possibly even radio support.
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