DEWBOT I Chairman's Award

Also see our general Chairman's Award page, and compare this first-year submission to our sixth-year application with DEWBOT VI.

Chairman's Award Overview

The Chairman's Award is the highest honor in FIRST Robotics. The award is given by the Chairman of US FIRST to the team that has done the most across the last two years to present the ideals, goals and objectives of the FIRST Robotics program to the public. In 2005, there were 20 regional awards presented at each competition (we are competed at the Chesapeake Regional). Winners from the regionals are entered in the Championships; that winner is placed in the FIRST Hall of Fame and gets to meet with the President of the United States.

FIRST writes about the award:

"The FIRST Robotics Competition is about much more than the mechanics of building a robot or winning a competitive event. It is about the partnership among people who are part of the FIRST community and the impact on those who participate in FIRST programs with a united goal of achieving FIRST’s mission. The FIRST mission is to change the way young people regard science and technology and to inspire an appreciation for the real-life rewards and career opportunities in these fields."

"The Chairman’s Award was created to keep the focus of the FIRST Robotics Competition on our ultimate goal to transform the culture in ways that will inspire greater levels of respect and honor for science and technology, as well as encourage more of today’s youth to become scientists, engineers, and technologists."

"The Chairman’s Award represents the spirit of FIRST. It honors the team that, in the judges’ estimation, best represents a model for other teams to emulate, and which embodies the goals and purpose of FIRST. It remains FIRST’s most prestigious award."

The following is our entry. Only 10% of the 1300 FRC teams submit entries.

Short Answers

Impact of FIRST on Team

Briefly describe the impact of the FIRST program on team participants:

As a rookie team we had to learn almost everything about constructing, designing, and implementing the robot from scratch. We learned to drill, measure, clean, machine, etc. The team applied lessons learned from physics and math in a hands-on manner. We had to cultivate our time management skills to balance demanding schedules. We can utilize these new talents in future endeavors. We have gained an appreciation for every task and feat that the robot accomplishes.

Role Model Characteristics

Describe examples of role model characteristics for other teams to emulate:

We have taken inexperienced students during all stages of our project and integrated them into the team. We all have expectations to excel in everything we set our minds to, but sometimes we differ among ourselves regarding the best way to achieve the finished product. We have recognized this obstacle and learned to adapt to each others styles to make a better finished product. The most admirable quality of our team is our willingness to put in maximum effort and “go with the flow”.

Impact of FIRST on Community

Describe the impact of the FIRST program on your team and community:

The biggest impact of the FIRST program has come from combining the talents, resources, and efforts of businesses, engineers, teachers, students, family members, and friends. As the project progressed, so did the level of interest of other people in our school. As a result the size of the group now is far larger than when we first began. Another important aspect of our group is our safety habits. We always wear our safety glasses and exercise proper safety techniques.

Methods of Spreading FIRST Message

Describe the team's innovative methods to spread the FIRST message:

We plan on demonstrating our competed project to the student body. Our goal is to spark their innate curiosity and provide them with the drive and determination to pursue technological fields. We plan to do many demonstrations and take the robot to schools, businesses, and public places. Recently we showed our robot as we fundraised at our school’s first annual variety show. Our principals saw the fruits of our labor for the first time. They seemed to be proud of our accomplishments.

Strength of Partnership

Describe the strength of your partnership:

We have made lasting companionships with people who come from different backgrounds, interests, age groups, grades, sex, ethnicity, and experience. The robotics team has brought together people who would never have talked without this common interest. We have had great success in partnering with companies and working with engineers. Since we are all under similar conditions, we understand when somebody needs to take some time off to focus on studying or when they simply need our support.

Team Communication

Describe the team's communication methods and results:

Most of us developed an interest in the robotics project through examples from our physics teachers. We saw our teacher’s pictures and awards from his work with other schools. As we get to know each other, our communication has gotten much better and we have been able to work efficiently. Even though we all joined for different reasons, we soon learned to work together to achieve the final goal.

Other Matters of Interest

Explain any other matters of interest to the FIRST judges, if any:

We started the team with little experience. Even though our advisor has participated before, we didn’t have any other senior leaders who have the wisdom of past experiences.

2005 Chairman's Award Essay

The Downingtown Area High Schools have never been involved in the FIRST robotics competition in past years. Our newest physics teacher, Mr. Sabatino, introduced us to the project and showed us pictures and awards from his work with students in previous years. Most of us became interested for different reasons. Some of us joined because we like physics, others joined to research their interests in engineering or a technological field, and still others just out of pure curiosity. As a whole we didn’t really understand completely everything we were getting ourselves into. We expected to play with little pieces of robots and build a simple project to do a simple task or move around a circular track. None of us realized the magnitude of this project until we watched the FIRST robotics simulations on the computer and read the various manuals. It still didn’t hit us until we actually received the building materials and started working.

Although slow at first, the project soon gained momentum. Our first task was to build various parts of the playing field so that we could further grasp the concepts of the game. During that time we learned how to work well with each other and learn each others’ personality. We built tetras and goals to get a mental picture of exactly what type of design would be necessary to complete this project. It wasn’t long before ideas started flying and our project was under way.

The first task we completed was the frame. It was exciting to actually have a piece of the robot built and something to show to other people. Slowly the robot took form and interest in the robot increased. We started as a fairly small group of students and teachers and grew to a large group of students, teachers, engineers, parents, and school administrators. Mr. Garcia, our nightly custodian, often stops by and looks at our progress and adds his expertise to improve the project. We appreciate the help from all different areas and backgrounds. Even if we don’t understand the vocabulary used to describe everything in the robot, we still sit back and absorb the information. This observation is helpful because when we see it in college or somewhere else down the road, we will have been exposed to the material.

The best part of this project is that it breaks down barriers we have in school. Our teachers are no longer just teachers but also our companions because everyone is learning something new. We get to see them when they don’t have to be completely professional and stick to a strict regimen. It also breaks down barriers between grades and different groups in the school. From the Seniors to the Freshman we were all just as fresh to the experience. Nobody had more experience than anybody else on the team so we all had to work together to support each other as we learned the ropes.

Our project has been a valuable application of all the math and science classes we have taken throughout high school. It’s surprising how stimulating every step in this process has been. It’s hard to shut down after a day’s work because we’ve had to employ every ounce of creativity and ingenuity we have. Another lesson we had to learn is how to use the materials and resources available to turn our ideas into a tangible, working product. Our team has been very successful with this process. Problems and minor setback have arisen occasionally but we take them and stride and push ourselves to solve them. In fact, problems have led us to design a much better robot than we could have if we never had a problem.

As a rookie team we had to learn almost everything about constructing, designing, and implementing the robot from scratch. We have learned proper techniques for drilling, partitioning, measuring, and cleaning. Some important skills we’ve learned, we can apply to daily housework. As students, we have had to cultivate our time management skills to balance our demanding schedules. We can utilize these new talents and apply them to our future endeavors. In addition to conventional lessons, we have gained an appreciation for every task and feat that the robot accomplishes. Everybody stops their work when the robot is going to be tested or move in any way, shape or form. Everyone has had some role in every single piece of the robot. This has unified the team because we all share the responsibility. Our communication has developed to the point that anybody could pick up the work of a person who has to leave or cannot be there that day.

The most challenging part of the project is the computer programming. We have countless people working with the programming and bouncing ideas off of each other. Without the help from our programmers who came from one of our sponsors, we would not have been able to do much in the way with programming. The programming mentors have helped many members of our team learn more about how to program the robot.

Our group can serves as an example for other groups in the school and any other robotics group. We have pioneered the project in our school and opened the doors for others to follow in our footsteps. We have taken inexperienced students during all stages of our project and integrated them into the team. Next year we will have new seniors that can relay their knowledge to the younger students. In this way, we will increase the experience with which we can develop the project in future years. Being collectively intelligent, we all have expectations to excel in everything we set our minds to, but sometimes we differ among ourselves regarding the best way to achieve the finished product. We have recognized this obstacle and learned to adapt to each others’ styles to make a better finished product. The most admirable quality of our team is our willingness to put in maximum effort and “go with the flow”.

The biggest impact the FIRST program has had on the community and team is that we have employed the talents, resources, and efforts of businesses, engineers, teachers, student, family members, and friends. Another important aspect of our group is our safety habits. We always wear our safety glasses and exercise proper safety techniques.

Our parents have been an integral part of this project. Without their support the project really wouldn’t have been possible. They fed us during the extensive weekend hours or ran errands to get different supplies when we ran low. We also gained more respect for our parents. A few parents of the group are engineers and they came in to help the group. As teenagers, we normally don’t value the expertise or knowledge that our parents possess. We take the fact that they actually have been in our position for granted and that they might have valuable opinions. At the same time our parents have developed a respect for the amount of commitment this project has required. Even though they frequently say “I wish I could be a kid again, kids have it easy,” they see that we must balance our schedules in the same way they do. Even as educated people, our parents have learned something new. They have been thrown into a new situation. Even though they learned the subject in college and elsewhere, things have changed. We hear our parents saying things like, “I wish I had been introduced to a project like this when I was in high school.” From comments like that we get to appreciate this experience more.

We plan on demonstrating our completed project to the student body. Our goal in doing this is to spark their innate curiosity and provide them with the drive and determination to pursue technological fields. We plan to do many demonstrations and take the robot to different schools, businesses, and public places. Recently we showed our robot as we fundraised at our school’s first annual variety show. Our principals saw the fruits of our labor for the first time and they seemed to take pride in our accomplishments.

We have made lasting companionships with people who come from different backgrounds, interests, age groups, grades, sex, ethnicity, and experience. The robotics team has brought together people who would never have talked if they hadn’t had this common interest. We have had great success in partnering with companies and working with engineers. Since we are all under similar conditions, we understand when somebody needs to take some time off to focus on their studying or when they simply need our support. Even though we all joined the team for different reasons, we have learned to work together to achieve the final goal.