ROBOJACKETS 3538 What does the robotics team do? We design, build, and program mobile robots to compete in an annual game challenge. New this year we will be operating both Varsity and JV level teams. The Varsity team will compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition and the JV team(s) will compete in the VEX Robotics Competition and the Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association League.

What are the benefits of being on the team?    

It’s exhilarating and engaging and channels a competitive spirit, much like athletics There’s over 20 million dollars in college scholarship money for robotics team members You’ll develop a strong technical skill set that can give you a head start in college and career opportunities More than half of our coaches are professional engineers that share their experience with team members

When and where are team meetings? Both Varsity and JV meet in the robotics lab at Avondale High School. The Varsity team will meet Wednesday & Friday from 5-9pm in the fall and Monday, Wednesday, and Friday 5-9pm and Saturday 9-5pm from January through April. The JV team will meet Tuesday 5-9pm for the entire school year. Both programs compete in multiple officially sanctioned tournaments with opportunities for advancement to state and world level championship events.

How do I go about joining the robotics team?  

 

Email [email protected] for a link to the prospective member form and link to request membership in our closed facebook communication group. Start attending meetings on Tuesday evening from 5-9pm. New members that declare intent to tryout for the Varsity/FRC team should also attend meetings on Wednesday from 5-9pm. The Varsity/FRC tryout phase is September-October. Varsity team members will be accepted on a rolling basis through November, by which point the rosters will be finalized and all student will be assigned to either the JV or Varsity/FRC team. Visit the Robotics Lab (TV Room, next to Radio Studio) or email coach Allison Kneisler at [email protected] for more information. Note: Age/grade is not a factor in eligibility. Both Varsity and JV teams are composed of students in 9th-12th grade.

What skills and experience do team members need have to join? None in particular, we have a comprehensive training program to teach all the relevant skills.

What are the expectations of team members? All members of both Varsity and JV are expected to adhere to the expectations for attitude, behavior, participation, shared values, and general team management (all of which will be thoroughly covered in training). Much like athletics, it’s frowned upon to skip practice and assume that it won’t affect your game performance. We do great things and are successful because we work hard and strive to continuously improve as individuals and as a collective.

What do individual team members do? New team members generally start in the skills training program with exposes them to each facet of the team. Most team members end up specializing in two different roles – one that is useful during build and one that is useful during competition. Build roles include design, drafting (CAD), machining/fabrication, and programming. Competition roles include pit crew, strategy crew, drive team/operators, and interceptors. Some members also find ways to apply other talents and interests, such as graphic design, website development, videography, media management, and business.

ROBOJACKETS FRC3538 We are FRC Team #3538, the RoboJackets out of Avondale High School in Auburn Hills, MI – Sponsored by Plastic Engineering & Technical Services Inc., the FCA Foundation, & NRG Youth Focus LLC. We participate in the FIRST Robotics Competition – an annual competition in which over 3,000 teams worldwide receive a new robot game challenge and are tasked with designing and building a 120 lb. robot to compete head-to-head with other teams. We strive to field highly competitive machines that demonstrate efficiency, reliability, and aesthetics, and to conduct our team as professionals on and off the competition field. We work with professional engineers and utilize a variety of software and fabrication technologies including SolidWorks CAD, ultrasonic welding, water jet cutting, powder coating, and C++ programming. Students are immersed in the complete engineering process – from strategic goal setting into brainstorming rough concepts and prototyping, developing into full 3D CAD design that gets sent to fabrication (both in house and outsourced to sponsors), hands-on work in the shop completing the mechanical assembly and controls integration, software integration that brings our machines to life, and finally debugging, testing, and iteration that starts the cycle all over again. Every member of our team serves primarily in a technical capacity and our shared passion for engineering unites and strengthens our team. As a team we value confidence, ambition, camaraderie, agility, iteration, resilience, fortitude, resourcefulness, efficiency, dedication, and humility. It is our hope that through our team RoboJacket students will experience the attitude, skills, knowledge, and abilities necessary to thrive in STEM disciplines, and will go forth as alumni prepared for success in college and career. Contact information: Coach Ken Abbott: [email protected] Coach Allison Kneisler: [email protected] General Inquires: [email protected]

Executive Partner

Gold Sponsor

2016 Accomplishments

 Southfield district quarterfinalists (3rd alliance, 3rd overall pick) & Quality Award  Midland district event winner (3rd alliance, 3rd overall pick) & Industrial Design Award  Michigan State Championship  World Championship subdivision winner & Einstein final playoff quarter-finalists (5th alliance, 13th overall pick) 3,128 FRC teams in 2016 600 teams at the World Champs 32 teams in the Einstein playoffs… … and we were one of them!

2015 Accomplishments

 Southfield quarter-finalists (5th alliance captains) & Creativity Award  Troy district quarter-finalists (3rd alliance, 3rd overall pick) & Industrial Design Award  Michigan State Championship playoff appearance

2014 Accomplishments

 Waterford district quarterfinalists (5th alliance)  Troy district quarter-finalists (7th alliance captains)

Program Partner