Team 342 participated in the Championship Event in Atlanta this past week. We arrived and setup our pit area and a crowd began to form as we brought out our robot (You have to admit, it is a pretty robot.) After the “ooohs and aaahs,” we quickly gave the robot a “once over” and went to the inspection center. We were inspected and approved for competition. The robot only needed oil added to the chains and we were ready to compete. This robot has been a maintenance free design and our time was used to improve strategies and performance rather than for repairs. Dean Kamen, the world renowned inventor and the founder of FIRST, signed our robot!

On Thursday we went on the practice field and found ourselves opposing one of the best robots there, so we tried our defense tactics and our team was very good at stopping the strong team from scoring without causing penalties. All day we were aligned with broken or absent robots, but we were able to score well without partners. On Friday, we were on the playing field early and the team started scoring well and we won the first two matches easily. Obviously, word got out and the rest of the day was filled with matches that had two robots on our robot to prevent us from scoring. Although we were closely challenged by other alliances, we were able to score well. Even with good scoring, we were outnumbered and lost four matches and dropped from 4 th place to 40 th place out of almost 90 robots in our division. We were not selected for the playoff and the robot competition for Team 342 was over for the season.

On Friday, the team enjoyed a nice luncheon provided by the Autodesk Group. Our team placed in the top 5 in the Inventor and also in the Visualization categories. One team having two entries qualify in the top five for these categories has never been done before. Needless to say it was an honor to be in that position. At the awards ceremony the Autodesk trophies were given to other teams and we did not win any of the other trophies given by FIRST, but we were not alone. Out of 360 teams only 20 trophies were given. We were winners in many other ways. We did earn recognition from other teams for our safety and gracious professionalism with three teams presenting us with team trophies. Our SC House Representative, Patsy Knight, called regularly to check on our status and we gained a group of teachers to support our team and to help select students in the future. We also gain a financial commitment from the Dorchester School District Two schools to support Team 342 in the 2008 season.

The team building experience, the maturity, and the growth in confidence for the students was clearly one of the most evident gains our team enjoyed. Although these gains can't be placed on a shelf, these are the internal trophies that the students and their families will enjoy long after the competitions have ended. All-in-all, with the wins we had both on and off of the field it was a very good year for our team!