Who we are...
We are a team comprised of students from South River High in Edgewater Maryland, and are guided by our mentors. We annually compete in the FIRST Robotics Competition, and we also participate in community service activities. If we can't fix it, it's not broken! GO HAWKS!
What is FIRST?
For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology is an organizations whose entire purpose is to inspire people about science and technology, as well as to spread gracious professionalism. They do this though a variety of programs, such as the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC). Every year in FRC thousands of teams compete against each other in a robotic game at many regionals and the Championship in Atlanta GA.
So what’s the game?
For the 2008 Season the game is called Overdrive. In over drive there is a 27 by 54 foot track. Six and a half feet above the ground there is a structure called the Overpass that has three spots for holding Trackballs. A Trackball is a 40 inch in diameter, 7.2 pound spherical game object. For every match the participating teams are split up into two alliances, red and blue. Each alliance gets points by getting the Trackballs down, and racing them around the track.
Gracious Professionalism?
Alliances is where another part of the challenge comes in, Gracious Professionalism. Gracious Professionalism is the most dominate concept in FIRST. It means helping out other teams, and always being of great character in your actions. Each match, with the exception of the finals, every match your alliance is made up of different teams. Someone who is your alliance partner one match may be on the opposing side the next match. The Powerhawks take Gracious Professionalism very seriously.