Overview
This document, formed by team 16265 ENIGMA, is an informative packet about our team, the robotics program we are under, and about our great need for sponsorship!
Who We Are
As a community team under the FTC program, we offer a practical learning experience led by volunteer coaches, mentors, and parents for students interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering, math) and robotics in general. STEM concepts are learned and utilized in the planning, designing, building, programming, and operating of a robot for competing in tournament style play with others in alliances to receive ranking points which ultimately determines the best robot in design, efficiency, and performance. However, the emphasis is not solely on the robot and its success “as an end” but as a “means to an end,” where the student grows in skills and are elevated in the desire and passion for a continuing STEM education and provides for an increased likelihood of college, scholarship opportunities, and an enhanced student resume. It is our desire to help students thrive in a world of technology and ultimately create mentors that will carry on the torch to the next generation of STEM students.
Enigma is a rookie team under the FTC robotics program, but four of the members have had experience in FIRST robotics before and have won over 21 awards in FIRST combined.
The 5 C’s
CULTURE
Who are we? FAMILY. What do we do? HAVE FUN, BUILD ROBOTS, HELP OTHERS, LEARN. How do we do it? TEAMWORK! MISSION: to get as many kids as we can interested in STEM through the FIRST program and to prepare students to be responsible and successful adults. We plan to do this by forming a sustainable team, where students learn how to build and code competitive robots, work with others in the engineering and business world, and compete with a gracious attitude, while always maintaining a positive environment where everyone feels included and valued.
Student Expectations:
- Work and behave as a team
- Work to find solutions with guidance from our coaches and mentors
- Know that we learn together; our coaches and mentors don’t have all the answers
- Honor the spirit of friendly competition
- Remember that what we discover is more important than what we win
- Share our experiences with others
- Display Cooperation™ and Gracious Professionalism™ in everything we do
CONSTRUCTION
We are committed to constructing fair and effective team structure, and always maintaining organization, so that we may form strong individuals and teams, who engineer robots to the best of their ability.
Current Team Structure:
- Coaches/Mentors
- Student Co-Captains
- Student Code/Electrical Lead
- Student Mechanical Lead
- Student Fundraising and Outreach Lead
- Student Managerial Lead
- Student Team Look/Media Lead
Current Team Stats:
- 6 students
- 3 mentors
(We are currently looking for 4-9 more students)
COMPETITION
Philosophy: From a competition standpoint we are only competing against ourselves and the clock. In each round, we have 2 minutes and 30 seconds to complete the greatest quantity of tasks as possible. It is always our goal that our robot completes each task as efficiently as possible (everything measured in seconds) if a task requires a chain of mechanisms each mechanism is measured by its time to complete its part of the task. Each mechanism, whether singular or parts of a whole, should be linear and quick (Think Occam’s Razor). Each mechanism bearing weight should be rigid (no flopping around when extended).
At competitions, it is also our goal to learn as individuals and as a team and to be helpful to FIRST and other teams.
Competition Goals:
- We hope to make it to the state competition and eventually to the world championship, all while expressing Gracious Professionalism™ and Coopertition™
- We aspire to win at least one of three specific awards. The first is the Think Award, which is the FTC award for outstanding outreach.
- The second is the Design Award. This award acknowledges the team with the most well built and designed robot. During the off-season, we plan to build a practice robot to help us learn how to build,program and operate a robot similar to one that would be used at competitions.
- The third is the Inspire Award, which is the FTC award for overall excellence. In this case, overall excellence means going above and beyond to help the community and other teams, complete outreach
in the community, and follow all of the FIRST™ guidelines.
COMMUNICATION
We stay connected with fellow coaches and students, parents, sponsors, the community, and other teams by communicating through Slack, GSuite, Email, Discord, Website, Social Media, Newsletters, Etc.
COMMUNITY
We are committed to completing as much outreach as possible by forming outreach goals and plans to reach them. Our general goals are to teach as many classes as possible, to visit as many schools, businesses, and community organizations as possible, and to serve others by volunteering in our community.
Outreach we have already completed:
- Presentation to kids about FIRST and joining our team
- Booth at the Natural History Museum FIRST day
- STEM igniter at Nex-Gen Academy on May 4th
- STEM igniter at Nex-Gen Academy on June 1st
- One of our coaches made it on … the news to talk about FIRST
Future planned outreach:
- STEM Fiesta outreach at the State Fairgrounds on June 22
- 12 week FIRST Lego League (FLL) class (teaching kids about Lego robots and programming)
- Mentorship of a rookie FLL team
FIRST Information
FIRST stands for “For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology”
There are 4 levels of robotics under FIRST:
FLL Jr. (FIRST Lego League Jr.) grades K-4th
FLL (FIRST Lego League) grades 4th – 8th
FTC (FIRST Tech Challenge) grades 7th-12th
FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) grades 9th -12th
Our team is under the FTC program!
FTC GAME:
The game lasts for 2 minutes and 30 seconds. The first 30 seconds is the autonomous period, during which the robot moves with pre-programmed instructions. After the autonomous period, the drivers drive the robot to complete various tasks for that year’s game. The last 30 seconds is called the endgame. During that time robots can complete the last task for extra points.
One of the main things that places FIRST apart from other robotics programs is its emphasis on Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition.
Gracious Professionalism is a way of doing things that encourages high-quality work, emphasizes the value of others, and respects individuals and the community. With Gracious Professionalism, fierce competition and mutual gain are not separate notions.
Coopertition is founded on the concept and a philosophy that teams can and should help and cooperate with each other even as they compete. Coopertition also involves learning from teammates.
Budget
| Materials | Cost | Purchased | Registration | Due | Travel | Cost |
| 2 phones, usb cables, game pads (kit) | $220.00 | registration paid grant $275 | ||||
| 1 expansion hub, 1 color sensor, 1 touch sensor (kit) | $124.00 | qualifying tournament | $300.00 | $750 | $1,050.00 | |
| other wires, cables, etc. | $100.00 | state registration | $200.00 | $750 | $950.00 | |
| other sensors | $100.00 | |||||
| 3 rev expansion hubs | $525.00 | |||||
| 2 more phones | $200.00 | Total | $500.00 | $1,500 | $2,000.00 | |
| phone chargers | $50.00 | |||||
| 8 batteries | $400.00 | Paid | ||||
| 7 battery chargers | $224.00 | registration | ||||
| 12 motors | $312.00 | Qualifying tournament | ||||
| 8 servos | $240.00 | state registration | ||||
| mecanum wheels | $178.00 | |||||
| building materials ex: 80/20 | $200.00 | |||||
| 80/20 brackets, fasteners | $100.00 | Total Paid | $0.00 | |||
| screws, nuts, washers | $100.00 | Total Due | $500.00 | |||
| plexi glass, robot customization | $200.00 | |||||
| Tetrix kit ? | $100.00 | |||||
| all other parts, kits, materials | $500.00 | full field kit | $1,340.00 | |||
| tools ex: calipers, Allen wrenches | $200.00 | Trophies | $50.00 | |||
| storage: toolboxes | $300.00 | Photo Plaques | $100 | |||
| robot cart | $200.00 | |||||
| banners, stickers, merch | $100.00 | Total Other | $1,490.00 | |||
| dry erase boards, paper, notebooks, judges gifts | $200.00 | |||||
| plaques | $100.00 | |||||
| laptop | $300.00 | |||||
| Total | $5,273.00 | $0.00 | ||||
| Sponsors | Grand Total: | $8,763.00 | ||||
| Total Sponsorship: | $0.00 | |||||
| Other Funding: | $0.00 | |||||
| Still to be raised: | $8,763.00 |
Sponsorship Levels
We recognize that sponsorship is a two-way street or a partnership, and we want to make sure that we recognize our sponsors as they help us out so much! So, with each level of sponsorship, we have added many individual and corporate benefits in return for sponsoring our team.
CORPORATE
In addition to the benefits below, all corporate sponsors will receive a monthly newsletter updating them on the team’s progress and where the money is being spent, will get an invite to come to any of our competitions, and will also be invited to an end-of-year picnic hosted by the team.
*The cash value of in-kind donations will be used for sponsorship level.
INDIVIDUAL
Other Ways to Help
If you or your business is not able to support us financially at this time, here are some other ways you or your company can help out the team: (Our Nonprofit Applied Dynamics Initiative can offer a monthly receipt for any in-kind donations for items and/or space lease)
Donations of:
-
- Meeting/Robot Building Space: Private space of 800 to 1600 sqft. 24/7 external access, allowing us to come and go without interrupting your regular workflow. Light machine work and power tools used. The bulk of meetings, with most team members attending, two weekdays for 2+ hours, occasional Saturdays.
- Tools/Power Tools
- Toolboxes/supplies and tool storage
- Metal: scraps of aluminum
- Laptops for planning/programming
- Design Software (Adobe, LabView, CAD, Etc.)
- Snacks & Drinks
- 3D Printer
- CNC Laser Cutter
Get Involved
Our team is always looking for mentors to help us with running the team.
These are the teams that the mentors supervise:
Electrical/Code Team’s Role: programming and electrical systems
- Understand the control system
- Apply coding language
- Know proper wire and electrical procedure
- In charge of sensors
- Assist in the building of mechanisms used in autonomous
Mechanical Team: build and document
- Thoroughly understand team procedure for problem-solving and decision making
- Know rule book and all safety procedures
- Oversee designing and prototyping
- Use CAD
- Building responsibilities:
- Field build
- Chassis build
- Various mechanism builds
- Responsible for writing up information on how the mechanism works, the process through which it was designed and built, and how to fix it if it breaks
Fundraising and Outreach Team’s role: raise money and reach the community
- Organize fundraising and Outreach throughout the season, including events, goals, and relationships
- Recruit and help form other teams
- Maintain sponsor relationships
- Create newsletter
- Work to form relationships with other teams in New Mexico and in the FIRST community across the globe
Managerial Team’s role: Keep team organized and make plans
- Manage engineering notebook and other documentation such as the budget and business plan
- Manage meeting scheduling, travel plans, hotels, and food at events
- Oversee judge’s presentations
- Competition organization including scouting, safety procedures, and award eligibility
- Ensure both long-term and short-term goals are on track
Team Look/Media Team’s role: manage the team’s public image, merchandise, and media
- Oversee photography/videography
- Pit design
- Team look
- Social Media and website maintenance
- Banners, stickers, and buttons
- Build the driver station, robot box, and robot cart
Skills Needed:
- Programming (Mainly Java)
- Mechanical Engineering
- Building
- CAD
- Electrical Engineering
Our team is also looking for 4-9 more students (grades 7th-12) to join the team.
FIRST is seeking out volunteers at competitions and to help out individual teams. For more information about volunteer opportunities and all FIRST in general visit www.firstinspires.org
Contact Info and Donations
For more information or if interested in sponsoring the team, mentoring, or if you have a student interested in joining the team please contact:
Coach Russ McCabe – 505-620-4588 or Coach Lisa Hood – 505-977-3882 or email enigmaftc@gmail.com
You can donate to the team using a credit card through our website:
https://enigmaftc.com/donate-sponsorships/
If you prefer donating by check we can send you an invoice to pay and a paid receipt for tax purposes.
Please make checks payable to ENIGMA, and send to the following address:
4301 Hillspire Ave. NW
Albuquerque, NM 87120