The story of the Juggernauts began in 1997 and is still being written today. With our sponsors, The Chrysler Foundation, Autodesk, and Oakland Schools, the Juggernauts have been able to transform a love for robotics into a successful team that has continued to demonstrate the ideals of FIRST. We are a diverse team with students from different schools, representing different genders, different races, and different ways of thinking. All have been inspired by FIRST, and have started on the path of science and technology together. Being a Juggernaut involves learning for us, mentoring for our peers, and giving inspiration to everyone else.

Our time as Juggernauts is short. We want to get the most out of our FIRST experience and are inspired to learn all we can about robotics. Education is what ensures that we will always have science and technology in our lives. Our school, Oakland Schools Technical Campus Northeast, helps prepare students from several school districts for careers in science and technology. OSTC-NE houses many career programs, but most Juggernauts come from the Engineering and Emerging Technologies program. (In fact, some of the Engineering students are members of other FRC teams as well). The Engineering program teaches students all aspects of engineering and manufacturing. Being a part of FIRST is really great for these students. It gives them a practical example to utilize their design and fabrication skills. Their work for FRC counts as part of their technical curriculum. Also, all team members participate in an after-school Competitive Engineering enrichment course which is open to anyone, whether they attend the day school or not. It allows students to further pursue and understand engineering. To prepare students for FIRST in the fall, we also created a summer course where students synthesize the basics of physics with the engineering design and build process. By the end of the summer class, students are able to build a fully functional robot, based on FIRST's 2008 Overdrive game. Afterwards, they donate the working chassis to other FRC teams. This class is offered to students from all over Oakland County, Juggernauts or not. Everyone, even students from other FRC teams, should have an opportunity to learn about robotics. It helps create more exciting competition. This course allows year-round exposure to science and technology. Education is the focus of our team, and it truly helps us represent FIRST. We are proof that FIRST works, because we have taken our inspiration and are doing something with it. When we leave school and FIRST, we will already be on our way to a future with science and technology.

Being in FIRST is not only a good challenge, but it is lots of fun. It should be experienced by others, so we look for opportunities to show people in the community the fun that FIRST can bring. For example, in the summer our team participates in the 24-hour cancer awareness event, Relay For Life. The team raised $1000 by giving robot driving lessons and selling robotic bugs. We also raised money for cancer awareness by participating in a Bowl-a-Thon. The team assisted at the Angels' Place Race, which raised money for people with disabilities. The Juggernauts have participated in the YES! Expo at Ford Field in Detroit, where local FIRST robotics teams set up the previous FIRST game and let attendees drive our robots and feel what it's like to participate in robotics. Our team had displays at the annual Woodward Dream Cruise where members of our community learned about robotics and had the chance to drive our robot. This winter, we participated in the Rochester Holiday Parade with other FRC teams. It was televised, so not only the attendees were exposed to FIRST, but people all over our area. To inspire the next generation to pursue science and technology, our team visits schools around the area. On a reoccurring basis, the Juggernauts have visited Longfellow Elementary School on career day to give students an idea of an engineer's work by having hands-on science demonstrations and displaying our robot. To help local Boy Scout and Cub Scout troops earn their Scientist badge, we gave the scouts demonstrations of scientific principles, letting them do the demos themselves until they learned it. Last year, our team visited Clawson High School and gave them a presentation about FIRST robotics. This presentation convinced the school to form the FRC team #3302, and they competed in FIRST, making it to the state competition. Twice last year, the Juggernauts gave presentations at Wayne State University about the physics principles tied to robotics. Our first presentation was for the Detroit Metropolitan Area Physics Teachers and their families who were celebrating their 50th anniversary. We informed them how physics in robotics can be taught in the classroom. Our second visit was directed towards local high school students to promote science and technology careers. We had a unique opportunity this fall to attend the 15th annual Urban Wheels Awards ceremony in Detroit. The Juggernauts were a part of this event, impressing local business leaders and politicians with how FIRST has impacted our team and our community. The Juggernauts also helped our hometown by cleaning up lots along a stretch of road during the Auburn Clean-Up.

We can inspire a lot of people, but we can always use help from others. Having a strong educational foundation allows us to be an asset to teams who don't have the expertise that we have. It is our hope that these new teams will, in turn, be able to go out into the community and "spread the word" about FIRST and science and technology. To this end, we have mentored several FRC rookie teams, along with 2 FLL teams. The Juggernauts provide helpful materials and assist in many ways, including a "How-to" video, an 84 page instructional guide, and workshops for building robots. We also support the teams via routine phone calls, emails, and team visits. We open up our shop to teams who need to fabricate robot components. This year, we are mentoring team #3548 from Lamphere High School. Besides the normal support, they have been visiting our team meetings to learn more about the team dynamic and team building. For team building, we also distribute a CD at regional competitions demonstrating the activities we do.
The Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association, OCCRA, continues to be a larger part of the Juggernauts' year. Our team is still involved with keeping the league functioning. Students receive training through various off-season workshops, along with once a week meetings with engineers for design review and questions. Our district has been able to provide 20+ schools in Oakland County with AndyMark Chassis, Transmissions, and other robotic components that have helped a dozen teams make the jump to FRC. The support our district has provided to schools in Oakland County has enabled many schools over the years (like Lamphere) to join FRC comfortably.

A major source of inspiration in our lives is our parents. This year, we have been able to inspire them to have fun with robotics too. Some parents have taken more interest in the team and have been helping us as mentors. An example of how our parents have helped us involves using technology to aide in improving team communication. A parent found an online service where the team could have video conferences over the internet. Now the Juggernauts can discuss ideas and share sketches and pictures from home. In this format, we utilize our time better. Also, team members feel more comfortable contributing ideas. It has really helped us on Snow Days too. As we learn more, we plan on including other technology tools to improve our team. Our long term goal is to perfect these technologies and share them with other FRC teams so that they can reap the same benefits.

Our mentors are our biggest source of inspiration. They show us what is possible and teach us how to achieve our goals. In recent years, the mentors have spent most of their time worrying about getting the robot built and making sure the team met all of its deadlines. When the team functions inefficiently, they try to finish what doesn't get done. The students have the ability to design, fabricate, program, and build the robot. So we started reorganizing our team with a bigger emphasis on leadership and responsibility. This year, when we divided the team into subgroups, we gave each member specific responsibilities to accomplish. Every team member is responsible for his/her own tasks and is accountable for the quality done. Each group had a leader who guides the other team members and is accountable to the mentors. If a member can not fulfill a task, it is their responsibility to work with other members to meet the deadline. When student leadership and team organization is increased, tasks are done more quickly and correctly. By showing more responsibility, it has allowed the mentors to concentrate on inspiring the students to use the skills they have learned, and showing them how to be better leaders and act more like a team. The mentors' new role is not to build robots, but to build Juggernauts. This has refueled their spirits and made robotics more enjoyable for them, which benefits the whole team.

The 2011 Juggernauts expect good things. Our team is interested in science and technology and dedicated to learning as much as possible. We are lucky to have an experience like FIRST to challenge us and to apply what we have learned. Our team could always be bigger, and so can the team of FIRST. It is our mission to show others what can be done when you connect knowledge and spirit. Perhaps we will inspire a future Juggernaut, or at least a member of some other FRC or FLL team. Our path is towards a future that involves science and technology, and maybe we will inspire some others along the way and they will join us.