BUZZ ROBOTICS
The Buzz Team
About the Team |
Buzz Robotics is a FIRST robotics team based in Enfield, CT. We participate in the FIRST robotics competitions and have a jolly good time doing it. We are made up of about 25 mentors, 20 students and their families.  Kick-off During the first weekend of January, US FIRST unveils a new game to be played that year. No team member on any team around the world knows what the game is before this date. Upon learning the rules of the game, our team goes over the rules and the Kit of Parts that FIRST gives to all teams, and brainstorms ideas about what we would like our robot to accomplish this year. Build Season For the next six weeks, our team and hundreds of other teams around the world frantically work on their robots before the ship date. At the end of this six-week period, the robot must be shipped away by a specific time, and is not seen again until the first regional competition that we go to. Competitions Usually, the Buzz Robotics team goes to two regionals: in 2010, we will be going to the BAE New Hampshire Regional and the UTC Connecticut Regional in Hartford, CT. In addition, we will be attending the Championship Event Competition in Atlanta, Georgia. After all the competitions are done, the Buzz Robotics team often goes to several post-season competitions that are held by various teams around New England, and continues to serve the community. |
History 1996-2009
Why does Buzz change every year? Buzz changes size and shape every year. Different systems are incorporated into a new robot every year because Buzz has to play a certain kind of game. We find out what the game is every January from a non-profit organization called F.I.R.S.T. FIRST is an acronym that stands for "For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology". Each January, FIRST announces to all the robotics teams all over the world what the game will be that season. Every season, each team builds a new robot to play the new game. For example, last year Buzz would have to score objects called 'tetras' onto large triangular goals. The game worked like tic-tac-toe, with a red and a blue team made up of three robots battling for control over the goals. Near the end of the game, if all three robots on a team were on their side of the field behind a line, the team would be granted extra points. Often, these points would be the deciding factor in the game. In the preseason, the Buzz students and mentors work on team building and fundraising. During this time, new students are shown more and more of what FIRST is all about. This is also the time when all of the engineers, teachers, and students (new and old) become acquainted with each other to be better prepared for January's start to a new season of Buzz Robotics. What is the Chairman's Award? Since its inception, the FIRST Robotics Competition has been about partnership among people, the impact it has on their lives and appreciation of science and technology. FIRST's goal is to improve the culture of the world, in ways that will inspire greater levels of respect and honor for science and technology, as well as encourage today's youth to become scientists, engineers and technologists. FIRST created the Chairman's Award in 1992 to acknowledge a team's commitment and efforts toward achieving this goal. It remains FIRST's most prestigious award. Originally, one Chairman's Award was presented at the Championship Event, but with the growth and expansion that FIRST has experienced, a Chairman's Award is now presented to one team at each regional. The annual Chairman's Award winner will be selected from that year's regional awards. Regional Award winners receive Chairman Award medallions and a unique permanent FIRST Chairman's Award Regional trophy. The Championship Chairman's winner receives the Championship medallion and the traveling Chairman's Award clock. Finally, one member of the award-winning team receives a scholarship for up to $10,000. (Taken from USFIRST.org) This year the Buzz Robotics Team is celebrating their twelve year. Over the past decade+, the Buzz team has grown from a few dedicated students, engineers and teachers, to about 20 students and over 20 engineers and teachers, some of them whom have since retired, but still volunteer their time to work with the team. Buzz alumni, some of whom have received prestigious scholarships from FIRST sponsors, have gone on to study many different subjects at the college level. Other Buzz alumni have graduated from high school and put the skills they learned with the Buzz Team right to work in industry or in the armed services. A few other alumni have returned to the Buzz Team as mentors, to give back to the program that they once participated in as students. The Buzz Team has received numerous different awards, but they are most proud of the FIRST Chairman's Award which they received at the Championship Event at Walt Disney World's EPCOT Center in April 2002. The Chairman's Award is the most prestigious award presented to a FIRST Robotics Competition Team. It is presented to the team that has shown continued commitment and successes in promoting an appreciation for science and technology to students of all ages. To read how Buzz earned the Chairman's Award, click here.
|
| Our Awards: 2009 BAE Systems Regional Champions 2009 BAE Systems Regional Imagery Award 2008 UTC Connecticut Regional Champions 2008 General Motors Industrial Design Award 2007 BAE Systems Regional Delphi Driving Tomorrow's Technology Award 2007 BAE Systems Regional Champions 2006 Chesapeake Regional Champions 2006 Beantown Blitz Winners 2005 BAE Systems Regional 2nd Place 2005 BAE Systems Regional Motorola Quality Award 2005 Chesapeake Regional 2nd Place 2005 Curie Division Champions, National Championship 2005 Battlecry6@WPI Finalists 2005 Beantown Blitz Finalists 2004 BAE Systems Regional 2nd Place 2004 Curie Division Champions, National Championship 2004 Bash at the Beach Coolest Under Fire Award 2003 UTC Regional 2nd Place 2003 BAE Systems Regional Winner 2003 Galileo Division Champions, National Championship 2002 Regional Chairman's Award Winner, J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional 2002 Judges Award Winner, UTC New England Regional 2002 National Chairman's Award Winner 2001 J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional GM Industrial Design Award 2001 J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional Incredible Play Award 2001 J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional Champion 2001 J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional Chairman's Award Winner 2001 UTC New England Regional Judges' Award 2001 UTC New England Regional Champion 2001 Chairman's Award Finalist, National Championship 2000 UTC New England Regional Best Offensive Round Award 2000 J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional Sportsmanship Award 2000 J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional Champion 2000 Chairman's Award Finalist, National Championship 2000 Pennsylvania Robot Challenge Champions 2000 Excellence in Engineering Award, BattleCry At WPI 2000 People's Choice Best Offensive Round Award, BattleCry at WPI 1999 UTC New England Regional Best Offensive Round Award 1999 UTC New England Regional Finalist 1999 Philadelphia Alliance Regional Sportsmanship Award 1999 Chairman's Award Finalist, National Championship 1998 J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional #1 Seed Award 1998 J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional Judges' Award 1998 J&J Mid-Atlantic Regional Champion 1998 Johnson & Johnson Sportsmanship Award, National Competition 1998 Pennsylvania Robot Challenge, Champions 1998 Fury in Philly Competition, #1 Overall 1997 Team Spirit Award, Mid-Atlantic Regional 1997 National Championship, Best Sportsmanship 1996 People's Choice Award, Rumble at the Rock 1996 National Championship, Best Offensive Round Award |
Robotics
Website sponsored by DCS Websites LLC
For more information about FIRST visit the FIRST Website.