Team Challenges

2008 Challenge

We have a young and enthusiastic team this year. In our late fall ‘pre-build’ meetings we only had 10-11 members but with some intense recruiting we quickly reached our maximum team level of 20 students. While we lost a group of veterans through graduation, their legacy continues through their younger brothers and sisters who continue the tradition of family involvement. This year’s parents are very involved and have added a new dimension of experience to the group.

The bonds created by FIRST competition were never more evident than when a large group of graduated veterans returned to the team during their college holiday break. Many of these college students attended the early build sessions every night they were in town. It was a blessing to see their continued dedication to the team and enthusiasm for the FIRST experience.

This year’s competition is a game played on a racetrack field with three team alliances competing in each match. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent alliance by moving a large 40” diameter ball above or below a goal (the rack). The ball starts the game atop the rack so it must be knocked off the rack, then collected by the robot and transported around the track. There will be a lot of traffic on the track at any time, and the robots will have to move quickly, be able to collect the ball and move it deftly around the track and across the goal. For training purposes we built a mock-up of the rack per FIRST specifications.

A Picture of the Rack.

Check out a video of the game from the NASA web site by clicking on the red ball.

We look forward to the competition this year, and know that this year’s experience will prepare us for next year and thereafter.

2007 Challenge

The number of students dropped this year to 15, however, the team is uniquely composed of veteran members as four of the students are siblings of present and former team members. In years past, they attended meetings and helped with any and all work in support of their older brothers on the team. Six of the team will be graduating this year so this “passing of the baton” to younger siblings will give the team more experienced youth. This sharing of common interest in families has enriched the scope of the team. Their parents are also active supporters and have further expanded the team capabilities.

This years competition Rack’ n’ Roll, is a game played on a field with three team alliances competing in each match. The object of the game is to attain a higher score than your opponent alliance by placing lifesaver rings on the central goal (the rack) and/or by having robots in their home zone and not in contact with the playing field at the end of the match.  

The challenge of building a robot that can reach to high levels and maneuver a large plastic life saver onto spokes while maintaining its balance has been a test of engineering skills. Mentors and students have worked long days and nights perfecting the robot skills. Programming and electronics have played an important role as well as the mechanics of the build. The team is ready for the challenge at Manchester and look forward to seeing old alliances.

2006 Challenge:

 Word spread quickly about the excitement of the team successes in 2005 and when it came time to recruit for the 2006 Challenge six more students were added to the team for a total of 22 students. The team was formed in September and met once a week to begin plans for the 2006 Kickoff. This year again with more interested parents and more time to develop the team, fundraising, PR and website design began earlier. More mentors were added to the team expanding the diversity even further.

After long days and nights were spent testing and finishing the robot, we attended the BAE Granite State Regional in late March. The "Aim High" competition tested everyone's strength and endurance- scoring points by shooting foam balls at basketball type hoops.  After placing 7th in the qualifying matches, we chose the 8th place team 1519, Mechanical Mayhem, and the 15th place team 133, our mentors B.E.R.T. We then went on a six game winning streak, defeating our opponents in the quarter finals, semi finals, and the winning championship. In addition, we won the Team Spirit Award. Both the victory and the Team Spirit Award were unexpected. On a side note, we blew a 120 amp circuit breaker in the last match pushing 2 other robots.

2005 Challenge:

In December of 2004, the team started recruiting and by mid month had added seven new members to the team each with different capabilities but all with the common goal of a working robot. New mentors were added and a stronger more diverse team was formed. The expansion of the team drew from two other area high schools along with the original Camden Hills Regional. The expansion also interested the regional technical school, Mid Coast School of Technology, and in December they offered "in kind" sponsorship of the team with the use of their space and machinery. Along with the new space and newly gained students came interested parents and the team grew. With the added adults more behind the scenes work could be accomplished. Public relations in the form of newspaper articles and pictures brought more team recognition and fundraising success. In 2005 other aspects of team participation in the FIRST regional event were explored and the team turned in a paper to the Chairman’s Award, expanded the t-shirt design, the team name and motto changed, and team colors, costumes and banner were developed. The new name and motto: Kaizen Blitz is a Japanese term for “Continuous Improvement.” The name was selected by members of the 2004 team who had visited Japan during the summer break from school. This name exemplifies the mission of the team to continuously improve all aspects of the FIRST experience. By the first of January at kick off time, we were well on our way to a stronger team. Everyone worked steadily on their assignments, prototypes were developed, systems tried, designs tested, and by mid February a working robot was developed. Many a night were spent fine tuning the design, reducing weight, testing and redesigning special features of the robot, and at last, a functioning robot trekked across the mock game field. The robot was crated and the team headed to Manchester to compete in "Triple Play" where tetra's were stacked for points. After the first day of competition the team placed eighth out of fifty five teams. What an accomplishment and reward to all! The next day of competition had its trials and tribulations. Gracious professionalism was a tribute to the team and they returned home without trophies or awards, but bigger and better plans for next year.

2004 Challenge:

In 2003 two students from Camden Hills Regional High School heard of the FIRST program, building a robot and decided to form a team, called C.A.R.T., for the 2004 event. They recruited others from the school and by December the team had 11 team members. They had one goal that first year- to build a working robot, not to be involved with other aspects of the FIRST program like the Chairman’s Award, website development and team spirit; just accomplish a working robot. As a new team and only one of four teams in the state, the new team needed guidance and the Bonny Eagle High School team from Standish, BERT- Team #133 agreed to mentor the team. The challenge was “FIRST Frenzy - Raising the Bar”. The team attended the regional competition in Manchester, NH. They returned home without awards but with a sense of accomplishment and a renewed anticipation for next year’s challenge and plans for expanding the team.