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FIRST
Chief Delphi
FIRST Topsite

Our hopes, our dreams, and the unbreakable bonds of friendship we hold so close all started with a simple letter. All FIRST Robotics Team 885, The Green Team, wanted was fundraising money from General Electric. What they ended up with was something more than they bargained for, competition, another team in Vermont, and a new friend. They got the money they needed to compete, but in the process a new team was born, the iBots Team 2370. A team with fire, a team with a passion for knowledge just waiting to be recognized. GE Volunteers made the decision to help a group of students take a step in the right direction. To help the youth of tomorrow search their souls and find their true potential. Posters were hung in eight Rutland County schools. Some kids would pass through the halls without a second glance, but others took notice. Those "others" were the few that had the desire to learn, the brightest stars of our community. As recruitment continued, along with promotion of FIRST via Stafford Technical Center and the Rutland Halloween parade, students from area high schools were rising to the occasion. They wanted to overcome the challenge that was placed before them. They wanted to do what others were incapable of; they wanted to achieve an inner sense of glory. Not by winning the competition, but by uniting as a team and expanding their knowledge to a point they never thought possible. They realized that medals and trophies do not make you winners; only hard work and dedication do that. Our first meeting was at the Rutland Free Library. A group of twenty-one strangers met that day. We left as closer friends than anyone would imagine. We had fun with team building exercises. Then it all began when our team received our number, Team #2370. The number may not mean anything to anyone other than our team, but to us it was a base, a base for a team that would accomplish many great things. We realized that with this base, we could create a foundation for students for many years to come, with a little help of course. Alderman’s Chevrolet was more than willing to give us that help. Recounting from my own personal experience, I went with my father to see Mr. Alderman. We explained to him the importance of our program and how it would be an excellent thing for our youth and our community. He listened very intently to everything we had to say. When we mentioned G.E. gave us $6,000 out of the $12,000 we needed to get off the ground, I remember him giving us a warm smile and saying, "Let’s see if I can’t match that." Everyone was ecstatic. I can say that without Mr. Alderman’s or General Electric’s help, all the progress we made might not have been possible. Wanting to spread FIRST in our area, we also worked very hard at forming Rutland Area Robotics, Inc., a non-profit 501c3 to handle our, and any future FIRST teams, finances in our area. After we knew we were a team for sure, we had to decide upon a name. We knew our team name would stay with us forever and we all recognized how important the decision was. We tried many names, well over a hundred. Then, one night while I was brainstorming by my bed, a name just struck me. It stood out like no other name we had before. When I brought my final work in front of the team, the vote was unanimous. Our new team name was the iBots (Intelligence Beyond Ordinary Teenage Students) 2370. After that matter was settled, and the 2008 kick-off was getting closer, we moved out of our room in Stafford Technical Center and into a G.E.’s facilities for building. Volunteer mentors sacrificed their time and energy to help us learn more about the challenge we were going to delve into. The head mentor of the iBots, Jeff S. along with the help of Paul C., the assistant leader, taught the team about CTQ’s. They helped the team organize their jumble of thoughts into an organized fashion. In the end we decided to make a robot that did two things, was fast and could push the ball. As Jeff called it, "A Speedy Pusher." We agreed if that was made within the first couple of weeks, we would move on to adding a part to the robot that would elevate the ball. This ended up being a scissor lift powered by pneumatics. As you can imagine building a robot could be very stressful at times, but to lighten the load a bit, our team attended birthday parties and game nights. Principals and teachers were invited to G.E. to watch the kickoff. We were very anxious about the game being released. You could hear the chatter of people biting their nails, but besides for that there was a kind of awkward silence. Everyone was waiting, for our first kick-off and FIRST Overdrive. After the webcast, we divided into multiple sub-teams. The financial managers, Jamie, and myself set a budget for each department. At the beginning we were lost, puzzled, confused, but thank the Lord we had Sandy S. She helped us; from writing our business plan to keeping track of financial data and basically taught us financing from the ground up. The other sub-teams focused on building the robot. After it could drive and was close to finished, we chose a drive team. The Holiday Inn let us use their ballroom and the final drivers were picked based on ability, with no bias. Sadly, I ran through the middle line twice (which would have been the center wall) so I was not picked. The best people got the job. Zeb was driver, Jake was the appliance operator, and Jon chosen for coach. We are almost ready for the competition. Governor Douglas came to wish us luck and we wish good luck to all of the teams!

*I would like to give a special thanks to all of the mentors and also, Jeff S, Sandy S, Paul C, Ben K, Mike H, Margret I, and many others. Without whom none of this would have been possible.