In the fall of 2002, a group of students from Avon High School initiated a robotics team, thus commencing their dynamic relationship with the
FIRST Robotics program. Our team has undergone various changes over the years since it was first founded in 2002, including our sponsors, our name, and our leaders. In terms of knowledge, teamwork, leadership, and community activities, we've come a long way.
Team 1124 was initially named "The Cheetahs" after our primary sponsor,
Cheetah Learning. Though they are no longer one of our sponsors, they will always remain part of team 1124's heritage. By 2004, the team had increased our sponsorship to include companies like
UTC Fire and Security (previously Chubb). Along with the sponsor changes came a name change; in fall 2004 The Cheetahs became the ÜberBots, meaning "super robots".
As our experience increases, everything about our team just keeps getting better. Our Rookie year was for 2003's "Stack Attack". In that competition, we ranked 9th and were eliminated in the quarterfinals. We also won the Rookie All-Star Award. It was quite an exciting first season for the team.
"Raising the Bar" in 2004 brought a ranking of 27th place and no participation in the elimination rounds. However, our season didn't end then. The team also participated in Bash @ the Beach, hosted by the
Techno Ticks, and we ended up on the winning alliance!
2005's competition was "Triple Play". We made it all the way to the quarterfinals again, getting eliminated then. Our "Triple Play" seeding match rank was 10th.
In the 2006 competition season, we went for it all and built a robot that was good at defense and could score on both the upper and lower goals. Though it often seemed like there was always something going wrong, the whole team was incredibly supportive and helped to make last-minute changes as necessary throughout the regional competition. Entering our final seeding match, we were in 40th place out of the 40 teams at the UTC New England Regional. "Aim High" is something we certainly had done, but it seemed as if hopes were fleeting. After winning the final seeding match, our rank increased to an overall 34th place. Teams
177 (Bobcat Robotics of South Windsor) and
176 (Aces High from Suffield and Windsor Locks High Schools) had faith in our potential, and selected us as the third partner on their alliance. With a lot of cooperation and a little luck, the ÜberBots battled our way to the top, eventually winning the 2006 UTC New England Regional, an unforgettably amazing experience. What a way to look back and see how far we've come.
We finished out the 2006 competition season by attending a few more competitions. Our win at the regionals qualified us to participate in the Championship Event in April in Atlanta, Georgia. The long haul was definitely worth it. The event was breathtaking and the memories are extraordinary. We also participated in Battlecry @ WPI in June, as well as Bash @ the Beach this October. The Bash was particularly special because it was our first chance to see our new team work together in a competition environment, and it was low-key and extremely fun. We had a great time, also placing second with alliance teams
190 (Gompei Herd of Worchester, MA) and
500 (Waterford's Team USA). Additionally, we received an "All Business" award commending "the team that is most serious about their robotics and their fun".
The ÜberBots entered the 2007 competition, "Rack 'n' Roll", with plenty of vigor. We chose to build a multi-functional robot, incorporating the rack scoring and bonus points into the design. Dynamite, as the robot was affectionately called, had a double-jointed arm (with a "wrist" and a "shoulder" and a gripper at the end. It could grab ringers off the ground and the wall, working quickly and effectively to place them onto any of the three tiers of spider feet. Dynamite also had the capability of removing spoilers from the rack, which proved a great asset. Our robot also has a set of ramps that could hold two other robots at a time. On top of the abilty to score rack points and bonus points, we also had hefty bumpers to play defense when needed. Another useful feature was the autonomous mode, which had 16 different options including scoring on the opposite side of the rack.
It turned out that we were able to "Rack 'n' Roll" our way to the top, finishing as an alliance captain, and ultimately winning the UTC Connecticut Regional with alliance partners team
195 (the CyberKnights of Southington) and team
558 (the RoboSquad from New Haven). We went on to compete at the Championship Event in Atlanta for the second year in a row, ending up in the Newton Division again. This time around, however, we seeded third in our division, and allianced with teams
1592 (the Bionic Tigers from Cocoa, FL) and
1816 (The Green Machine, all the way from Edina, Minnesota!). This powerful alliance carried us all the way to division finals. The ÜberBots continued on to the finals on Einstein as the backup bot for Newton's champion. After the Championship, we went to Battlecry @ WPI, hosted by team 190. There, we seeded 1st for the first time ever, which was very exciting.
Currently, the team consists of about 35 members and 8 mentors. We're looking forward to another great season from 2007-2008. As our school is undergoing a large construction project, we never know what surprises will occur next!
For a comprehensive list of our current sponsors, more details about past competitions, photos and video footage, a calendar of events, or just to find out more about the team in general, be sure to visit our home page and explore the various links.
