342
From FIRSTwiki
| Burning Magnetos | |
|---|---|
| |
| Rookie Year: | 2000 |
| Inactive Years: | {{{inactive}}} |
| Location: | North Charleston, SC, USA |
| School: | Summerville, Fort-Dorchester, Woodland, home schools |
| Approx. size: | 20-30 members |
| Team Website: | http://www.team342.org/ |
Contents |
History
Team 342 "The Burning Magnetos" was founded in 2000 and has been a leading South Carolina FRC team ever since. The team draws from three area high schools in Dorchester School Districts 2 and 4 as well as private and home schools. The team has grown from 20 students in 2000 to over forty today. Team 342 also helped start FLL and VEX in the South Carolina Lowcountry, programs which are rapidly growing.
- Partnership (from www.team342.org)
While the industry partner, Bosch, initiated the involvement with FIRST, Dorchester School District Two and Trident Technical College were quick to step up to the challenges of the partnership. Robert Bosch Corporation sponsors the Robotics Team 342 with the entry fee and the use of their training facilities to design and build the robot. The Leadership Team consists of mentors and instructors from the Bosch organization, educators and administrators from the school district, and instructors from the college.
Dorchester School District Two and Trident Technical College have embraced the vision of the FIRST mission and have actively sought out funding. They have developed a curriculum to support the necessary skills to be successful in the design and building of a robot that is capable of robust competition on a national level.
To further enhance this vision, this partnership has sought out an additional partner with the United States Department of Labor Bureau of Apprentice Training in registering our structured robotics program as a Youth Apprenticeship.
- Other Student Opportunities:
Experienced high school students returning to Team 342 from last year will take on leadership roles in the brainstorming, designing, and construction phases of this year's robot. Their dedication and team spirit will inspire the new members of the team.
Many of the students that participate in the Team 342 Robotics program go on to continue their education in the science and/or technology field. The Robert Bosch Corporation supports these students with apprenticeship opportunities and co-op programs. Some of the team's graduate-students are now attending colleges like Penn State, Clemson and Georgia Tech and plan to return to Bosch to co-op as part of his college curriculum to become a mechanical engineer. Another student applied and was accepted in the three-year Bosch Apprenticeship for the trade of Industrial Machine Systems Technician. This highly skilled trade opportunity has a scholarship value of $65,000.
The partnership of Team 342 promotes the FIRST Robotics Competition and all supporting activities as a mind and technical-skill sport. Students completing the Robotics Curriculum with a satisfactory grade earn a letter for their jacket, as would an athlete in any other school-sponsored sport.
- Impact on Learning Experience:
Team 342 has impacted the lives of everyone involved, from the mentors to the students. For freshman students on the team, the experiences they have had while on Team 342 has sparked interest in areas of study such as Auto-CAD, which normally might not have been covered in school curriculum.
The impact of Team 342 does not stop there. The professional engineers that serve as mentors to the students have also felt the impact. Team Leader Mike Bryan indicated that the FIRST Robotics competition has given him the opportunity to think outside of the box. He stated, "The learning environment that exits is not just for the students. Although the main focus is to ensure the students learn teamwork and the engineering technologies, the mentors learn a great deal from the students. Their minds aren't cluttered with how things can't be done, and it is amazing how simple a solution to a problem can be when the student explains his or her idea."
Design CAD Instructor for Trident Technical College Alan Kalameja says, "I am glad to take what we do here and put it in my lesson plans. I am pleased to give students college credit."
Team projects
Team 342 has a Legacy Program we use to honor the contributions of past team members by improving science and technology education.
- In 2000, Team 342 donated LEGO Mindstorms kits to area middle schools to start FLL in our area.
- In 2006, Team 342 sponsored and mentored two VEX teams, the first in our area.
- In 2004, Team 342 brought Project Lead the Way, a high school engineering preparatory curriculum, to Dorchester District 2 schools through our Legacy Program.
- In 2004, Team partnered with other FRC teams, local businesses and USC to bring the Palmetto Regional to Columbia, SC. This created a more cost effective regional for SC FRC teams to attend and is constantly growing. Every year, dozens of teams from all over the United States compete and share knowledge in Columbia.
- In the off-season, mentors and returning team members hold training sessons at the Bosch plant to teach new team members about robotics and to develop new skills.
- Team members have presented the team's achivements to various organizations including the Autodesk University Presentation to Advanced Inventor Techniques and Assembly Modeling in Las Vegas, the US Department of Labor, Bureau of Apprentice Training Conference, and the Women in Non-Traditional Careers Conference. Team 342 was also featured in 2004 and 2005 in a SCETV documentary about FIRST and the Palmetto Regional.
Achievements
- 2007 SC UL Industrial Safety Award
- 2007 SC Regional Champion
- 2007 FL KPC&B Entrepreunership
- 2007 FL Autodesk Visualization Award
- 2007 SC J&J Sportsmanship
- 2006 FL Imagery
- 2006 SC Autodesk Visualization Award
- 2006 SC J&J Sportsmanship
- 2006 CMP Autodesk Inventor Award - Hon Mention
- 2005 FL Engineering Inspiration Award
- 2005 FL Autodesk Visualization Award
- 2005 SC J&J Sportsmanship
- 2005 SC Safety Award
- 2005 SC Regional Chairman's Award
- 2004 SC Autodesk Award for Visualization
- 2004 CMP Autodesk Inventor Award
- 2004 SC Regional Chairman's Award
- 2003 FL Engineering Inspiration Award
- 2003 FL Website Design Award
- 2003 FL Autodesk Award for Visualization
- 2002 FL Regional Chairman's Award
- 2002 FL Judge's Award
- 2001 FL Incredible Play of the Day
- 2001 FL #1 Seed
- 2001 FL Finalist
- 2001 FL Imagery
- 2001 FL Leadership in Controls
- 2000 FL J&J Sportsmanship
- 2000 FL Finalist
- 2000 FL Rookie All-Star Award
Robots
Team 342 names its robot "Bernie", nicknamed "B-Diddy".
2007 robot.
2006 robot
2005 robot
2004 robot
Team members built a full size model of the robot B-9 from the 1960's television series "Lost in Space" in 2003. Team 342 brings B-9 to FLL 
Categories: 342 | Rookie 2000 | Teams
