Team 102 Robotics

About Us

Team Name: The Gearheads.
Location: Somerville, NJ.
Team Number: Team 102.

We are a FIRST robotics team from Somerville, New Jersey. We have been building robots in FIRST for 10 years, and have experienced continued success. We have overcome tough obstacles, such as a lack of funding and the loss of our advisors, and have exceeded far beyond all expectations. We have won many awards (such as the prestigous Engineering Inspiration award), gone to the National Championship five times, and built the fastest FIRST robot in the world. By focusing on our goals, working together as a team, and practicing gracious professionalism, we will continue to succeed, improve ourselves, and improve FIRST to the best of our ability.

History

• 1998 - The Somerville team begins! Our first robot, Agent Orange, went to the New Jersey regional and did very well.
  Robot: Agent Orange
• 1999 - As the program began to develop and spark interest among the students, the team became official in 1999. By now, the Gearheads have developed their second robot, The Torquenator.
  Robot: The Torquenator
  
• 2000 - In 2000, the newly formed Gearheads teamed up with Ortho Clinical Diagnostics, and were able to attend their first Championship in Orlando, Florida, with their next robot, The Sprocket Rocket. At the Championship, the Sprocket Rocket did incredibly well, and, along with its alliance, came in second place.
  Robot: The Sprocket Rocket
• 2001 - Following the immense success of the preceding robots, team participation spiked in 2001. The team was the largest it had ever been, and with such enthusiastic members the Hot Rod was built.
  Robot: The Hot Rod
• 2002 - The Gearheads had an impressive success rate, especially with the FireWire, which was built the following year. They ranked a spectacular 13th place in the Johnson & Johnson Mid-Atlantic Regional, and allied with Team 869 in preliminary competitions. The Gearheads also won the Pennsylvania Robot Challenge while allied with Team 303 and Team 25, and attended the Championship Event the same year.
  Robot: FireWire
• 2003 - The Gearheads’s success continued into the following year, with wins at the New Jersey Regional and the Johnson & Johnson Mid-Atlantic Regional with the X-Wave. During the New Jersey Regional, the Gearheads had the best autonomous mode of the competition, with it succeeding in every match.
  Robot: X-Wave

• 2004 - Unfortunately, the limited funding by the school allowed for participation only in the 2004 New Jersey Regional competition, with their robot Captain Hook.
  Robot: Captain Hook
• 2005 - After a year without funding, the Gearheads came back ready to build an intense robot ready to make up for what it couldn’t do the previous year. The Shocker competed in the 2005 New Jersey Regional and did quite well.
  Robot: Shocker
• 2006 - With their 2006 robot Firestorm, the Gearheads finished in the quarterfinals in the New Jersey Regional, the semifinals at the Long Island Regional, and first place at the Brunswick Eruption V while allied with Team 271 and Team 293. Firestorm also won the General Motors Industrial Design Award at the Long Island competition. The success rate of the Gearheads began to improve once again, winning the Engineering Inspiration Award at the SBPLI Long Island Regional and placing 55th in the Championship Event.
  Robot: Firestorm
• 2007 - In 2007, with their new & improved robot, Firestorm 2.0, the Gearheads attended the New Jersey and Long Island regionals. At the Long Island regional, the team won the Engineering Inspiration award, which is the second highest award a team can receive. This claimed the Gearheads a spot in the National Championship in Atlanta, GA, at which the team did very well.
  Robot: Firestorm 2.0
• 2008 - 2008 was one of the most successful years for the Gearheads ever. They built the fastest FIRST robot in the world, Orion; it travelled nearly 30 feet per second! At the New Jersey regional, the team finished in the quarterfinals and won the Judge's award. At the Long Island regional the team won the Entrepreneurship Award, and Orion, along with its fellow alliance teammates, claimed first place and secured a spot in the National Championship in Atlanta, GA. After the Championship, the team became the first team to win the FIRST Finale Asphalt Race, a robotic drag race, and was crowned the fastest FIRST robot in the world.
  See a video of Dean Kamen, the founder of FIRST, racing our robot...
  Robot: Orion

Goals

• Increase student involvement in FIRST.
  Every student has something that they can contribute to our team, and FIRST is an inspiring way to bring out and increase the talent in students.
• Work with our school and community to raise FIRST awareness.
  By raising awareness of FIRST in our school and community, we are showing people the wonders of science and technology and a glimpse of FIRST's vision of the future.
• Build the best robot that we can build.
  By using all the knowledge and tools available to us, we will always try to build the best robot that we can.

Contact Us

[-]

Email:

Sponsors

[-]

Support The Team!

[+]

Login

[-]