In its rookie year, the Baldwin Robotics Team Chaos Inc., has already experienced many exciting moments through its participation in the nationally acclaimed FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) programs and competitions. Beginning with the dedication of a few Baldwin High School science, technology and business teachers and students in May 2004, and initially supported by grants from the Baldwin Foundation for Education and Baldwin High School’s Class of 2003, the team was officially founded in September 2004, and has grown to include forty regular members.
In September, the team participated in a preseason FIRST competition, hosted by SBPLI. Impressively, as the team did not have its own robot, members quickly learned how to use one graciously loaned from another FIRST team, Plainview-Old Bethpage. Chaos, Incorporated is the first rookie team to ever use a borrowed robot in a competition. Coming in seventh place overall was a pleasant surprise.
During Halloween weekend, Chaos Inc., officially Team #1546, participated in the New Brunswick Eruption FIRST competition. There, again using the Plainview-Old Bethpage robot, the team qualified for the final rounds against a full roster of veteran teams, and won the “Against All Odds” trophy. This recognized the difficulty of using the loaned robot, one that was not formatted to the correct competition program , and Chaos Inc.’s accomplishments in the match.
This aspiring rookie team’s success did not end there. Our first creation, completely original to our team (the mini robot), came in first place in the Vermont Kickoff Workshop Competitions.
This team is bound for great things competing in FIRST.
Despite the rookie status, members have organized themselves with
endless dedication and enthusiasm. Unwilling to accept defeat, their
limitless determination guarantees victory.
On January 10, 2005, the team hosted its own Baldwin Kickoff. After a serious review of the rules for this year’s game, “Triple Play,” strategy was discussed and debated for a long period of time. Dinner was served, and the students certainly went home with enough information to think about. The strong work ethic required of the Robotics members was demonstrated by this intense first day. The dedication of the people who make up Chaos Inc. is immense, and they continuously rise to meet new challenges.
On the week of January 10th, the team dove straight into designing the robot. There were over thirty different ideas, and all were considered. After hours of debate, a decision was made. The construction team built the drive train by the end of the week and the field team also put together full-scale tetras, so that everyone could picture, practice, and design with real proportions.
The week of January 31st was very hectic. The construction crew worked hand in hand with the design team to implement the pulley system on our arm. There were many long nights, but at the end of the week, the arm was constructed, although not fully functional. There was a parent meeting on Wednesday that aimed to inform our parents of our progress and also ask for whatever they could provide during the upcoming three weeks. Everyone volunteered either their time or supplies, and a calendar was filled by parents volunteering to cook dinner for our late nights, which was very helpful.
The week of February 7th, we put in 6 full days of hard work. The organization team wrote and rewrote the submissions for the Chairman’s Award. While the fans and other electronics were placed on the base, the team realized it was coming down to crunch time. With the parents cooking dinner, the nights grew even longer, because although progress was occurring, it was taking longer than expected. But spirits were kept high even as more and more obstacles came up, and the team worked their hardest to overcome them.
The week of the 14th was the final one with our robot. Things had to move quickly, because our ship date was Friday, three days early. The arm’s pulley system was finally implemented, the claw was attached, and the robot was moving. But we had to take it apart to slim it down when we realized that it was almost 20 pounds overweight. After completing that harrowing task, we set up a mock field and the programmers were able to code for the movement, and drivers practiced driving. Although more time is always helpful, we were confident that we build the best robot we possibly could and were eager for competition.
In the last and final week, everything was hectic and chaos, as the robot was
being finalized and getting ready for shipping. At the Hofstra SPLI regional,
we competed and won the 2005 Rookie All Star Award.. We were eligible to go
to the finals in Atlanta.