2014BusinessPlanFinal

BUSINESS PLAN FOR THE 2013-2014 FRC YEAR

STEINERT ROBOTICS

ZERO GRAVITY

FRC TEAM 2180

1 Learn, Grow, Serve.

Table of Contents:

Learn, Grow, Serve. 2

Title … 1

Table of Contents* … 2

Executive Summary … 3

Intro to FIRST … 5

Team Summary … 7

We Learn. … 16

We Grow. … 32

We Serve. … 45

Notes … 50

Executive Summary:


Mission Statement:

“Zero Gravity FIRST Team 2180 strives to learn creative problem solving and cooperative skills; to grow our opportunities and other’s interest in our program; and to serve our communities by promoting FIRST and STEM.”

Formation Date:

Fall, 2007

Founder: David Kohler

Team Coach, Steinert Technology Chair

Number of Team Members: 38

Team Location:

Joseph Steinert Memorial High School

2700 Klockner Road

Hamilton, NJ 08690

Sponsors: Sun Chemical

New Jersey Education Association

Lockheed Martin

Waste Management

Bloomberg

Nav-Air

FMC Technologies

Hamilton Township Education Association

Nation Defense Education Program

Executive Summary:


Services Rendered:

To provide an environment that facilitates real-world experiences. This is done

through teamwork, trial-and-error discovery, and making the organization

student-run.

To provide an outlet for community service by participating in various

community events.

To instill a new set of values in students including STEM, engineering skills,

and internal growth.

Current Sponsors:

Our current sponsors are largely local, who contribute to a yearly ad booklet

handed out at our largest fundraising event.

For information about how we rank sponsors/our current sponsors, see 40-41.

Team Growth:

The team has grown largely in part due to our experiences. For instance,

Hurricane Sandy and the Syrian Civil War has largely affected our growth as a

family. Our participation in local events helps spread the word about our

program, thus inspiring students to join FIRST.

Future Plans:

In the future, our team would like to see ourselves participate in events such as

the 2014 Special Olympics, and reach out to corporate sponsors in said events.

In addition, the team would like to create a Summer Camp to instigate future

team growth.

Intro to FIRST:


For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology

(FIRST) was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen. Over the

past twenty years, FIRST has become a multinational,

nonprofit organization with teams located in Brazil,

Canada, Great Britain, Israel, and the United States.

During FIRST’s introductory year, 28 teams competed.

Now, over 2,300 teams compete in 31 Regional

Competitions in the FIRST Robotics Competition. FIRST

has made it their goal to inspire students from grades K-12

to pursue subjects such as Math, Science, and Technology

in ways that one would not usually experience in the

typical high school setting.

When FIRST began, the organization was funded by

Businesses, Educational Institutions, and the Federal

Government. With the help of new investors every year,

and the encouragement of every US President since its

inception, FIRST is able to put together more difficult

tasks that keep everyone challenged year after year.

Intro to FIRST:


FIRST credits the success of the organization to the thousands of volunteers, engineers, teachers, and other mentors who have helped make the organization as prosperous as it has become worldwide.

Many of FIRST’s past student participants have returned to help coordinate the Regional and National competitions in order to allow present members achieve the same – if not more – opportunities that they received from the program.

Since it’s beginning as an organization, FIRST has become a worldwide phenomenon. Now with 2,300+ teams, and thousands of students all over the world competing, the organization has come a long way since its introductory days. Robotics programs have been promoted in schools worldwide as an excellent way for students to learn new things in a hands-on environment.

With FIRST and its beliefs becoming well-known around the world, the future looks bright for a society that celebrates STEM education.

Team Summary:


“First is a great way to prepare yourself for future skills needed in varying

courses of study and career choices.”

http://steinertrobotics.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=188821300

Developing a Mission.


“What words are important to us?”

“What do we do?”

• Creative problem solving skills for real-world issues.

• Technical and non-technical skills to carry on in the future

We Learn.

• Opportunities in the FIRST program and local community

• Interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics

We Grow.

• Local and FIRST communities by extending and open hand

• People interested in FIRST and STEM, including our students/mentors

We Serve.

Team Mission Statement:


“Zero Gravity FIRST Team 2180 strives to learn creative

problem solving and cooperative skills; to grow our

opportunities and other’s interest in our program; and to

serve our communities by promoting FIRST and STEM.”

Team History:


Steinert High School became acquainted with the FIRST program by joining the VEX Challenge in the Fall of 2007. the 2007 team consisted of 8 students and one mentor/team captain: Mr. Kohler.

The team was – in terms of the program – very inexperienced but ambitious, as the team consisted of students interested in the STEM career path. The goal of the team was to help ignite this ambition in future students.

In November of 2007, Steinert joined the FIRST Robotics Challenge and successfully won a NASA grant that provided for the entrance fee for the World Championship for the 2007 year.

In December of 2007, during a VEX Robot Competition, the Steinert team was awarded the 2006 New Jersey Championship Inspire Award, presented by Public Service Electric & Gas.

This award would secure our admittance to the FVC World Championship in Atlanta, GA.

A year later, team Zero Gravity was involved in FRC as a rookie team, where we placed in the top 8 in a Trenton Regional Competition.

In addition, the team was awarded the Top Rookie Seed Award in 2007.

Team History:


Due to the team’s success, Zero Gravity was invited to attend the

FRC and FRC World Champion in Atlanta, GA.

The team was able to attend due to the assistance of the Sun-

Chemical Corporation. Through mentor Dr. Rich, a Sun-Chemical

employee, the entrance fee was paid for the team and shipping was

provided for the team’s tools and supplies.

7 of the 8 students in both the FRC and FVC programs attended the

championship. Overall, the Steinert team placed poorly out of the

teams within their division.

However, the World Championship – with its various teams – was

described as an overwhelming experience. This drove the team to

compete harder for the upcoming years in order to perform better

at the World Championships.

This unwavering determination allowed the team to win various

awards following the 2007 rookie year. In 2009, Zero Gravity were

awarded Woodie Flowers finalists.

In 2012, Team 2180 won the Engineering Excellence Award and the

Xerox Creativity Award. In addition, the Steinert Team placed as

finalists in both of the regional competitions they attended.

The greatness of our team was additionally awarded with attendance

to the FRC World Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

Team Goals – Listed:


To compete in all award categories of FIRST.

To document by way of writing and video all aspects of the

organization.

To develop, maintain and update the team website.

To design and build a robot to compete in FRC and FTC

competitions.

To develop a positive relationship with the community.

To obtain and maintain sponsors for a self supporting program.

To expose students to possible career opportunities in math, science,

technology and engineering.

To develop activities for fundraising.

To develop an annual off-season robotics tournament – open to local

teams and teams in the FIRST community.

To secure scholarship opportunities for Steinert High School

robotics team members.

To mentor other robotics teams.

To organize and mentor local FIRST Lego League robotics teams at

local elementary schools.

To develop life long skills needed to succeed in high school, post

high school education and career.

Figure 1: Team Hierarchy


Zero Gravity

Student’s Association

Engineering

Mechanical Electrical

Design Programming

Public Relations

Awards Outreach

Social Media

Collateral

Parent’s Association

Planning

Food Financing

Mentoring

The success structure of Zero Gravity has been created from the team’s

success in previous years.

The team is divided into three committees that encompass general

responsibilities of the team:

Student’s Association Committee

Parent’s Association Committee

Each committee has a chairperson and each committee serves its own

purpose in the team’s success. The chairpersons of student’s association

committee are elected after FRC competition season, and the offices

(President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer) of the parent’s

association committee are elected in the Fall of the following school year.

Student’s Association:


The student’s association committee is broken up into four units, which

contain the team’s technical and non-technical sub-teams. These sub-

teams are:

Engineering – responsible for designing, developing, and testing the robot.

29 members of Zero Gravity are on this sub-team.

Public Relations – responsible for submitting awards and marketing the

team through various forms of media. 9 members of Zero Gravity are on this

sub-team.

The Engineering sub-team is further divided into the following units:

Electrical – responsible for the wiring and circuitry components of the robot.

Mechanical – responsible for building the robot and the drive train.

Programming – responsible for implementing code for the robot.

Design – responsible for designing blueprints and developing strategy of the

robot.

The Public Relations sun-team is further divided into the following units:

Awards – responsible for submitting the team’s awards, including the

Chairman’s Essay, Dean’s List, Woodie Flowers, Chairman’s Video, and Team

Business Plan.

Social Media – responsible for collecting video and footage of the team

throughout the year; in addition, this unit maintains and updates the team’s

websites and social media pages.

Outreach – responsible for pitching the team to prospective local news,

sponsors, and the community for service.

Collateral – responsible for creating the team’s shirts, logos, banners, etc.

Parent’s Association:


The parent’s association committee is broken up into two units –

which is comprised of mentors, teachers, and – more or less –

the parents of every student involved on the team. These two

parent’s association units are:

Planning – responsible for organizing the team’s finances and

attendance at events.

Mentoring – responsible for guiding students in both the

Engineering and Public Relations committee.

The Planning unit is further divided into the following units:

Financing – responsible for maintaining and publishing information

concerning the team’s budget every fiscal year.

Food – responsible for reaching out to parents via email about time

slots to bring food to team meetings.

The Mentoring unit works alongside the team’s student

association committee in each of the units and sub-teams in order

to ensure that each member of the team learns, grows, and

serves as a result of their involvement on the team.

Together, each part of the team comes together into one whole –

working alongside together in order to carry out the team’s

mission in the most effective way possible.

We Learn.


“FIRST means learning new things everyday, from STEM topics to interaction

and networking. Steinert Robotics gives me an opportunity to learn the

things that I'm not always exposed to.”

Grassroots Learning.


From our past, we have learned a lot about the FIRST Program and teamwork. In order to improve the team, we documented these lessons, in order to improve for the future.

Although our team has learned a lot, there is certainly room for improvement; the continuity of learning is something that our team strives to embrace, and continues to achieve with each season.

LESSONS LEARNED:

• Additional Fundraising needed for costs of entrance fees and building robot.

• Student handbook, which would include the FRC manual and general safety procedures.

• A proper business plan would be periodically updated in order to better organize the team as a whole.

• A focused mission statement would developed to accurately describe the aims and intentions of the team. The mission statement would also serve as a tool to evaluate the actions of the team (e.g. would doing this help carry out our mission?).

• A parent’s association and larger mentor body would be required to better strategize the aims of the program in terms of efficiency, management, and other key factors.

• Various technical and non-technical committees must be assembled in order to better tackle the challenges and problems provided by first.

How do we learn?


Learning to Zero Gravity is - quite simply – the fruits of

trial-and-error experimentation.

In order to learn, Zero Gravity embraces this trial-and-

error process by using an algorithm of learning. In every

endeavor of the team, this problem solving method is used

to make and carry out decisions. While it may seem

logical, it has nonetheless resulted from our years of

involvement in the FRC and FTC programs.

This algorithm is an effective, tried-and-true method that

has crystallized into a mantra that the entire team has

learned to use in every aspect of the team.

• Identify the problem.

•What is our goal?

1. Identify.

• Brainstorm Various Methods To Solve Our Problem.

• Does It Carry Out The Mission?

2. Brainstorm. • Get rid of

methods that are not practical.

• What are our constraints?

3. Eliminate.

• Analyze the best method(s) and revisit Steps 2-3.

• How can this become more efficient?

4. Perfect. •Put the

ideas to the test.

•What are we waiting for?

5. Act.

• Collect feedback from our participants.

• Did it work?

6. Measure.

Seminars and Workshops:


The seminars and workshops provided by our and other teams are the basic steps towards the learning process. Through them, the members of the team become familiar with the program and gradually become contributing members of the team.

The team – throughout the year – contains the following workshops, lessons, and seminars for various units of the team:

Safety Workshop – basic workshop for the entire team that teaches members standard safety procedure and protocol in the shops. Members that are more involved with the technical aspects of the team learn how to use specific tools as the meetings progress before Build Season.

Team Mission Workshop – beginning of the year workshop, where every member of the team learns about the team’s history and the team’s mission.

Programming Workshop – various workshops conducted throughout the year for students involved in the programming sub-team of robotics. Various programming languages, such as LabView and Java, are studied.

Electrical Workshop – various workshops conducted throughout the year for students involved in the electrical sub-team of robotics. Sensors, Servos, and Pneumatics systems are studied.

Mechanical Workshop – various workshops conducted throughout the year for students involved in the mechanical sub-team of robotics. Tools in the workshop are demonstrated and are offered for students to test.

Public Relations Workshop – various workshops conducted throughout the year for students involved in the public relations sub-team of robotics. Brainstorming about team vision is carried out.

In addition, the team attends seminars in other schools (i.e. Montgomery High School Kickoff) to gain insight from other school’s teams in each year’s annual challenge.

Team Mentors:


Our mentors are an integral chain in the learning process at Steinert

High School.

The mentors involved in Zero Gravity come from a broad range of

fields in the workforce – including marketing, systems engineering,

mechanical engineering, software engineering, financial services,

education, web management, and telecommunications. Some

mentors of the team even include Steinert High School Alumni, who

have returned to the FRC at their high school to help current

students achieve what they could, and more.

Our mentors have one mission at Zero Gravity: to promote

discovery. Our mentors refuse to tell our students that the endeavor

that they pursue is incorrect; instead, they encourage our students to

pursue that avenue and inquire how to achieve it.

The student-to-mentor ratio on the team is approximately 2:1,

which means each student on the team is able to interact and inquire

from our mentors at our team meetings.

By ensuring that our mentors are not directly involved in the

learning process, Zero Gravity believes that it offers the greatest

learning opportunity to our students. The trial-and-error, hands-on

approach to learning is – according to Team 2180 – the greatest way

to allow our students to learn past mistakes.

Team Stats:


Starting from just 8 students under one mentor coach, Zero Gravity has

really branched out, with a more rich, diverse student body.

Zero Gravity credits its success largely in part to its diversity, which

facilitates the learning experience for all of its constituents.

Today, Zero Gravity consists of 38 students:

Every grade level of the high school is represented on our team.

3 middle school students are represented on the team.

7 female students are represented on the team.

Our students are highly motivated to pursue a future career in STEM. In

fact, 30 of our 38 members are eager to do so. Of the members that said

no, all of them either find the field interesting or are still considering

other career options.

Are you interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) as a

career choice?

No, not at all (0)

No, but sounds fascinating (3)

Perhaps, I'm still considering (5)

Definitely (30)

Student Handbook:


The student handbook is an essential item for every member of the team;

in it, key documents can be found that help members on every unit of the

team:

Awards Guidelines – contains instructions and guidelines about awards

submissions (i.e. Dean’s List, Woodie Flowers, Chairman’s Essay, etc.) from the

FIRST Website.

Team’s Safety Manual - contains the team’s safety manual, which contains

the power point presentations from the team’s annual safety workshop;

instructions about operating machinery and being safe in the shop are included.

FRC Game Manual – contains the game manual for the year’s annual

challenge from the FIRST Website.

Zero Gravity Team Manual – contains the team manual, including

information about team meetings, membership fees, and an overview of the

program – including each sub-team and its duties.

Zero Gravity Seasonal Calendar – contains a calendar of all team meetings

and event dates throughout the year.

With every important document of the team organized in a handbook, a

unity of the team is created – providing each member with insight of the

other units of the team.

Students who wish to drive the robot during competition must be

especially well-read in the student handbook – particularly the FRC

Game Manual. Prospective drivers are tested based on the rules outlined

in this manual before consideration.

Group Learning:


Zero Gravity fully supports the group learning process in order to

prepare our students for the workforce; beyond high school, many of our

students will find themselves working with colleagues in order to solve

problems similar to the ones provided annually by FIRST.

From its units to it’s sub-teams, and from its committees to the team as a

whole, every member of the team feels as the part of a greater whole.

These parts don’t only include the individual members themselves, but

different sized groups such as the units, sub-teams, and committees.

For instance, the Social Media unit may cooperate together internally in

order to determine the best way to lay out the websites. However, social

media may also cooperate with the Mechanical or Electrical units in

order to gather footage and photos for the website.

Decisions that affect the entire team (e.g. our attendance in off-season

events or fundraising tactics) are made and discussed by the entire team

before each meeting. One of the greatest examples of team decision-

making includes the End-of-the-Year Evaluation that concludes Build

Season, where the entire team evaluates its performance in the past year

and devises a plan for next year in order to become a better team.

In the end, Zero Gravity believes that all members of the team – despite

their future aspirations – will at least benefit from the opportunity to

work with others to solve problems.

Resources:


Zero Gravity utilizes various resources in order to develop our robot and

carry out our mission:

LabView, for programming the team robot

AutoCad, for making scaled, digital drawings during the robot blueprinting

stage

Google Docs – to maintain a database for award submissions and status reports.

SMART Board and SMART Technology – for periodic group and team

discussions.

FRC Kit of Parts

AndyMark/FIRST Choice Kit

National Instruments

Modules:

Voltage Modules

Digital Modules – rendering/writing switches

Solanoid Modules – opening/closing valves

Motors:

Fisher-Price motors, from Fisher-Price products

Servo motors, from airplane/craft hobbies

Money – to run the team’s various programs

Scrap parts – the team collects scrap parts from Steinert High School classes

and utilizes them for the team’s robot.

Computers – our school is armed with computers in the computer-aided

drawing rooms. computers allow us to maintain file-sharing and to keep

important documents digital.

Shops – Team 2180 uses the school’s machine and wood shops to craft the parts

necessary for creating the robot.

SWOC Analysis – Listed:


Steinert Robotics FRC Team 2180 utilizes the SWOC Analyses

when weighing the benefits and drawbacks of fundraising

methods, ideal events, blueprint designs, and involvement plans

for the future. In essence, it allows us to learn.

This method is also used by the team during the End-of-the-Year

Analysis, which requires members to provide their feedback

about the pros and cons of the team during the FRC year.

The SWOC Analysis usually generates many ideas and points

when evaluating key events and processes.

The sample SWOC that proceeds discusses the following points:

End-of-the-Year Evaluation – how effective is the annual EOTY

in perfecting the team with each successive year?

Applebee’s Flapjack Fundraiser – is the Applebee’s Flapjack

Fundraiser an avenue of fundraising worth pursuing in the future?

Robotics Summer Camp – will creating a township-wide robotics

summer camp be beneficial to the team long-term?

Team Debriefing – is a team debriefing session that concludes each

meeting effective in keeping the team on track?

Involvement in Chief Delphi – should the team consider

becoming more involved in Chief Delphi?

SWOC #1: EOTY Evaluation


STRENGTHS:

* We already perform an annual evaluation of our events and

performances

* It’s a tried-and-true method in improving the way we carry out events, such as our Steinert

Slam

WEAKNESSES:

* We would need to do a better job each year collecting

feedback in order to evaluate our performance at any given

event or meeting

* Another task to do in addition to overseeing our events

OPPORTUNITIES:

* Would allow us to better carry out our team mission by putting Learn, Grow, and

Service into practice

* Self-perfection - leads to fewer errors and smoother performance in the future

* Have each subgroup evaluate performance

*Compile an EOTY Binder - filled with notes about each event, etc. (e.g. 2013-

2014 FRC)

CHALLENGES:

* Documenting all of our actions via status reports and surveys

* Collecting in-depth feedback and notes at each of our events

* Compiling and organizing our feedback in a binder

* Making sure to follow through with perfecting the team

EOTY Evaluation

SWOC #2: Flapjack Fundraiser


STRENGTHS:

* Now used to the entire registration process

* Has been largely successful in the past for a one-day event

* Food is provided to the team!

WEAKNESSES:

* Requires massive PR for a great turnaround

* Goes to waste in the event of inclement weather

OPPORTUNITIES:

* Provides the team with a source of income

* Can be done multiple times throughout the year

* Allows the team to bond by taking on new jobs together

CHALLENGES:

* “Spreading the word” to people in the area about the

date of the Fundraiser

* Predicting how much money we can make an event based on

multiple fundraisers

Flapjack Fundraiser

SWOC #3: Summer Camp


STRENGTHS:

*Allows our team to grow for future years

*Realistic; we have a large mentoring and student base

* Preserves team’s technical and non-technical skills and keeps them fresh

during the FRC build season

* Less time is spent informing and mentoring students on how to operate

tools, machinery, etc.

WEAKNESSES:

* The resources needed to execute such a program would cost money

* Would require our team to come during the summer to help mentor

youth

* The temptation of going outside and enjoying the weather!

OPPORTUNITIES:

* Would allow younger kids to see if they are actually interested in

robotics

* Educating youth about science and technology

* Provides the team with a chance to spread the core values of

FIRST/STEM

CHALLENGES:

* Motivating our audiences to participate in the camp

* The assistance of other volunteers is needed

* Advertising this program through means of media

* Keeping track of the team’s progress

Summer Camp

SWOC #4: Team Debrief


STRENGTHS:

* Keeps our team informed about our status and events

* Provides the team with due date estimates as time

progresses

* Is already a routine that we carry out during every meeting

WEAKNESSES:

* Would require team members to show up/stay before/after meetings

* Would require team captains to add another task to their lists by maintaining notation of events

* Our team isn’t extremely active on Google Docs, Windchill, etc.

OPPORTUNITIES:

* Allow file-sharing to occur within the team by updating status reports on a network

such as Google Docs

* Update and compile status reports to submit online on team website, Chief Delphi,

etc.

CHALLENGES:

* Team captains must be able to access Google Docs on a daily basis

in order be updated on the team

* File-sharing may go haywire, organization is essential!

* Team members must stay on the same page by actively visiting our

file-sharing sites

Team Debrief

SWOC #5: Chief Delphi


STRENGTHS:

* Already have Chief Delphi account

* No cost to maintain our status on the forums

* Allows us to openly express our team in a public forum

WEAKNESSES:

* Our involvement on the Chief Delphi forums is minimal

* Would require time, and perhaps certain delegations

* May be intimidating in a new environment

OPPORTUNITIES:

* Would allow us to develop better relations with other

teams; may help during competitions and scouting

* Share future FRC ideas with other teams (“Cooperatition”)

CHALLENGES:

* Finding teams to communicate with

* Developing the profile of an experienced, veteran team

* Multiple members must be involved on the forums

Chief Delphi

Learning Expenses:


The following table outlines the team’s learning expenses, and the

methods we’ve used to generate the necessary income to learn:

PURCHASE: PRICE:

ROBOT PARTS $3,000- $3,200

ENTRANCE FEES $12,000 - $15,000

TRAVEL $3,000 - $13,000

OTHER SOFTWARES AND

PURCHASES

$400 - $500

TOTAL MONEY NEEDED (EST): $20,000 - $30,000

EVENT: CASH FLOW:

FIRST LEGO LEAGUE $3,200 - $3,500

GRANTS: •BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB

•MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL

•NEW JERSEY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION

•LOCKHEED MARTIN

•NAV-AIR

•JC PENNY

MONEY MADE: •$6,000

•$8,000

•$2,000

•$3,500

•$925

WREATH SALES $1,000 - $1,200

AD BOOKLET $3,000 - $3,100

SEPTEMBERFEST, OTHER ITEM

SALES

$200 - $500

TOTAL MONEY RAISED (EST): $27,000 - $30,000

We Grow.


“FIRST is a great way to become exposed to engineering and gain experience with

different types of technology. I am involved in Steinert robotics to meet new people,

gain experience, and learn about a field that I'm interested in.”

http://steinertrobotics.webs.com/apps/photos/photo?photoid=188821316

FRC Calendar:


PRE-BUILD:

GRANT APPLICATIONS

STEINERT SLAM

TOUCH-A-TRUCK

SEPTEMBERFEST

BRUNSWICK ERUPTION

READYMAN GROUP

BUILD:

BUILD ROBOT

SUBMIT AWARDS

RESCUE MISSION OF TRENTON

SOUP KITCHENS

SYRIA RELIEF EFFORT

COMPETITIONS:

WEEK 1

WEEK 3

WEEK 4

WEEK5

WEEK 7

POST-BUILD:

MONTY MADNESS

END-OF-THE-YEAR EVALUATION

BANQUET

PARENT’S ASSOCIATION MEETING

TRENTON THUNDER

FRC Season – Pre-Build:


During the Fall, Zero Gravity becomes involved in a lot in order to prepare for the upcoming Build Season. The following is completed during Zero Gravity’s Pre-Build Season: Grant Applications – the parent’s association will meet

together in order to write grants to all of our sponsors.

Fundraising – Steinert Robotics is involved in various fundraising events before Build Season begins, namely our holiday Wreath Sale, Applebee’s Flapjack Fundraiser, and ad booklet which is largely distributed at the Steinert Slam.

Steinert Slam – students help host the FLL Tournament at Steinert High School. The students – as a result of fundraising – have provided the team with advertisements that eventually become compiled into an ad booklet.

Touch-a-truck – during the Mercer County Touch-a-truck event, students volunteer whilst spreading the first message.

Septemberfest – at Hamilton’s Septemberfest, Steinert Robotics sets up a booth – making sales and spreading the word about our program to people within our community.

Brunswick Eruption – in addition to outreach events, Zero Gravity is involved in off-season first events. At New Brunswick’s eruption event, Steinert Robotics competes with other teams.

Cub Scouts Readyman Group – at Mercer County Community College, Steinert Robotics demonstrates the robot and informs parents about the Robotics program to Cub Scouts troops all across the state.

FRC Season – Build:


During Build Season, Steinert devotes much time to developing a

robot to compete in the FRC Competition, and is as a result

withdrawn from fundraising and community outreach events.

However, we still participate in the following:

Build the robot – the engineering team attends meetings

to develop the robot and optimize its capabilities.

Submit awards – the public relations team attends meetings

to finalize and update information for awards submissions –

including the Dean’s List, Woodie Flowers, Business Plan, and

Comcast Media Award.

Rescue Mission of Trenton – students help carry out the

school’s clothing drive effort in order to provide donations

for the Rescue Mission of Trenton.

Soup Kitchen – students invest time at local soup kitchens

– such as the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen – in order to give

back to the community and promote FIRST.

Syria Relief Effort – initiated by a Syrian member of the

team, the team collects clothes and other items throughout

the season to send to Syrian Refugees displaced by the recent

conflict.

FRC Season – Competitions:


It’s Competition Season! Around this time, students will

be out in the stands: cheering, scouting, and making

partnerships with other teams. Good luck to all teams in

the Mid Atlantic Regional!

Week 1 – Hatboro-Horsham; March 1-2, 2014

Week 3 – Springside-Chestnut Hill; March 14-15, 2014 *

Week 4 – Lenape-Senaca; March 22-23, 2014 *

Week 5 – Bridgewater-Raritan; March 29-30, 2014 *

Week 7 – MAR Regional Championships at Lehigh

University; April 10-12, 2014

* = Will Attend this Event

FRC Season –Post-Build:


Competition Season is over, and the new season will rear its head in the upcoming months. Until then, our team will be on the outlook. Our objective is to make sure everything, including our robot, financial plan, and social media outlets, is up to date and running smoothly. Monty Madness – our team competes in another off-

season event during the end of competition season – having fun and demonstrating Gracious Professionalism.

End-of-the-Year Evaluation – at the end of the year, the team will assemble to evaluate our events and actions throughout the course of the season. The notes will be taken and will be considered in the creation of the schedule for the next year.

Banquet – before the school year concludes, our team will host our annual banquet to celebrate our efforts and say farewell to the FRC year.

Parent’s Association Meeting – during August, the parent’s association committee will meet at the Hamilton Township Public Library to review the End-of-the-Year Evaluation notes and set up a budget and schedule for the upcoming year.

Trenton Thunder – our team gathers tickets and sells them to the school to attend the Trenton Thunder game during August.

Where are we now?


Since the inception of Zero Gravity in 2007, the team has grown vastly. 32 determined students have sprouted from the team of 8 kids that invested in their robotics course experience. From the sole mentor of a past team, FRC Team 2180 has an even greater amount of parents and mentors – who make up a powerful parent’s association.

Every parent affiliated with the robotics program contributes to the team somehow. Parents that help mentor our students have various fields of experiences, including the fields of marketing, engineering, and communications.

Here are some of the many services our parents and mentors provide to the team:

Guide and assist students during build and competition seasons.

Provide transportation to events and competitions.

Bring in food during our build meetings, which occur 3 times a week: Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. In the event of a snowstorm or a holiday break, these dates are rescheduled accordingly.

Support the team in terms of financing and connections with other companies (e.g. a print company that produces our t-shirts).

The involvement of parents in Zero Gravity makes growth possible, as parent involvement increases our networking infinitely more than sole mentor-student involvement.

In just seven years, Zero Gravity has sprouted from a technology-exclusive club to a diverse, multifaceted organization with year-round activities. Our membership growth has come to include middle school students who desire to enter the FRC in the future, and we’re just getting started.

EOTY Evaluation:


One of the greatest ingredients to our growth is the annual End-of-the-

Year evaluation, in which the team gathers together to discuss how the

year was executed – event-by-event – and to propose ideas on

improvement for future years.

As the evaluation takes place, students, parents, and mentors voice their

thoughts and concerns about the season and notes are thus collected onto

a SMART Board Document.

Generally, the team runs through each of the events from the beginning

of the year until the end of the year. During the evaluation, the team

discusses the following:

What happened

The event’s significance

What was good or bad

How to improve the execution of said event

During the parent’s association meetings later in the summer, the parents

go through a binder containing the SMART Board Documents and make

preparations for the upcoming school year based on what was discussed

during the EOTY.

By doing this, Zero Gravity simulates growth inside the team to

accommodate for the external changes to come.

Zero Gravity Sponsors:


Sponsors – both material and financial – are undoubtedly

essential in our ability to grow and complete our goals.

The costs of maintaining the FRC Program at Steinert High

School are not cheap; our sponsors make our program’s long-

term existence possible by providing us the financial and material

needs in order to accommodate for these expenses.

The past year saw the following corporations, organizations, and

businesses sponsoring us:

Sun Chemical

New Jersey Education Association

Hamilton Township Education Association

Lockheed Martin

Capital Health Systems

Waste Management

Bloomberg

FMC Technologies

National Defense Education Program

To celebrate the opportunities that these sponsors have given us,

we include their logos on the team’s t-shirts, banners, and robot.

Thank you.


However, large enterprises aren’t the team’s only sponsors. In fact, we have many more locally-based sponsors and contributors.

Every year for the Steinert Slam, FRC Team 2180 carries out a fundraiser that allows our organization to reach out to other local business and contributors for financial aid to the team – asking them to place an ad in an ad booklet.

These advertisements are compiled and placed into an ad booklet that is available for distribution during our event – where hundreds of people attend.

The ad booklet contains the following charitable donation ranks, all based on the price of the donations: Gold ($500+, full-page ad)

Silver ($200-499, half-page ad)

Bronze ($100-199, quarter-page ad)

Sponsors ($75-99, honorable mention in ad booklet)

Friends ($50-74, honorable mention in ad booklet)

Patrons ($1-49, honorable mention in ad booklet)

Based on the contributions received, most sponsors (gold, silver, bronze, and sponsors) receive placement on our team’s sponsor banner, t-shirts, and team website. All sponsors receive a thank-you letter with our competition schedule and team picture.

Team Building.


Our team is more about intellectual growth; at Zero Gravity,

building life-long friendships is equally important.

The team, at every Saturday meeting, practices team building

exercises during lunch hours. These exercises – which range

from Socratic Circles to Icebreakers – are gauged to bring the

team together.

Our team experienced some of its greatest growth during the

last FRC Season.

In the event of Hurricane Sandy, which left devastation all across

the East Coast, Team Coach David Kohler had his home reduced

to the ground. Shortly after that, team student captain Adam

Cyran’s home burned to the ground.

The team felt compelled within to extend a helping hand to these

members by visiting the site of the damage and cleaning up the

debris and remnants of their homes. What has resulted was a

tighter, stronger bond between all the members of the team.

From this, we learned that each of the members on the team

could count on one another to help out during times of need.

Team Visions:


The team’s visions for future growth include the following:

One of the team’s greatest long-term goals in terms of growth is to

maintain a functioning team. By doing so, we will be certain that our

FRC Program can continue to provide students with the resources

needed to spark that devotion to STEM.

In addition, Zero Gravity wishes to expand its relations with other

teams, locally and nationally. To the team, maintaining a broad

network of friends and partners will be important for success at

FIRST and for our students – facilitating a real-world experience in

which coworkers meet together to solve problems.

Our team would like to maintain a broad range of sponsors, and

would like to reach out to larger corporations for assistance. While

local contributors are certainly valued, the team feels that having a

network of larger industries is important for maintaining and

surpassing our financial constraints every year.

Finally, Zero Gravity would like to spread the FIRST message to a

broader audience – allowing for a growth in opportunity for us and

for the world.

By meeting these goals, we are completing one of the three facets

to our mission; therefore, we must devise several methods to

successfully meet these visions.

How can we get there?


The team has devised several broad strategies to do so:

Zero Gravity has considered starting a township-wide Robotics

Summer Camp for students grades 9-12 in order to raise interest in

the program and provide students with lifelong skills that are

required for a career in STEM.

Zero Gravity would like to co-host said Summer Camp with the

other FRC Teams in the township in order to develop this relationship

with local teams. In addition, by becoming more active on Chief

Delphi, Zero Gravity will branch out to other teams and develop

partnerships with other teams.

Zero Gravity would like start a marketing program which specifically

targets large corporations for financial assistance. By doing so, we

will be eligible for expanding our horizons as a team and allowing

our other forms of growth to follow.

Zero Gravity would like to start attending large-scale events in order

to increase the FIRST demographic from a local community to a

statewide or nationwide community.

The team’s acquisition of growth is constant, and has no end.

Should we complete all of the following tasks, the team will take

on a new set of objectives, thus placing the sky as the limit and

fostering the boundless energy of youth to power our future in

Science and Technology.

We Serve.


“The opportunities presented by FIRST are the marriage of scientific and social

interactions in a committed, interested group. Through the Organization, creative

thinking and problem solving - as well as socializing and friendship making - can

coexist. To me, FIRST is a preparatory model of the working world where you

make up a group - regardless of your assets or strengths.”

What does service mean?


To most, service means provided for those that are less

fortunate. While this is certainly the case, service has

another mean for us in Zero Gravity.

In addition to providing a helping hand to those less

fortunate, Zero Gravity wishes to promote FIRST to the

broadest audience possible in the process, wherever

applicable.

To the team, doing this is the greatest service of all, as

encouraging today’s youth to make scientific discoveries

will become a great turnout in the future.

Students who participate in research today become

tomorrow’s innovators, inventors, scientists, and problem

solvers. Therefore, performing Zero Gravity’s brand of

service becomes a great investment in the society of

tomorrow.

Relations/Partners:


Zero Gravity exhibits many partnerships and relationships with other

teams, organizations, and sponsors.

Within our sphere, we have strong relationships with other first teams:

We share insight, information, and even parts with the other teams in our school district:

teams 2495 and 2191.

In addition, we housed first team 192’s robot all the way from California before the 2011

FRC New Jersey Regional Competition.

We are the host of the FLL Steinert Slam and invite other FRC teams to help.

Within our sphere, we have strong relationships with other organizations.

Our robotics team organized a presentation for the Hamilton Township’s Board of Education

– who provided students with certificates honoring the problem-solving innovation that is

cultivated within our program.

Our robotics team helps organizations such as the local boy scouts troop with their Veteran’s

Park cleanup.

Zero Gravity becomes annually involved in the rescue mission of Trenton Clothes Drive –

where our team asks the high school to donate clothes for the less fortunate.

Our team annually hosts an end-of-the-year banquet, where we invite our sponsors,

contributors, and school administration.

At Grice and Crockett Middle Schools, local Hamilton Township schools, Zero Gravity sent

students to help mentor the FIRST Lego League teams.

Within our sphere, we have strong relationships with our sponsors:

We thank our sponsors and invite them to our regional events. Some of these local sponsors

include the Hamilton Township Education Association, Clarici Graphics, and the Inn of the

Hawke.

During the 2010 FRC year, zero gravity developed an addition, recycling robot named

“Robo Willie” for the Mercer County Improvement Authority. To this day, we maintain

strong relationships with the MCIA.

Service – Today and Tomorrow.


Throughout the FRC year, from season to season, Zero Gravity currently

participates in the following service activities:

Trenton Area Soup Kitchen – volunteering at local soup kitchens

while simultaneously informing other volunteers about the program.

Rescue Mission of Trenton Clothes Drive – donating clothes to

the homeless within the Trenton area, but additionally providing a

letter to the volunteer offices about the team and its programs.

Syria Relief Effort – initiated this year; collecting clothes and other

items, packaging them, and shipping them to Syria for the internally

displaced peoples devastated by the recent conflict.

8th Grade Mentoring – allows 8th grade students in the township

to acquire skills practiced in FRC by allowing them to work closely

with the team.

Zero Gravity has future visions for the team in terms of service:

Princeton Special Olympics – this summer, the Special Olympics

will be held in Princeton; Zero Gravity wishes to participate in this

event by helping coordinate the event.

Start a new FIRST Team – Zero Gravity would like to initiate a

new team within the FIRST Community, be it the JrFLL, FLL, FRC,

or FTC.

The End.


STEINERT HIGH SCHOOL - EAST

2900 KLOCKNER ROAD

HAMILTON, NJ 08690

(609) 631-4150

FAX: (609) 631-4117

EMAIL: [email protected]

http://www.hamilton.k12.nj.us/HamiltonEast.cfm




Notes:
