team 812 chairman's award submission 2006

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kidsTEACHINGkids

2006 Annual Report


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tablecontentsof

T E A M 8 1 2I. Team 812

History

Students

Mentors

Demographics

Accomplishments

II. Impact on Studentse Preuss School

III. Preuss School UCSD

Information

Statistics

IV. Construction

Programming

Shooter

Ball GatheringDrive Train

Electrical

V. Financial

Sponsors

VI. Community Outreach

Information

Impact

University of California Regents

VII. FIRST Lego League

FIRST Lego League

FLL Competition

VIII. Project RUBI

UCSD Dynamic Learning Center

Reach For Tomorrow

IX. FIRST BUDDY

VSD

SAVY

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center

SEA

San Diego Public Libraries

Boys and Girls Clubs

UCSD Sally Ride FestivalMonarch School

X. Team San Diego

San Diego FIRST Expo

San Diego FIRST Kick-Off

San Diego FIRST Lock-In

San Diego FIRST Scrimmage

XI. FIRST STEPS

MIT MITESUCSD

SDSU

UC COSMOS

WPI GEMS

Temple University PSTP

John Hopkins CTY

NASA NSBRI

XII. Documents

Executive SummaryChairmans Submission

XIII. Glossary of Acronyms

XIV. Appendices


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history

2002 - 2006T E A M 8 1 22002

Season:

Team 812, the Midnight

Mechanics, began in the

fall at the Preuss School UCSD. Team 812 is the

first FIRST team in San Diego. With the support

and assistance of the University of California,

San Diego, e Preuss Foundation, and the

NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Team 812commenced upon its endeavor as a first year

tem in the rigorous FIRST environment.

As a beginning team, the team faced many

challenges along their journey. Without

the aid of a machine shop, the

team had struggled to construct

a robot adequate to withstand the

2002 FIRST Robotics Competition.

Despite the adversaries the team had

encountered during that six-weekbuilding season, Team 812 persevered.

As a result, the team has built a great

rookie robot, Wah-hee-sah. ough

the final standings were low in the

competition in the Southern California

Regional in Los Angeles, Team 812

achieved recognition through the All-

Star Rookie Award.

2003Season:Aer being able towitness the power of FIRST first hand, Team812 returned the following season in attempt to

further spread the message of FIRST and recruit

more teams in the San Diego community. e

team had successfully bridged a partnership with

San Diego Community College; through SDCC,

they began to deliver presentations to local San

From top:1 - Team members

at a family potluck event2 - Team 812s hosts the Annual San Diego FLL

Competition3 - Team 812 preparing for the Annual San Diego FLLCompetition


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Diego high school administrators and educators.

e teams success was accredited by having three

schools registering with FIRST. Team 812 began a

mentorship program with teams 1079, 1125, and

1136.

During this time, Team 812 continued to developthemselves as engineers and programmers.

Mentors from the University of California, San

Diego became a part of the Midnight Mechanics.

e mentors attended the meetings regularly in

order to teach students the knowledge and the

fundamental engineering principles in which

comprises FIRST. Meanwhile, as the mentors

instill their knowledge, they are able to obtain

fresh input and ideas from the students. At the

Southern California Regional Competition, Team812 received Daimler-Chrysler Team Spirit Award.

In addition, at the Arizona Regional, the team was

recognized through receiving the Judges Award.

2004Season:In 2004, the Midnight Mechanicshad to hit the floor running. e team was very

busy. With months of planning, Team 812 had

hosted the first annual FIRST Lego League

Competition at the Preuss School UCSD.

Dozens of FLL Teams from around the

San Diego and Los Angeles area were

invited to participate in the competition.

e team had also registered with FIRST

for two FLL teams in order to further

permeate the message of FIRST in our

school. e team had also mentored

other FLL teams in San Diego.

Team 812 founded Team San

Diego. Team San Diego [TSD] is acoalition of all San Diego Robotics

Teams. e mission of TSD is to

provided assistance, support, and

communication or all FRC teams

in the San Diego area. Team 812 has

demonstrated the fact that they are the leaders of

the San Diego coalition. Team 812 has supplied the

San Diego teams with mentors and partnerships.

e team had helped others begin their journeys

as a part of FIRST. Team 812 taught the teams the

fundamentals of engineering and was with them

every step of the way.

In partnership with Madison High School FIRST

Robotics, an active member of TSD, Team 812built a full size playing field. All members of TSD

had access to the playing field in order to practice

and prepare for the regional competition. e

Midnight Mechanics had also hosted the Second

Annual San Diego Robotics Exposition. At the

Robotics Expo, prospecting educators and high

school students in San Diego county would be able

to learn about FIRST and watch a live competition

between participating TSD high schools. e

San Diego Robotics Exposition also solicits andeducates possible sponsors. Our performance at

the Southern California Regional honored us with

the Engineering Inspiration Award. e team

had decided to go on to compete in the National

FIRST Robotics Competition in Atlanta where

we received the national Engineering Inspiration

Award.

2005

Season:

Upon our return in the fall

of 2004, Team 812

Angelina Saldivar presents to FIRST LegoLeague students the importance of gracious professionalism


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had continued to achieve the same success from

the past. e team had created partnerships

with the University of California, San Diego and

CAL[IT]2 to design and implement a college level

engineering course, MAE3, for Preuss School

students. e program was to introduce students

into the field of engineering and assist them in

their development as the future generation of

success.

In addition, Team 812 had successful recruited

addition teams to join Team San Diego. e

coalition had then developed an organized system

in which provided support for novice teams as well

as assistances, such as mentoring, supplies, and

the necessities for robot building. We continued

to host the Annual San Diego Robotics Exposition

and the Annual FIRST Lego League Competition.

Having the national competition experience hasgreatly reshaped the team. Each member is more

focused and devoted to obtaining success in the

construction of the robot and instilling the values

of FIRST in the community.

Each member of the team had to organize his

or her own community service project. As a

result, the team had successful piloted over forty

community outreach events that distributed

the message of FIRST and made the Midnight

Mechanics a reckoned force in the San Diego

area. Our students transitioned from being

underrepresented to renown. At the Southern

California Regional, the Midnight Mechanics

were recognized for all of their hard wardand determination. Team 812 was the

Los Angeles Regional Chairmans Award

winner.

2006Season:e 2006 season has beenthe busiest season yet for the Midnight

Mechanics. With many of our past

participants transitioning into their college

environment, Team 812 has been replenishedwith many participants in their freshmen and

sophomore years of high school. Veterans have

worked diligently to instill their knowledge and

skills into the novices.

Team 812 has given rise to the FIRST BUDY

[Building Understanding in Developing Youth]

System. e BUDY System is a program in which

Team 812 plays in active role in the community

through educational assistance. Our Chairmans

Group has built partnerships with the Preuss

School UCSD Saturday Enrichment Academy

[SEA], the San Diego Boys and Girls Club, the San

Diego YMCA, the San Diego Beckworth Library,

the San Diego City High School SWAP Program,

and the Monarch School of San Diego to provide

mathematics and science tutoring and mentoring,

technology assistance and support, medical

profession education, and good health services.

In addition, the Midnight Mechanics ChairmansGroup had initiated the FIRST STEPS [Students

Together for Education and Promotion of Science]

Program which has build partnerships with

the MIT MITES Program, the UCSD and UCI

COSMOS Program, the WPI GEMS/WUNDERS

Program, SDSU School of Engineering, and the

NASA NSBRI to educate the community about

scholarship programs which advocate mathematics

Lisa Duong draws up the Ball Gathering design teamsdescription of a possible mechanism for the robot


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and science. Team 812 holds conferences and

events in which promotes the programs. e

conferences are designed to teach students the

process of application, provide Alumni experience,

and instill the message of FIRST.

In addition, to continuing our annual expositionsand FLL competitions, the team has endeavored

to bridge new relationships with local San Diego

businesses and organizations. Team 812 has

partnered with the University of California, San

Diego RUBI Project which is an endeavor in the

interactions between children and robots. e team

has also, once again, continued our partnership

with the Preuss School UCSD, SPAWAR, the

Machine Perception Laboratories at UCSD,

General Motors, the Anngenberg Foundation,and the San Diego County Fair.

Team 812


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We spend over 15 hours a week and Saturday

mornings at school tutoring students in hope to

instill an interest in math and science among the

youth. We are involved with the Boys and Girls

Clubs, day care centers, and San Diego Public

Libraries.

Our relationships with Students Actively

Volunteering for You and Volunteer San Diego

allow us access to community events. At the

San Diego We Care Fair, our team presented

engineering and technology through an artistic

discipline. e Reuben H. Fleet Science Center

gives team members volunteer opportunities to be

involved with interactive science education.

In addition, we implemented FIRST STEPS[Students Together for Education and Promotion

of Science] to introduce students to a future

in math and science. Our partnerships with

University of California COSMOS, Johns

Hopkins University Center for Talented Youth,

Massachusetts Institute of Technology MITES,

NASA National Space Biomedical Research

Institute, Temple University Physician Scientist

Training Program, and WPI GEMS makes FIRST

STEPS is the first successful scholarship and

internship advocacy program initiated by any

FIRST team.

e University of California, San Diego Machine

Perception Laboratory solicited Team 812 as a part

of their Robot Using Bayesian Inference [RUBI]

Program. e RUBI Program studies artificial

intelligence through robot-human interaction.

rough RUBI, we will become involved with the

research of cognitive sciences at the future UCSD

Dynamic Learning Center, an institute fundedby the National Science Foundation. rough

their Reach for Tomorrow Program, we will assist

in the matriculation of students into four-year

universities.

Our efforts to change the community and culture

of America have been recognized by community

leaders and companies such as the University of

California, San Diego, the Preuss School UCSD,

General Motors, the Annenberg Foundation,

UCSD Machine Perception Laboratory, SPAWAR,

San Diego County Fair, and Qualcomm.

In addition to being a Regional and National

Engineering Inspiration team, Team 812 has alsobeen a Chairmans Award winning team at the

Southern California Regional Competition for the

past two years.

Coming from low-income backgrounds and

the inner-city of San Diego, we understand the

importance of education, as they are the first

generation university bound students in our

families. We were the children who were not

supposed to go to college. We were not supposed tomake a difference in our communities. But despite

these dogmas of society, we did.


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making

historyS T U D E N T S V I E W : C H R I S T I N A N G U Y E N

Iwas on my way to becoming a lawyer until I

collided into FIRST Robotics. I was the timid,

introverted girl that never spoke up in class,

sitting in the back corner of the classroom, and

waited for things to come to me. I thought it would

not be too time-consuming, did give out good

scholarship money for the future, and would be anice addition to my list of extracurricular activities.

I was not expecting any dramatic life changes. I

was very wrong.

I found I could not tear myself away from our

FIRST Robotics team, and programmed the robot

in the wee hours of the morning. FIRST is worth

all those hours that I spent, because not only

did I learn programming, but to actually value

gracious professionalism, love science and math,and have a tremendous amount of fun. Upon

joining the FIRST Robotics team at my school, I

became entranced with the world of innovation

and progress, and started researching on the new,

creative technologies today.

at so-spoken girl is now gone. I am before

you a mature, college-bound, participant in

college-preparatory class discussions. I actively

search for opportunities, with a determination to

excel. Constantly looking for connections with

my extracurricular activities, I am no longer

complacent with what I learn in class, and learned

to apply everything and anything in real life

scenarios, while never too shy or cautious to ask

questions implemented by FIRST. I love learning,

and my involvement in robotics forced me to let

go of my hesitation. FIRST changed me; I became

Christina Nguyen


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outgoing, and loved talking to other people about

FIRST- on the airplane, the elevator, conferences,

and other club meetings. I also learned to balance

my time, become more organized, and as a result,

my grades and confidence have gone up. Now less

passive in class, I try to inspire youths around me,

and smile at the competitors victories.

I remember I rolled my eyes at the bulletin notice

in eighth grade about FIRST Robotics, thinking

science was not for me, that I was surely going

to be in humanities. I had been at e Preuss

School UCSD since sixth grade, in 1999, its

groundbreaking first year, and will be part of the

first class that has been through its entire seven

years. My friends, whom I have known for those

seven years, marveled at how much I have changedby FIRST. is fall, I am planning to major in

biochemistry or biomedical engineering. Over the

past summer, I interned at a biochemical research

laboratory, because I was extremely interested in

a particular proteins link to neurodegenerative

diseases. I had to search out this particular

internship, actually take the initiative to read

countless articles and find principal investigators

contact information. e Midnight Mechanics

have made this happen; they have taught me to

never be cautious of chasing my dreams of doing

research. Currently, I am interning at the Cal-[IT]2

as a programmer to develop curriculum for a class

at UCSD. I am also active in many community

service activities, and co-founded a new one for

organ and tissue donation while being the primary

grant-writer.

FIRST Robotics has been the catalyst in redirecting

my career goals. I have always wanted to be

influential to the younger generation. Now, I donot only want to be a role model, but be influential

as to how people perceived math and science. As a

girl, people, especially those in my family, have had

a hard time accepting the fact that I was interested

in pursuing a profession in math and science.

In addition, as a Preuss School UCSD student-

a low-income, first-generation college-bound

student- I rose above the expectations of society

despite my circumstances. No one expected that

I, a female Preuss School UCSD student, would

have done research, help program four robots,

and help my community before my high school

graduation. Preuss FIRST Robotics has changed

these conceptions. My family now accepts that I

am more than just a helpless girl.

I have become a complete FIRST enthusiast, and

almost as importantly, a science geek. I still value

the humanities, and love keeping up with current

events, but I have since realized science fits me I

blame it all on Team 812.


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FIRST founder Dean Kamen set out to start

FIRST ...to create a world where science and

technology are celebrated....where young

people dream of becoming science and technology

heroes.... Has this dream been accomplished?

Perhaps to some degree. Students are starting to see

the opportunities in science and technology; sports

stars and Hollywood celebrities are no longer rolemodels (nor should they ever have been), but the

mentors and engineers they work with in robotics

have taken the charge.

When I got involved in FIRST, I told myself that

I would continue participating as long as

it was fun. Preuss Robotics has shown me

that I will be staying in FIRST for a long,

long time. is small charter school for low-

income students generates some of the mostmotivated students I have ever known. In my

experience as a mentor throughout Southern

California, I know how it is to have a small

team, to have a team of unmotivated students, to

have a team that does not embody the true spirit

of FIRST. But Midnight Mechanics are different.

ey have a certain energy within them that

inspires mentors like myself to return year aer

year and help out. A relatively large team of sixty

or so students, no student is ever found idling, nostudent ever shown to have discipline problems.

Every student displays an enthusiasm for robotics

that keeps me coming back, day aer day to help.

is program is an amazing success; its alumni

are a testament to this; as they have all gotten into

four year universities, when these students may not

have had this opportunity previously. As a college

inspiring

inspirationM E N T O R S V I E W : G E O R G E C H E N

1 - Rob Mainieri & George Chen2 - Mentoring programming team

3 - Teacher Dan Rupert with the team robot


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Team 812 believes that academic

achievement is the key to a successful

future. e Preuss FIRST Robotics

team, along with the Preuss School, endeavors

to instill math, science, and technology among

the youth. Our main target is our peers at the

Preuss School. Over the past six years, the Preuss

FIRST Robotics team has worked to initiate peer

mentorship programs at Preuss in order to assiststruggling students. a testimony of our success if

seeing that our peers score, on average, higher on

the California High School Exit Exam than the

entire San Diego School District and the state of

California.

The robotics team is a mix of students from

every grade level. e involvement from

all students is high and very active. Each

student is different and brings something new and

interesting to the table. With every grade level

represented, the learning levels are different and

upperclassmen are able to mentor and assist thelowerclassmen. In addition, the team is composed

of an ethically diverse student body. With students

representing various nations from around the

world, the cultural experience for many students

is lafe changing. rough the club, students are

able to learn more about customs and traditions of

other cultures while gaining first-hand experience

in the math and science arena.

teamdemographicsO U R S T A T I S T I C S

School Enrollment by Race & Ethnicity

Preuss School UCSD San Diego County

ENGLISH MATH0

20

40

60

80

100

65 6663 63

10093

Asian

White

African American

Latino

Filipino

Pacific Islander

Statewide

San Diego CountyPreuss School

California High School Exit Exam Pass

Rate (Out of one sitting)

0 10 20 30 40 50 60 70 80

US History

Spanish Lit

Spanish Lang

European His

English Lang

Art History

Class of 2002-2003

Preuss AP Exams Taken, by Subject

43.6%

20%

20%

16.4%

University of California

Community Colleges

California State University

Private Colleges

PREUSS CLASS OF 2004INTENT TO REGISTER**Out of 100% Acceptance rate


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ouraccomplishmentsO U R R E C O G N I T I O N

At the 2004 FIRST National

Championships, I feel out of my

seat when I heard Woodie Flowers

announced, ... And the National Engineering

Inspiration Award goes to the Preuss School

UCSD! It was an honor for FIRST to recognize our

dedication to spreading the message of FIRST. Itwas exciting because this award was traditionally

given to a national Chairmans Award winner.

- Christopher Khavarian

Testimonies of Success:

2002 - All Star Rookie Award@ Southern California Regional

2003 - Daimler-Chrysler Team Spirit Award@ Southern California Regional

2003 - Judges Award@ Arizona Regional

2004 - Engineering Inspiration Award@ Southern California Regional

2004 - Engineering Inspiration Award@ National Championship in Atlanta

2005 - Chairmans Award@ Southern California Regional

2006- Chairmans Award

@ Southern California Regional

Judges Statement:

[2005 at Southern California Regional]

is team has dedicated thousands of hours to

serving its community and surrounding area. is

includes mentoring multiple successful FIRSTteams, guiding each from the start, staying with

them until they develop into sustaining teams

on their own. ey have supported Lego League

teams ever since the teams first year of operation

and seems tirless in their efforst to reach out to

younger kids. With team members from member

demographic groups, this team values and

promises diversity and involvment in science and

techonology, independent of background. eir

motivation, contagious in every member of thisteam, shows that they have taken every principle

of FIRST to their hearts, and can demonstrate

the results in clear and personal ways. is team

continues to grow from their homebase and

beyond. Even their minor setbacks only encourages

them further. Outreach begans at home, but seems

to have no end for them. Each member of this may

have BEEN the child who was not supposed to go

to college, but today, this is THEIR story.


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impact

on studentsU C S A N D I E G OT

he major new addition to the

Preuss School UCSD is the FIRST

Robotics class, offered to high school

students. is class is primarily for students

learning project management skills. As a

student-run club, we plan and organize

events such as the San Diego LegoChallenge, and coordinate with the Team

San Diego to put on our three major

events. We work on public relations,

promotional materials, multimedia,

community outreach, and contacting

key individuals in our community as

part of our curriculum. e emphasis

on this class is more on working on

leadership and management skills that is useful

and important for the future of e PreussSchool students. Enrollment in this class is

not only limited to Team 812 members; by

doing so, this class can affect more than its

usual base of Midnight Mechanics members.

For high school students wanting to be

involved with engineering, we also offer the

Introduction to Engineering and Principles

of Engineering classes. As a small school,

it is difficult to implement many elective

classes; to offer to have two engineering classes

demonstrates our large impact on curriculum

at e Preuss School UCSD, as these were

introduced relatively recently. e engineering

classes immerse the students in hands-on, project-

based, learning that FIRST Robotics has inspired.

ese classes use Autodesk Inventor to transform

their innovative ideas into real products. Many of

1 - Mentors from MPLab help the programming team2 - Students take a break from working


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these design projects actually become products that

are made by the students, to provide an insight into

their ideas and goals.

As a six through twelve grade institution, we also

extend our influences into the middle school. We

have instated FIRST Lego League teams, namedthe Mini Mechanics, whom we mentor. We also

host the San Diego Lego Challenge which the

Mini Mechanics compete in. e middle school

offers an engineering course to expose middle

school students to apply math and science, as a

result of our presence and inspiration to younger

students. ere is also the option of BotBall for

the older middle school students not in FLL. We

also introduce the BEWiSE [Better Education for

Women in Science and Engineering] program tofemale students in these early years. As a result,

many of our middle school students are also Sally

Ride Festival participants and later, FIRST Robotics

members and engineers.

Our efforts school-wide include tutoring aer

school for all levels of math, tutoring for Saturday

Enrichment Academy in math and science. Since

the members in FIRST are academically successful,

we are sought-aer tutors for mathematics

ranging from Calculus to Algebra and Geometry.

Our FIRST STEPS program also extends to e

Preuss School UCSD. Since our school is focused

on success at attending and doing well at four-year

universities, the FIRST STEPS program is well

integrated in the community of e Preuss School

UCSD.

e result of these programs is more students

involved at e Preuss School UCSD with

mathematics-based activities. Team 812 is integralto have these programs implemented; no science

and math existed prior to its existence. Since

its conception, these changes have dramatically

affected e Preuss School UCSD and its students.

Along with influencing career-determining

decisions, the encouragement and family

atmosphere created by the robotics team has lead

to students overcoming their personal obstacles.

Many are also involved with other science-related

activities on and out of campus. e students

at e Preuss School UCSD have undoubtedly

been transformed into able-minded individuals;

authorities to change how others perceive math

and science.


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Preuss School was established on the

UCSD campus in Fall 1999. Preuss is

chartered under San Diego Unified

School District. Its mission is to provide an

intensive college preparatory curriculum

to low-income student populations and to

improve educational practices in grades 6-

12. If these goals are realized, the school will

matriculate students who are competitively

eligible to enter the University of California

or other selective institutions of higher

education. e School opened with 150

students in grades 6 8, and now is fully

enrolled with 767 students in grades 6 12.

Preuss 2004/05 demographics are: 59.5%

Hispanic, 12.9% African American, 21.7% Asian,6% White.

Preuss students are selected through a process

of application and lottery. Eligibility is based on:

student is from a low-income family [per Federal

school lunch criteria]; student has no parent or

guardian who has graduated from a 4-year college

or university; student has the academic potential

and motivation to benefit from an intensive college

preparatory program.

Preuss School is housed in a $14 million dollar

facility on the UCSD campus. One hundred

percent of the design and construction funds

came from community donors.

EDUCATIONAL MODEL

UCSD research into educational practices looks

preuss

schoolU C S A N D I E G O

1 - TeamMeeting

2 - FLL Tournament at Preuss School3 - Students CAD in the computer lab


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Preuss Students have an overall attendance record

of 98% which is higher than any middle or high

school in the San Diego Unified School District

[District average attendance is approximately 93%].

e Preuss School has a high percentage of

Advanced Placement [AP] scholars, and manymore have achieved AP status every student from

grades 10-12 has completed at least one AP class.

e Preuss Schools recent academic performance

index score of 845 places it as a top scoring high

school in San Diego County.

In May 2003, 596 AP tests were administered to

284 students. Of those students 57% of the 11th

graders passed with a score of three or better, and47% of the 10th graders passed with a score of

three or better and 32% of the 12th graders passed

with a score of three or better.

Preuss is considered a high performing school on

the States Academic Performance Index [API] [i.e.,

over the last 5 years Preuss has averaged 826 out of

a possible 1000 points]. Preuss compares favorably

to other San Diego Unified School District high

performing middle and high schools. Additionally,

Preuss success can be seen in the increasing

collaboration among school stakeholder groups

in supporting and delivering the educational

program, and in the student support systems.


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February 16th, 2006:

Progress today! We have the pan and tilt servos

working independently, but not together. We also

programmed this years robot, but had problems

because we want two Robot Controllers to work

with; the one on the 2006 robot and the one on our

testing 2005 robot. However, there were problemsin loading code into last years microcontroller.

We also moved code into a different function to be

called from autonomous mode. We now have two

working dongles, thankfully. Testing has been a

lot easier, and were getting closer to optimal gain

constants and such. Its getting really close to ship

date, and were more behind than we want to. At

least were driving!

We eventually had the camera and drive train

responding very well, but the time to test on the

robot was not enough to work reliably on the 2006

robot. What we had done during the building

season was to develop code and tested through last

seasons robot, because in the past, the soware

team did not have enough time to develop code

and test. e Programming group has progressed

significantly due to the Machine Perception

Laboratory (MPLAB)s mentorship. With only

one Programming veteran on the team, who was

graduating this year, the main objective was to

get all of the code written, and to have the next

generation of programmers knowledgeable and

ready. Growth could only happen with learning

and teaching, through us, the students.


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midnight

mechanics blogS H O O T E R

The Shooter Group has been among

the most crucial aspects to the

2006 competition. Our shooter is

the main source for scoring points, as the

objective of the game is to shoot balls into

a hoop.

e Shooter Group began their six week

building season on:

January 17, 2006:

Mr. Rupert purchased a wheel that

is a little bit over 14 inches but we

are planning to shave it down to be

exactly 14 inches. e shooter group

figured out the RPM for the wheel, by

doing mathematical conversions. Wethen looked at the Motor Performance

to fine the best way to run the actual

shooter. We are currently looking at

different timing belts and pulleys for the

shooter. Mr. Rupert has some connections

that would help us to create our

magnificent shooter. Tomorrow we hope to

finish finding the timings belt that we need

and place an order on it as soon as possible.

Over the course of six weeks, the Shooter

Group has made outstanding progress:

February 9, 2006:

Paul, Gary, Ximena, and Lisa finished drilling

the holes on the pulley pieces. Using the drill

press was very difficult because we were not

getting enough torque to drill into the pieces of theShooter team at work


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aluminum, with the 3/4 bit. Mr. Rupert increased

the torque for us, making it easier for us to

accomplish our task. Today, we had 6 of the 8 CIM

motor mounts, however, we soon realized that the

inner diameter is slightly bigger then we expected.

So Scott jumped onto the mill and shaved down

the edges of 4 of the 8 mounts. Scott also workedon the chain to drive the guide of the shooter.

Tomorrow we hope to mount the pulley pieces

onto the wheel, and we also would like to mount

the CIM motors.

e shooting team eventually mounted the CIM

motors, and got it working by the Pick-Up Game

that Saturday. e whole mechanism involves

not only building with tools and machines, but

calculating, strategizing, and working with other

teams.

Student Paul Ngyuen grinds down the shooter wheel


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The Ball Gathering group was introduced

to Team 812 because of the ball-gathering

aspect of the 2006 competition. ey have

shown to be exemplary and outstanding.

January 17, 2006:

Today we were able to figure out what type of

system the PVC rollers would use in order to move

and transport the 7 ball up the gathering system.

e decided system would be a chain system

that would turn the rollers. e specifications

were made as we searched online and through

catalogues to find suitable parts. e main parts

we researched were the sprockets and the chains

that would be used. Using the useful internet

catalogue for McMaster Carr Nylon Sprockets

and Acetyl Chains were found. By using theseplastic parts it would minimize the overall weight

of the ball gathering mechanism and the robot in

general. Our goal was met today by figuring out

how we would mount the rollers onto a frame

stably while not interfering with the rotation

of the PVC rollers and making sure that the

PVC rollers would not move le to right while

transporting the balls upwards. e solution

was to attach a PVC cap onto the ends of the

PVC rollers, then drilling a smaller hole intothat cap to insert a rod through the PVC roller

and the aluminum frames on each side. Attached

to the cap would also be our nylon sprockets

which would mobilize our PVC by the acetyl chain

system. Our goal for next meeting is to draw out

the specifications and hopefully start ordering

our needed parts. Ball gatherer is a work in great

progress!

midnight

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Student lead Brigitte Rubidoux and teacher Dan Rupert withball collecting device.


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As we transitioned over the course of the next few

weeks later, the Ball Gathering group documented:

February 6, 2006:

Today aer school we were able to accomplish

a lot, but it was also a day of problems. We wereable to attach all of the rollers onto the frame,

including finding the right amount of space we

needed to keep the three vital PVC rollers from

sliding horizontally. ien cut the chain length and

we were going to put the chain on, until we found

a problem. One of the back supports is in the way

of letting the roller spin freely, so we cut that off

and ien and Jose created holes on the back of the

frame. With a new bar, they created a U-Bracket;

this allows the PVC roller to move freely withoutthe support in the way. Also on one of the bottom

supports, the chain would have to run over it and

this is a problem. e right angle was inhibiting

the chain from running smoothly, so Melanie and

I grinded the area down and fixed the problem.

We also drilled a 3/8 hole on the side of the

frame where the motor sprocket

was. We did this because, before

we had a 1/4 hole but it was too

small for the sprocket, whose

diameter was 3/8. Once we had

everything in place, we put on

the chain. Everything seemed

to be working perfectly...

until we encountered another

problem. e chain would

hit the PVC cap and cause it

to elevate, thus causing the

chain to jump. All we have

to do is file the caps down

so the chains dont touchit. Next time we will file

down the PVC caps and

also work on a design for

a motor mount.

Even though the ball gathering was very calculated

and worked on every single problem, the ball

gathering mechanism ended up not going on the

robot. e general idea was interesting and seemed

like it would work, but did not execute as perfectly

as wanted, and scrapped the mechanism. e ball

gathering team moved onto a net that would catch

the balls from a human shooter, which would

actually be more efficient.

Student and mentor working on robot


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The Drive

Train group is

essential to the

success of our robot.

ey are in charge of

the motor and chasis

aspect of our robot.

ey began their

documentation on:

January 12, 2006:

As the meeting

started, Mr. Rupert

gave a presentation

on the four main

group[Drive Train,Ball Gathering,

Ball Shooting, and

Programming]. en the club broke into

those groups. Drive train met outside

and our lovely tutor Scott went over the

design of our ideal Robot. He talked

about this years robot having 6 wheels

instead of 4 and explained why. Soon

aer, ien gathered the group and headed

for the shed to look at last years Robot.Measurements were then taken of the gears,

gear ratio, and sprockets. We also discussed

the idea of torque or speed for our robot.

About a month later, the Drive Train has

progressed and commented on:

February 9, 2006:

midnight

mechanics blogD R I V E T R A I N

1 - Paul Nguyen and Antoinette Brou at work2 - Paul Nguyen and mentor Neal Bloom


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Today in Drive Train,

we finished the

bumper. As there is

not much for Drive

Train to do anymore,

weve dispersed out

into other groupsto help them. Weve

been helping ball

gatherer a lot in the

last two days, and

well be doing that

tomorrow too.

A finished Drive

Train in less than a

month has been a

goal of our team. is has progressed from havinga working Drive Train moments before shipping

last year, and no working robot from two and three

years ago. e primary responsibilities

of the Drive Train

is going through

kit of parts to see

most promising

Drive Train,

learning about

characteristics of allmotors, designing,

building, and testing

gearboxes if needed,

and deciding on

type of wheels or

treads. Drive Train

communicates with

all of the teams

more oen, because

it has more obligations to think about of spaceconstraints and where to put all the components.

rough the PEMP, the Drive Train can work

knowing that the components would succeed.


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midnight

mechanics blogE L E C T R I C A LL

ike a program code, without electricity,

the robot would not function. at is the

element which makes the Electrical group

one of the most essential on the contruction team.

January 17, 2006:

e Electrical groups goal for today was to readover the schematics of the power distribution given

by FIRST and to start building a prototype of

the electrical board so the mechanical

team can test motors

for the robot. We

printed out the

schematics, read

it over to track

how much would

be needed to test outa motor, and started

checking all the electrical

parts. en, programming

asked us to wire the 12V

battery to the main control

board [Robot Controller]

so they could test out the

camera, and we did. Aer

that, we started mounting the

components for the prototype

on a piece of plywood. We were

finished for the day. Tomorrow, we are

hoping to finish mounting all the parts needed

onto the board and wire it so that mechanical can

start testing their motors and choose the right ones

to use on the robot.

Over the six week period, the Electrical group

faced challenges both within and outside of FIRST

Robotics:

January 31, 2006:

uy, our Electrical Leader cannot come to

Robotics anymore, so the lead position has been

shied to me, Summer. is means were one mandown. Today we placed a lot of the

components on the electrical board,

but programming needed half the

board with the speed controllers,

so we couldnt wire anything

because they had half of our

board! At the next meeting

we plan on wiring all or most

of the components, and

make sure that our designstays compatible with the

Shooter and Drive Train

groups, because they tend

to change their minds

without telling anyone

else.

ere were many

obstacles thrown at the electrical

team this year. All of the electrical

members were rookies, and the lead had some

top-priority family problems. us, there was less

leadership, but all of the members had learned a lot

from Electrical this year. Despite all this, the robot

works, and the Electrical group came together to

make an efficient electrical system.


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community

U C R E G E N T SoutreachT

he University of California Regents govern

the largest public unversity system in the

world. ey oversee the operations of over

nine of the top institutes of higher education,

including: University of California, Berkeley,

University of California, Los Angeles, and

University of California, San Diego.

On behalf of the Regents of the University of

California, we commend you for your hard work

and accomplishments. Your commitment to

the community is remarkable and can be seen

throughout the state. We wish you great luck at

competitions and know that all of the UC campuses

are rooting for you.

-Regent Gerald Parsky

Chairman of the Board

I have seen the Preuss School Robotics Team

grow since its very inception. ey have strived

for excellence and are excelling past anyones

imagination. e impact that they have had on the

community is immense and can be seen through

anything that they do. is group of motivated

young adults gives me confidence in what the

future brings.

-Regent Peter Preuss.

e work that you have done in such a short

amount of time amazes me. You are a testament t

the success of the Preuss School. Congratulations

on your achievements.

-President Robert Dynes

President of the University of California

Geisel Library, University of California, San Diego


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FIRST

F L L M E N T O R S H I P

lego league

For the past four years, members

from Team 812 mentored sixth,

seventh, and eight grade students

participating in the FIRST Lego League

[FLL] program at e Preuss School

UCSD. In the 2005 season, Team 812

participants mentored two FLL teams

independently, without adult support,

acting as engineering mentors in the

FIRST Robotics program.

e game was Ocean Odyssey, for

2006, which focused on the working

conditions of the professions that

involve water. is was a connection

to the global news of the Tsunami in

India. e team assignment was to pickup victims and lost possessions in the sea.

Not only did the FLL members learn how

to build Lego robots, but they also learn

about the geographical and marine biological

concepts of the ocean and its conditions. ey

demonstrated understanding of these concepts

by creating their own PowerPoint presentation

and presenting that presentation to a panel of

judges.

rough these experiences, everyone gained a

deeper appreciation for the mission of the FLL

competition. Team 812 members were able to

instigate excitement about the core ideals of FIRST.

ey also proudly watched the matriculation of

the next generation of scientists and engineers.

In doing so, team members were motivated to set

higher standards for the next generation by beingSan Diego FLL Tournamment


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able to surpass the expectations established for

them today.

Such young individuals inspired by FIRST already,

in turn, inspire Team 812 members. Working

with students who are underclassmen, who

have the urge to learn and experience what islike a miniature First Robotics Competition is

what drives me to continue to mentor in FLL. It

is amazing watching how excited the students

become when they have their LEGO robot

drive a few inches towards their objective. is

exciting experience drives their motivation. eir

motivation is what fuels me. - Paul Nguyen, a

mentor for one of e Preuss School UCSD FLL

teams for the past two years. Once too impatient

to teach to young students, he plans to continue tomentor, and now is too impatient to wait for the

next FLL competition.

To contribute to give students an outlet for them

to express their interest in math and science, FLL

members were allowed to participate in the FIRST

Robotics building season. ese younger students,

known as Mini-Midnight Mechanics were given

hands-on experience in planning, strategizing,

building, and programming. Each Mini-Midnight

Mechanics interned in a group that focuses on a

certain aspect of the robot that they were interested

in, such as arm/appendage, drive train, soware,

electrical, and even community outreach. is

specialization will guide the Mini-Midnight

Mechanics into a specific area of interest, which

they can build upon or explore other aspects that

will carry into their respective futures.

e Mini-Midnight Mechanics are able to attend

meetings during the building season and assistour team in building the robot. is allows them

to further gain understanding and insight into

the enriching experience of construction. Many

find clarity in what they may want to become in

the future- perhaps an engineer, a scientist, or a

researcher. Few still find that they no longer want

to pursue a career in the sciences, but still love and

are fascinated with the technology, and continue

through the program. With this immersion into

the FIRST Robotics world, it is not surprising

to see self-evaluations and early introspective

thoughts. We embrace them into our high school

family, mentoring and encouraging their early

interest in math and science. In addition, they also

have special permission to join Team 812 in specialevents such as the Exposition, Kick Off, Pick-

Up Game, Scrimmage, and Lock-in. is early

experience and special privileges that Team 812

creates will enable them to widen and explore their

interest and make more educated decisions about

possible careers in math and science.


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FIRST

S A N D I E G O C O M P E T I T I O Nlego leagueT

eam 812 is responsible for bringing

the FIRST Lego League program

to San Diego. In order to create

an interest among the youth, we host

an informal Annual San Diego County

FIRST Lego League Competition at the

Preuss School UCSD each November.e event was organized and

coordinated completely by thirteen

to seventeen year-old students on

our team. With thirteen teams in

attendance, the event reached to

over a hundred students, each were

ages seven to fourteen, and taught

the understanding of concepts

such as math, science, and gracious

professionalism.

In order to make such an event

possible, as well as successful, Team

812 dedicated the majority of their

time in the planning, managing, and

development aspects of the event.

Team members oen stayed late at

school until 10:00 P.M. in order to

finalize the preparations for the event.

Such devotion demonstrates a great

amount of dedication to the cause,

even aer two months of constant

coordination. e team was divided

up into subgroups and each subgroup

coordinated a certain aspect of the

competition. e subgroups communicated

with each other by documenting work and

reporting, daily, to the PEMP, a student1 - Teacher Walter Solomon with students2 - Referees with team members


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leader who acts as the liaison. Each veteran was

partnered with a rookie team member to teach

and to train these newly initiated members in

the event planning process. is system worked

very well and did not put all of the responsibilities

in the care of the veterans. In addition, rookie

team members were able to gain insight as tothe proper etiquette of event planning and are

knowledgeable to coordinate events, such as the

San Diego County FIRST Lego League Regional, in

the future. As a whole, Team 812 contributed time,

energy, and great effort to brought together

a completely student-ran

competition.

With a

thoroughly

structured team,the subgroups

were able to

manage the entire

planning aspects

from obtaining and

maintaining the

facilities, soliciting

referees, judges,

volunteers, fields,

supplies, and all of

the materials that were

needed in order to run a

successful competition.

Team members arrived early the day of the

event. While the event begins at one thirty in the

aernoon, many team members arrived on campus

at eight in the morning to help set up the field

and organize the competition environment. e

arena was prepared with this years theme: Ocean

Odyssey. When the area was prepared, teammembers were delegated jobs, jobs in which they

were expected to, and did, perform at the highest

level of excellence. e jobs assigned included:

refereeing, selling food, speaking with sponsors,

presenting to local community members, leaders,

and educators about the FIRST Robotics Program

and our team.

When FIRST Lego League was first introduced

to San Diego, the FIRST Lego League teams

were working independently and did not know

the benefits of collaboration. Because of our

efforts, we were able to bring the San Diego, and

neighborhood communities, FIRST Lego League

teams together. rough the event, the teams havecreated strong, interpersonal relationships with

one another and developed friends in which they

are comfortable discussing game

strategies, sharing

ideas, and working

together. Such strong

support between the

FIRST Lego League

teams has never

been seen beforein the San Diego

area.

e event

showed the

community

that

engineering

and

technology can be

exciting and interesting. With every

local media station at the event, all of San Diego

was able to learn more about FIRST Robotics, the

Preuss School UCSD, Team 812, and our mission

to bring math, science, and engineering to our

underserved communities.

Emcee George Chen talks with teams


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project

A R T I F I C I A L I N T E L L I G E N C ERUBI

The University of California, San Diego

Machine Perception Laboratory [MPLab]

solicited Team 812 to be a part of Project

Robot Using Bayesian Inference [RUBI]. Project

RUBI is a research project studying artificial

intelligence through human and robot interaction.

Project RUBI works with early child development

centers and University of California students to

conduct their research projects.

We serve as a research subject for the MPLab

and the community outreach portion of their

institution. Our involvement with RUBI allows us

to work with the future UCSD Dynamic Learning

Center [DLC], which is being implemented by

the National Science Foundation. e DLC will

be an active research laboratory studying human

learning and interaction. e DLC will become the

epicenter of cognitive research in San Diego.

the UCSD Dynamic Learning Center, involving

investigators from fields as diverse as cognitive

science, machine learning, robotics, developmental

and perceptual psychology, and neuroscience. e

administrative location of the center will be at theUniversity of California, San Diego, but there will

be substances participation from investigators at

UCB, Brown, CMU, CU Boulder, Pitt, Rutger, the

Salk Institute, Vanderbilt, Victoria, and Yale.

-National Science Foundation Grant

e broader impact of this proposal will be first,


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FIRST

C A T A L Y S T F O R C H A N G EBUDDYS

ince its

conception in

the fall of 2001,

Team 812 has been

committed to changing

the culture of our

world by starting

with the kids. Most

Midnight Mechanics

did not know the

value of science

and technology

until joining the

team, thus we

are dedicated to

providing children

with all the tools

they might need tosucceed by exposing children to

science and technology. Our mission

is to bring science and technology

to the youth, minorities, low income

students, and girls, groups that

compose our team, and give them

the head start that we did not have in

our under served schools. First started

at our own school with tutoring and

mentoring of middle school students, our effortsto expand our reach have spilled beyond the

bounds of Preuss and to all over San Diego. FIRST

Building Understanding and Determination in

Developing Youth [BUDDY] was born out of these

efforts. Since its conception early this season, we

have reached to hundreds of youths through this

program by partnering up with Students Actively

Volunteering for You, Volunteer San Diego,

1 - Reuben H. Fleet Science Center

2 - Monarch School

3 - Preuss School UCSD


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Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, San Diego Public

Libraries, Boys and Girls Clubs, and the Monarch

School. We also peer mentor and hold community

events, such as the UCSD Sally Ride Festival to

instill in these students the seed of FIRST. Our

efforts to change the community start with the

youth. Generations later, perhaps some of thesame students will remember us as the catalyst for

changing their lives, and changing the community

around them. at is what Team 812 wants to

remembered for change and progress to be

initialized by BUDDY.

Team 812 works with Volunteer San Diego

and Students Actively Volunteering for

You to further our endeavor in integrating

math, science, and engineering in the community

VSD

Volunteer San Diego [VSD] is a 501[c]3 nonprofit

organization that helps individuals, families, and

corporate and community groups find volunteer

opportunities at more than 800 diverse service

organizations and schools throughout the county.

Our capacity building programs and services

allow volunteers to work hand-in-hand with

nonprofit agencies to develop strong and vibrant

communities.

Volunteer San Diego volunteers, now 36,000

strong, are at work every day of the year, building

community and meeting critical needs by teaching

children the joy of reading, beautifying our parks

and beaches, preparing meals for our homebound

neighbors, distributing food to low income families

and learning what it means to create positive

change. Last year, Volunteer San Diego volunteers

contributed over 108,000 hours [or $2 million inpeople power] to make our community a better

place to live, work and play.

SAVY

Students Actively Volunteering for You [SAVY],

a program of Volunteer San Diego, has been

empowering young people to make a difference in

communities since 1984. Middle and high school

students throughout San Diego County have the

opportunity to develop and demonstrate leadership

skills while meeting real community needs.

T

he Reuben H. Fleet Science Center seeks to

inspire life-long learning by furthering the

publics understanding and enjoyment ofscience and technology.

Preuss Robotics students are working with the

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center in order to create

a robotics program in their community education

department. In addition, Preuss Robotics students

volunteer weekly at the Reuben H. Fleet Science

Center in order to instill an interest of math,

science, and engineering among the youth.

In addition to the Preuss Robotics students, more

than 100 people currently volunteer at the Reuben

H. Fleet Science Center. Youth (15 and older) and

adult volunteers work in every area of the museum.

Volunteers greet visitors, staff the information

booth, work behind the scenes doing essential daily

jobs such as administrative work and filing, explain

and demonstrate science in the exhibit halls and

serve in a variety of ways at special events. You

dont need a science background to volunteer at

the Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, just interest,

enthusiasm and a desire to give back to the

community.

Volunteers who work in the exhibit halls,

information booth, and as greeters must attend an

information session and will receive training in the

area in which they will work. Volunteers who work

behind-the-scenes are trained on-the-job.

In a blunt fashion, Saturday EnrichmentAcademy is possibly described as a place for

students on academic probation to receive

help. is is false. Saturday Enrichment Academy

[SEA] is a place offering academic assistance for

students who are in need of help or on academic

probation. However, SEA is not limited to students

in need, but also for students who are experiencing

difficulties in academic subjects or taking on-line


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been older than seven, and he surprised me. If I

was someone walking down the street and glanced

at this little kid, I would have never imagined

that he was a first grader who could not add or

subtract numbers. When I opened his notebook

up, I saw recognized the reason why. He did not

understand math because he didnt pay attentionin class. So instead of solving the problem with

me just teaching him now to add simple numbers,

I talked to him. We discuss why he didnt pay

attention. He told me that there were distractions

which kept him from concentrating in class. I then

felt as though I was looking into a mirror, whose

reflection was of me many years ago. However, in

the end, I did teach him what one plus one equaled

and all that good stuff.

In short, Preuss Robotics students reaches out to

children in our community; children whose lives,

as shown, are not much different from our own.

We come from similar financial conditions and

experience similar struggles in school. However,

Preuss Robotics students have experienced

these adversaries and feel as though it is our

responsibility to assist the next generation.

rough peer mentorship, we assist them in

their academic education and alleviate whatever

struggles them have in life.

Working with local San Diego Boys and

Girls Clubs, Team 812 brought peer

mentorship and built friendships

with younger students. ese children live in

our communities and are, for the most part,

underrepresented minorities who are unaware of

the importance of math and science. We found that

they were as excited as we were to collaborate and

had a real interest for technology and engineering.

By brining FIRST to local San Diego Boys and

Girls Clubs, we were able to integrate others in the

community into our team. rough a short video

demonstration of the building process in FLL and

a demonstration of the Preuss FLL team robot, we

introduced FIRST Lego League to the Boys and

Girls club. We had an immediate and tremendous

response from the students. e students submitted

a torrent of questions, comments, and ideas for

constructing a possible robot. ough we have not

yet started the team, we are beginning to prepare

them and give them all an opportunity to be a part

of FIRST. We had an overwhelming interest of girls

that found the FISRT Lego League program to bevery cute and something they would like to do.

In addition to bringing FIRST Lego League, we

developed a curriculum for the local Boys and

Girls Clubs to develop a computer literacy program

for the students. Computer literacy is a crucial skill

that is needed in high school, college, and vital in

the business world. Starting from age five to age

ten, students work with us to build basic computer

skills. e curriculum consists of small interactiveworkshops, each an hour, on the basic operations

for using Microso Office, proper Internet usage,

and typing skills. In the typing skills workshops, we

give students twenty minutes a session to practice

their typing on Typing Tutor. We survey them

in order to make sure that they are following the

proper typing behaviors and encourage them

constantly to keep them interested and motivated.

In the Microso Office component, we run

through training of the basics of Microso Word

and Microso Power Point, teaching fundamental

skills, such as text editing and presentation set-

ups. We monitor their progress by giving weekly

quizzes that requires them to change formats or

add in various effects to their documents and

slides.

In the Internet usage component, we go through

proper Internet usage, including searches and

search engines. To tie all aspects of the training,students, in pairs, will put together a PowerPoint

research presentation on a topic of their choice.

is will show the value of the skills they are

learning and give the kids a tangible outcome of

their hard work.

For older students, ages ten to fourteen, we are

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components of Microso Publisher and Microso

Excel and allow them to experience a more in

depth look into PowerPoint and Word. Our goal

is to expand whatever training they might already

have and put it to use. Similar to the younger

students, older students will complete small

projects using the different tools of MicrosoOffice.

Team 812 students are given the opportunity

to practice their computer skills and learn new

ones as we collaborate with the local Boys and

Girls Clubs. We are also spreading FIRST in our

community by exposing students to the potential

of technology and making brand-new friends in

the process. In addition, we are equipping them

with skills that we, alone, had to develop ourselvesas younger children. As their mentors, their do not

have to struggle through the process, for we are

there with them each step of the way.

Yen Phan, one of the Midnight Mechanics that has

tutored at a Boys and Girls Club almost regularly,

says, Just last weekend, I was able to teach a

student how to use Microso Word for the first

time. She wrote her first five sentence paragraph

for her homework assignment. I gained satisfaction

when her mother, who I later found out never

finished secondary school, approached me and

thanked me for teaching her daughter the skills

that she could not.

As many people are technologically-illiterate and

would appreciate any help, without being looked

down upon, we are at these Boys and Girls Clubs

to lend any help. Midnight Mechanics members all

are individuals who have overcome their personal

trials, and can connect to these people on the samelevel. Difficulties that plague these young students,

weathered beyond their years, many of us have

also faced. Now that many careers demand these

technical skills as basic requirements, Team 812

has found it important to impart such knowledge

to the younger community that is not given the

opportunity to learn.

When tutoring at these organizations, we

appreciate our luck in being a part of the FIRST

community, as well as a part of a school that

nurture us to be successful. Any of the Team 812

members could have easily been at a Boys and

Girls club, eager to learn Microso Word, and here

we are, despite everything, changing perspectives,helping those that were not lucky enough to have

these same opportunities. While our students learn

these basic skills and anything useful we could

possibly teach, we learn about these individuals.

We welcome these same students into our Team

812 community, introduce them to the newly-

opened prospects, and guide them to apply their

latest skills. en only can we feel satisfaction.

On February 12th, 2006, a group of femalestudents from the Preuss FIRST Robotics

team went to UCSD for the day to interact

with female middle school students that are

interested in math and science through the UCSD

Sally Ride festival. At the UCSD Sally Ride Festival,

Sally Ride made an inspirational speech regarding

her struggles in a society that demeaned women

in engineering and we were there to provide

information at a booth and be presenters through

workshops. Participants at the festival would sign

up for our workshops and be able to stop by our

booth.

In addition to the Midnight Mechanics, other

organizations, who were trying to inspire female

middle school students, enhanced the experience

for students through their hands-on activities

stationed at their booths. We went to many of

the booths, which were mainly businesses or

professional organizations, to talk to them about

becoming involved in FIRST and if they wouldlike to attend the Annual San Diego Pick-Up

Game the following weekend. Whether in FIRST

Robotics, VEX, or FIRST Lego League, some of

these organizations could become very influential

in girls lives. At the booth, we answered questions,

initiated conversations with parents and students,

and passed out flyers to the Annual San Diego

Pick-Up Game and team buttons.


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team

S A N D I E G O C O A L I T I O N

san diego

Team 812 is the eldest team

in San Diego and we have

taken the leadership role to

recruit more teams in the county. e Team

San Diego Robotics Forum consists of a

collection of ten teams from primarily the San

Diego County area. is forum works togetherin an effort to bring the FIRST ideals to not

only Southern California, but across the

border as well. Schools and communities

that were not positively exposed to

math & science are now changed by the

community created by our Team San

Diego. Working together to change

others perspectives

of technology, Team San Diego has

a mission to continue the MidnightMechanics legacy of introducing

FIRST to more schools and lives.

Team San Diego works together

to both host a variety of robotics

events in the San Diego area and

to support each other in the

building of our robots. is web

of collaboration between the teams

enables both students and adults to

work cooperatively towards a common

goal.

-Paul Tran

Team San Diego was formed in 2003

under the leadership of Team 812. Being

the oldest team in the county, we took a

prominent role in the formation and success

of this coalition. Currently, Team San Diego

1 - Team San Diego PreshipPickup Game2 & 3 - Team San Diego Regional Kickoff


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is comprised of ten award winning FIRST teams.

e teams work together in order to build a high

regard for math and science in their under served

communities. ey collaborate on presentations

and a series of events that are hosted.

A strong bond that is created between all of theteams leads to a cooperative environment. Ideas

and concerns are shared between the teams.

rough this partnership, the teams have been

able to succeed inside and outside of FIRST. Under

our leadership, teams from the Team San Diego

coalition have won the All-Star Rookie Award for

three consecutive years at the Southern California

Regional and last year at Arizona. Teams have

also won the Las Vegas Regional, the Engineering

Inspiration Regional Award, Safety Award,Daimler-Chrysler Team Spirit Award, Johnson and

Johnson Sportsmanship Award, and the Perkins

Entrepreneurship Award.

Team 812, along with the Team San Diego

coalition, is working with local businesses and

community members to gain support for a new

San Diego Regional in the near future. e success

that the Team San Diego coalition is having in our

community is immense.

Team San Diego does active recruitment,

rather than just showing off their robots.

Team 812, among other teams, invite

community members and prospective schools to

be involved in FIRST and Team San Diego.

e San Diego FIRST Exposition was established

in order to educated prospective community

members, leaders, educators, and students about

the FIRST Robotics Program, Team San Diego, andintegrating engineering education.

e following is an account of the San Diego

FIRST Exposition from a students perspective:

When we arrived at the San Diego FIRST

Exposition, the team was still setting up. e

playing field was being reconstructed for the

mock competition and signs were being posted.

Mr. Mainieri told me to help with any of the

preparation needed for the event. erefore, I

followed the team members to put up signs. We

placed the Welcomeand FIRST Robotics signs,

along with the Arrowsaround Madison High.

Once the signs were up, we came back to Mr.Mainieri for any other jobs that were needed to be

done.

Mr. Mainieri stated that there would be sponsors

coming to the event. erefore, we needed people

who were familiar with FIRST and Team San Diego

to greet them, at the door, and welcome them

into our program. Veterans took the job. ey

were responsible for delivering a presentation to

the prospective sponsors about FIRST, Team SanDiego, and our impact on the community. Being

articulate, I was assigned to greet prospective

FIRST Robotics members at the gate and show

them to the Exposition.

en aerwards, when the amount of guests

arriving started to die down, we went to the mock

competition area and watched the robots perform.

Being novice to the world of Robotics, I wanted to

be able to experience its applications. So I asked

Julian Hernandez and ien Nguyen if I could have

a try at attempting to drive the robot. ey gave me

their consent.

e robot was not that difficult to maneuver. It

took some time, and like everything else, you have

to practice to become efficient at it. I was able to

take a turn at driving the robot and moving the

arm up and down. At the end of my trial, I had

three tetras on the frame. It was an interesting

experience because the robot would make suddenmovements if you didnt control the joystick or the

handle on the arm would fall off. Minute issues

that, I realize, in competition, could determine a

victory or loss. Many of the teams had their robots

out on the field. e people driving the robot

did so with such skill and grace that it impelled

me to practice even more so. e game was self

explanatory.


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FIRST

T E E N S F O R T O M O R R O WSTEPSP

reuss FIRST Robotics students have witness

our teammates, despite their situation,

achieve their dreams. By reaching out to the

next generation of Preuss students, they motivated

us with their accomplishments and their stories.

Our success as individuals today, is a direct result

of their mentorship, gracious professionalism,and service. Now, being given access to a path

towards success, we recognize that it is pivotal

to reach out to children; children whose lives are

not much different from our own. We provide

our communities the resources that we were not

fortunate to have access to when we were younger.

As a result, these children do not have to face the

struggles that Preuss Robotics students had to

experience.

e Midnight Mechanics initiated the FIRST

STEPS [Students Together for Education and

Promotion of Science] Program to matriculate

students into a math, science, and engineering

profession. Our team made partnerships with the

University of California, San Diego, San Diego

State University, University of California Education

System COSMOS Program, Massachusetts Institute

of Technology MITES Program, NASA National

Science Research Institute, Temple University

Physician Scientist Training Program, JohnHopkins Center for Talented Youth, WPI Girls in

Math and Science to make our program the first

successful scholarship and internship program in

the West.

e FIRST STEPS program launches a mass

outreach program targeted towards inner-city

students. Team 812 coordinates community events,

specifically informative conferences, in which

educates and advocates scholarship and internship

programs. During these conferences Team 812

holds workshops on informing the community

about the scholarship, how to fill out applications,

alumni experience, and how to integrate

engineering education and FIRST Robotics ininner-city high schools.

Our involvement with scholarship and internship

foundations is exemplary. Our partners are

involved with every step of the coordination

process. ey speak at our conferences and support

us by providing both financial and educational

support.

FIRST STEPS is supported by engineeringcorporations and community members. We have

possible sponsorship from David Evans and

Associates Inc., Grice, Lund and Tarkington Inc.,

and Kids Korps USA underway. Upon hearing

about our FIRST STEPS program, they are very

excited in becoming involved with FIRST Robotics,

Team 812 and our endeavors in bringing math,

science, and engineering into the community.


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executivesummary

S E A S O N 2 0 0 5 - 2 0 0 6

1]Briefly describe the impact ofthe FIRST program on teamparticipants:

Aer participating in FIRST, team members

pursue math and science within and

beyond the classroom.70% of students

enroll in a calculus class or higher and100% are enrolled in an AP science

course. ey participate in programs

like COMOS, MITES, and UCSD

Medical and Science Internships. 80%

of our alumni have chosen a math

or science major. Preuss Robotics

students share their success by being

mentors their underserved communities and

bringing others into FIRST.

2]Examples of role modelcharacteristics for other teams toemulate:

Team 812 leads Team San Diego [TSD], a

coalition of San Diego FIRST teams. As the

founding team, we demonstrate leadership

by providing training sessions, access to

resources, monthly meetings, and assistance

to TSD teams. We participated in outreach

events, such as the UCSD Sally Ride Festival toinspire young women. We were honored for our

work by receiving the All-Star Rookie Award,

Judges Awards, Regional and Championship

Engineering Inspiration Awards, and Regional

Chairmans Award.

3]Describe the impact of the FIRSTprogram on your team and community:From top:1 - Team 812 at VSD We Care Fair presenting the relationshipbetween art and robotics2 - Programming team stares with awe at the robot


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Because of FIRST, Preuss participates in Project

Lead the Way, which provides an engineering

curriculum. Students at our school are able to

look into engineering as a possible career. Our

FIRST STEPS Program matriculates

students into math

and scienceby educating

them about

scholarship-

internship

opportunities.

Our partnership

with UC

COSMOS, JHU

CTY, MIT MITES,

NASA NSBRI, PSTP,and WPI GEMS

makes FIRST STEPS

Program the first

successful scholarship-

internship program in the

West.

4]Teams innovativemethods tospread the FIRST

message:

Our team completed over 3,000 hours of

community outreach projects. Our FIRST BUDDY

Program, partnered with Boys and Girls Clubs,

Reuben H. Fleet Science Center, Sally Ride, San

Diego Public Libraries, SAVY, SEA, UCSD, and

VSD, addresses the need for peer mentorship. We

started VEX teams with the Monarch School, a

school for homeless teenagers. We communicate

our program through our webpage and newsletters.

Our mission is to help disadvantaged students inour community while spreading FIRST.

5]Describe the strength of your partnership:Our team has developed a strong partnershipwith the Annenberg Foundation, General Motors,

Northrop Grumman, the Preuss Foundation,

Qualcomm, the San Diego County Fair, and

SPAWAR. Our sponsors become involved with the

community by provide the team financial support.

e UCSD Machine Perception Lab solicited us

to work with RUBI, a project studying artificial

intelligence. ey provide mentors who

aid the team with valuable knowledge

and experience while gaining fresh

input.

6]Teams communication andresult:Our team consists of subgroups,

each with an officer, which

communicate and complete

tasks efficiently. In addition,

we have implemented a

FIRST Robotics class into

the Preuss curriculum. isclass allows team time

during school to work on

FIRST related assignments.

rough weekly meetings,

online documentation,

journals, record sheets, list

serves, websites, forums,

and newsletters, our team

establishes an exemplary

communication environment.

7]Other matters ofinterests to the FIRSTjudges, if any:

e Preuss School UCSD is a 6 12 grade charter

school for low-income, first generation university

bound students. Preuss students travel up to four

hours a day to have access to the rigorous college

preparatory program and compulsory AP courses

that Preuss provides. Because of FIRST, every

student has the opportunity to take multiplesclasses in robotics in engineering. 100% of FIRST

graduates attend a 4 yr university in comparison to

the district average of about 35%.

From top:1 - Team 812 presentes FIRST Robotics to prospectivesupportors2 - Team 812s innovative sign depicting the discipline Robotsand Art


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