Wildstang’s 2011 robot represents two firsts for our team. I’ll fill you in on the details for one of them, you should be able to spot the second one (hint: it has to to with the design).
Every season prior to this one, all 15 years Wildstang has been in FIRST, we have had a single sponsor’s logo on our robot: the Motorola batwings. Motorola gives us money, a place to practice, and access to their model shop, the machines in it, and the labor of its employees. Twelve days into the build season, we learned that the shop was shutting down, all the machinists were losing their jobs, and we would not be able to use it anymore.
Through prior conversations with JVN, we knew that IFI would be willing to get us through a season if something like this happened to us. After a quick call to John, who had a brief conversation with Tony, they agreed to make any sheet metal parts we needed this year. Without IFI’s support and Tony Norman’s dedication to the educational robotics community, our 2011 robot would not exist in its current form. The least we could do is put their logo on our robot.
Interesting. Does this predicate Motorola axing their support for 111 in 2012, or is it simply a case of a Motorola executive decision affecting the direct local support 111 has been getting from Motorola, but Motorola will continue to support 111’s program in future? I also wonder if this means simply that IFI has ‘rescued’ the stranded 111 for the 2011 FRC season, or if this is likely to become 111 joining the Team IFI ranks on a more permanent basis?
Twelve days into the build season, we learned that the shop was shutting down, all the machinists were losing their jobs, and we would not be able to use it anymore.
I’m very sorry this has happened and I’m sorry that all of the machinists faced job loss. ( I can relate to that very easily.)
IFI must be very proud to be 111’s sponsor and friend. It is a strong partnership and brings happiness to a sad time.
Wow, what IFI continues to do for the FIRST community is amazing… I wont mention the politics that cause me to be amazed, but lets just say they are the definition of GP
Even facing these types of grim situations, the community finds a way to sustain excellence.
Two lessons for all the kiddies to learn here:
You will not get 100% of the help you don’t ask for.
No FRC Team, no matter how many blue banners they fly, is immune to this kind of adversity. Prepare. Always.
No matter how well I think I know the IFI folks in Greenville and beyond, even after moonlighting for them for three years, I’m always amazed how they find the energy, time, and resources to support a cause all of us feel is so important in oh so many ways. You could spend a week listing all the contributions and you won’t run out of line items …
With the motorola shop down, where are you guys working now?
Good luck this year. I know what having a big sponsor (or in my case, a promising prospect) back out on you. I would mention who it might have been in my case, but we are giving it another try.
The answer to the general question of “what’s next?” is “we’ll see.” Motorola at the corporate level plans to continue to support FIRST and our team. This was just an unfortunate local decision that impacted us. We still have our practice field and we have enough hand tools to get us through this season. We’re exploring a bunch of options for machining for next year.
Billfred, we used black sharpies for the red bumpers last year and a disappointing white paint pen for the blue. After seeing John’s blog post we decided to give silver a shot and it worked real well.
Correct me if I’m wrong, but Team IFI currently consists of:
111 - 14 blue banners (3 trips to Einstein, 2 Championships) [f. 1996]
148 - 9 blue banners (1 trip to Einstein, 2 Championships) [f. 1992]
217 - 18 blue banners (5 trips to Einstein, 2 Championships) [f. 1999]
254 - 26 blue banners (3 trips to Einstein, 0 Championships) [f. 1999]
1114 - 21 blue banners (2 trips to Einstein, 1 Championship) [f. 2003]
[strike]2056 - 9 blue banners (1 trip to Einstein, 0 Championships) [f. 2007][/strike] Was a member of Team IFI in 2008-2009, not since.
Note: all numbers based on my counts from http://frclinks.com/t/<#>, and are therefore subject to inaccuracies on FIRSTs part, especially on pre-2001 info.
87 blue banners, 66 years of FRC experience, 14 trips to Einstein, and 7 Championships between them (granted, 3 of those championships are the same one, when 148/217/1114 won 2008 championship together).
Reading this post makes you grateful for what you have and the realization that things dont last forever, regardless of the team.
It pays off to be a great team, for which they’ve established relationships with other great teams.
Even with what they have to overcome this year, I’d expect the end result to be the same as usual…dominating at tournaments.