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Hoping to achieve success similar to that of the
previous season, Team 1713 got another early
start for its third season. Support as a result
of a Finger Lakes win in 2007, the Gears managed
to start with even more available funds than
they had the previous year. Even so, fundraising
would be as important as it had been in the
past.
Among the
changes brought by the new season was Jared
Wolf's appointment as co-President. As Stan Bach
was to graduate in June, Jared had been chosen
to replace him in the 2008-2009 season.
Even before the
game was revealed, the Gears were faced with
challenges. At a November captains meeting, team
coordinator Mrs. Harding announced that Thomas
Owen, who, as a chairman of Verizon, had given
the Gears the grant that got them started in
2005, had retired. Verizon had been one of the
Gears most important founding sponsors, and
Owens was the namesake of the team's first
robot.
Though off to a
relatively slow start, the Gears "kicked into
gear" soon after, gaining sponsors, making
plans, and arranging for trips. It soon became
apparent that this season would be unique, as
the Gears quickly grew the largest size they had
ever reached, with a total of 46 members. This
number eventually settled to 42 students, 22 of
whom had been with the Gears since their October
2006 inception.
This larger
team soon proved to be an enthusiastic bunch,
with a genuine interest in engineering.
On January 5,
2008, captains and the drive team made their
annual trip to Rochester to view the new game.
They learned that they would have six weeks to
build a robot that could master "Overdrive." It
would be a challenge, as speed and offensive
ability would be paramount.
Kicking
into 'Overdrive'
It was with high
hopes that the Gears entered their third build
season, and the Kick-Off that got it all
started. FIRST had been known for years for
creating challenging games, and they did not
disappoint in 2008. On January 5, captains and
the drive team made their annual
trip to Rochester to view the new game. They
learned that they would have six weeks to build
a robot that could master "Overdrive." It would
be a challenge, as speed and offensive ability
would be paramount.
The team
immediately set to work designing and
fundraising. In the business department, some
things stayed the same: the spaghetti dinner, by
now a tradition, was planned; and New York Air
Brake, Bach & Co., Pocono Produce, Don's Prop
Shop and Gray's Wholesale all became third-year
sponsors, while Main Street Bags and Frontenac
Crystal Springs showed their support for the
second straight season. Some things were new,
however: the 7News "No-Stars" held their first
game against the TI Faculty, and Kinney Drugs
and Sam's Club joined the growing list of
sponsors.
The technology
teams, as usual, had only six weeks to make some
very important decisions, and build a robot. It
was decided very quickly that this robot would
be built for speed. The name Apex was eventually
chosen. This name represents not only a sharp
turn that the robot is capable of, but a "high
point" in the history of the team.
Finger
Lakes Regional
It quickly became
apparent that Apex was a special robot: thanks
to a beautiful blue paint job by Bach & Co, it
was certainly the "coolest" looking robot in the
Gears' history up to that point, and drive
captain described it as the "most
confident-feeling" robot to maneuver that he had
experienced in the three years. When the very
popular robot traveled to Rochester for the
Gears' third year at the Finger Lakes Regional,
it did so under much pressure to perform as the
Gears were defending champions.
Unfortunately,
despite being among the highest scoring robots
at the competition, Apex ranked 31 out of 40
robots in alliance play, due in part to very
strong defensive play by competitors. 1713 was
not chosen to be a part of any alliance the
play-off draft.
The Gears continue to work
hard, and look forward to success in the years
to come.
|
Game |
Robot |
Team Leader |
Student Leader |
Number of Members |
Motto |
|
"Overdrive" |
Apex |
Craig Freitag |
Tracy Harding |
Stan |
Jared |
42 |
"Kick into Gear!" |