2004 Zippy
Our team began in 2003 with approximately 15 students all with a common interest in science and engineering, and a thirst to learn more. In our rookie year, we attended the regional event held in Sacramento where we were awarded the “Rookie All Star Award”.
This award was our ticket to the national event in Atlanta, Georgia, the Championship Event. At this event, we worked our way to the top and won the title of “Curie Division Champions”. The first-year robotics team at Arroyo Grande High School named their robot “Zippy” because it was covered in zip-ties, unique folding claw to grab 2x ball, hook to hitch goals, ability to track lines on the ground.
From left to right: Row 1) Ted Sabatina, Jeff Lions, Bryan Brungs, Mike Hendricks, Derek Peterson, Nick Evangello, Matt DePhillips, Susanne Ek, Doug Hinchman, Shaun Wathen, Evan Thompson, and Greg Hinchman.
Row 2) Deven Tamashiro, Alice Grey, Martini Gains, Marvin Byrd, David Cruz, Joey Gannon, and Bill Findley.
2005: Sparky
Our second year brought on a new challenge as a grand majority of our team was brand new and had nearly doubled in size. Many of the first year’s team had graduated and gone on to pursue more education and careers using skills they learned on the Eagle Robotics Team. Yet our team had another successful year, we received the “Engineering Inspiration Award” at the UC Davis/Sacramento Regional. Following that, we experienced more success at the national competition.
From left to right, top to bottom: Row 1) David Cruz, Shaun Wathen, Bryan Brungs, Julian Davis, Justin Trulock, Leroy Howell, Bryan Quennell, Chris Kelley, Greg Hinchman, and James Carisle.
Row 2) Jimmy Dolengewicz, Joey Gannon, Dan MacDougall, Tanya Bryd, Andrew Sweet, Garred Oldham, Paul Skillin, Sean Blauvelt, Dawn Hinchman, Don MacDougall, and Mike Hendricks.
Row 3) Beau Ross, Bill Findley, Jessica Rumbel, Alice Gray, Danny Gregory, Garret Tietz, Cam Christensen, and Janet Sally.
2006: Z-3
By our third year, we had grown to know the FIRST experience well. Our team worked well together and the end result was a very successful robot. At the UC Davis/Sacramento Regional we won the “Johnson & Johnson Sportsmanship Award”. This award congratulated us on our great team work within our team and to other teams.
From left to right, bottom to top: Row 1) Alice Gray, Jessica Rumbel, Lisa Davis, Christine Jarret, Evan Jarret, and Russell Gray.
Row 2) Nick Squat, Dan MacDougall, Andrew Peterson, Paul Skillin, Mike Hendricks, Don MacDougall, Gary Jarret, Jim Greenhaw, Justin Trulock, Bob Wathen, Bill Findley, and Bryan Brungs.
Row 3) Ron Nashida, Lerot Howell, Andrew Sweet, Julian Davis, Cameron Christenson, James Carlisle, Garret Tietz, Dawn Hinchman, Terry Skillin, and David Cruz.
2007: Lucky
Last year brought us further victories but with a twist. After a few robot malfunctions at the Los Angeles Regional we radically changed the design of our robot. Our performance at the national event was not nearly as successful as our rookie year, but our team was awarded the “Xerox Creativity Award” on behalf of our outstanding community outreach events. This year we are working hard for another victorious year.
From left to right: George Bekey, Jim Greenhaw, Andy Smith, Mason Smyth, Andrew Sweet, Julia Skillin, Ryan Theibude, Grant Cook, Paul Skillin, Chris Lopez, Casey Studor, James Carlier, Casey Jones, Dan Kelley, Garret Tietz, Chris Compton, Kevin Shinim, Andrew Plaza, Bryan Mandera, Nick Stafford, Doug Doulgan, Evan Jared, Bryan Quennell, Bailey Johandus, Mark Smith, Luke Russom, Tyler Williams, Matt Kime, Jeff Williams, Mike Hendrick, Devin Koester, and Bill Findley.
2008: Hammertime
Five years running left us with a new design for our robot, including a 9 pound lead hammer, surgical tubing, and a rake; “Hammertime” earned us the “Xerox Creativity Award” in the San Diego Regional. Once again our team got the priviledge to journey to Atlanta Georgia for the Championships, due to winning the “Engineering Inspiration Award” at the UC Davis Regional, as well as being the Runner-up and recieved the Saftey Award.
From left to right: Back row: Paul Jacob, Jimmy Dolengewicz, Grant Cook, Mason Smyth, Brian Stevens, Danny Duggan, Morgan Bergeon, Mark Smith, Brian Mandara, Chirs Lopez, Phillip King, Dan Kelley, Luke Russom, Daniel Eaton and Chase Drouillard.
Middle row: Phil Maggio, George Bekey, Terry Skillin, Julia Skillin, David Goss, Max Burson, Nathan Wilkins, Brandon Hallmark, Andrew Plaza, Anthony Arizaga, Carson Bush, Casey Jones, Kevin Kett and Matt Kime.
Front row: Cheyenne Britton, Stephanie Marble, Anna Skillin, Megan Cowan and Bill Findley.
2009: Gyration
Our second year brought on a new challenge as a grand majority of our team was brand new and had nearly doubled in size. Many of the first year’s team had graduated and gone on to pursue more education and careers using skills they learned on the Eagle Robotics Team. Yet our team had another successful year, we received the “Engineering Inspiration Award” at the UC Davis/Sacramento Regional. Following that, we experienced more success at the national competition.
From left to right: Back row: Andy Smith, Casey, David, Katrina, Brian, Max, Johnny, Phil, Danny, Tyler, Chieyenne, Julia, Anna
Middle Row: Mike Hendricks, Jake, ?, Carson, Daniel Kelly, Nate, Nate, Danielle, Sierra, Mr. Waymire, ?
Front row:Tatum, Mrs. Morse, Jen, Mr. Morse, Ian, Bill Findley
2010: Phoenix
This year Team 1388 was presented with its seventh challenge, Breakaway, a game where the field of play was divided into three sections with the robots designed to score balls in their goals. Our robot was named Phoenix and was designed to play the end game particularly well, we wowed the crowds with our climb. We competed in San Diego and Los Angeles again this year and ended ranked 18th in San Diego, sixth in Los Angeles but, unfortunately lost in the semifinals at both competitions. Our creativity won us the “Creativity Award” sponsored by the Xerox Corporation.
From left to right: Back row: Mrs. Morse, Allison, Jen, Tatum Waymire, David, Chris, Ian Morse, Brandon, Cody Bynum, Tyler Castro.
Front row: Jeff Techau, Calvin Curley, Anna Skillin, Joseph, Scott, Jake, Carson, Dan Kelley, Nate Garcia, Danny, Findley.
2011: Murphy
2011 brought the team a new challenge, Logo Motion. The game was all about placing inflated versions of the parts of the FIRST logo on a wall in order, the more often your alliance was able to place it the more points you scored. The end game involved a second “minibot” that was designed to climb a pole and contact a switch that illuminated a light on the top of the pole.
From left to right: Back row: Daniel Zimmerman, Mike, Jeff Techau, Chris Kim, Joseph Kotlerak, Bryce Vonilten, Caleb Hill, Jordan Henderson, Jake Brownlee, Anna Skillin, David Anderson, Joel Braun, Scott Techau, Joseph Simonian.
Middle Row: Joe Campbell, Daniel Dougan, Steve Beadle, Carson Bush, Joel Fischbein, Cody Bynum, Craig Vonilten, Jim Greenhaw, Paul Corr, Eric Berger, Terry Skillin, Dianna Greenhaw.
Front Row: Sarah Castellino, Abbie Sandquist, Allison Servey, Sarah Phipps, Jen Trecartain, Bobby Johnson, Jarrett Corr, Daniel Beadle
2012: Chaos
The ninth season of Eagle Robotics gave us Rebound Rumble, basically a game of basketball. The end game was a very hard challenge, the three robots would attempt to balance themselves on a teeter totter like platform. We were the second alliance in all of FIRST to perform this task. The team competed in Sacramento and Madera at the Central Valley Regional. In Sacramento, we ended up ranked 18th and this is where we were able to preform the triple balance. We again lost in the semifinals, but it was a good regional for us in the end. Central Valley was not nearly as good to us we ended the regional in 23rd place.
From left to right: Back row: Carter Colbush, Jordan Henderson, Jordan Fluitt, Joseph Simonian, Chris Moles, Dylan, Anna Skillin, Wyatt, Joel Fischbien, Jake Brownlee, Joel Braun, Bryce Vonilten, Scott Techau, Bobby Johnson, Jeff Techau
Middle Row: Daniel Beadle, David Anderson, Sophia Bylsma, Akash Salam, Cody Bynum, Caleb Hill, Justis, Jarrett Corr, Joseph Kotlerak, Emily Kaar, Robert Matych, Robin Morales, Chris Kim.
Front Row: Bryce Raymsee, Sarah Phipps, Sarah Castellino, Abbie Sandquist, Allison Servey, Jen Trecartain, Angelee Breuninger, Sheridan Rea, Jordan Delaney, Perrin Silveria
2013: Mantis
Team 1388 celebrated its 10th anniversary this year. The game was Ultimate Ascent, the basic game was a frisbee throwing contest, what made it interesting was the end game. Each alliance was given a pyramid of three levels and the higher your robot was able to climb the more points were added to your score. We used a rather ingenious method using two Fat Max tape measures to act as our rope and were able to climb to the highest level of the pyramid consistently.
We competed in the Sacramento and Silicon Valley regionals and finished ranked 15th and 10th respectively. The team won was a regional finalist in Sacramento and was awarded the Team Spirit Award.
From left to right: Top Row: Jeff Claxton, Mr. Moles, Mr. Kaar, Steve Beadle, Mr. Kotlerak, Carter Kolbush, Matthew Goldstein, Jim Greenhaw, Mike, Jordan Henderson, Jeff Techau, Taed Studer, Zack Braun Row 2: Robin Morales, Dylan Christmer, Elizabeth Geddes Row 3: Joel Braun, Joseph Simonian, Row 4: David Anderson, Cody Bynum, Tommy Kaar. Row 5: Bryce Ramsee, Sheridan Rea, Row 6: Emily Kaar, Melanie Sandquist, Jarrett Corr, Row 7: Caleb Hill, Justis, Jordan Fluitt, Wyatt, Joey Kotlerak, Chris Moles, Spencer Claxton, Robert Matych, Scott Techau. Row 8: Lonnie Simonian, Rachel Kydd, Olivia Kotlerak, Angelee Breuninger, Jordan Delane, Sophia Bylsma, Abbie Sandquist, Daniel Beadle, Paul Corr
2015: Smokey
Year 12 rolled around, and the team learned that the game this year was an environmentally friendly one. It was Recycle Rush and the object of the game was to pick up and stack totes in given areas of the playing field. Points were scored based on the number of totes in a given stack and the area of the field they were placed on. The game also included a part where the robots would place “trash”, i.e. pool noodles into a garbage can placed at the top of a stack of totes. The robot was named Smokey, dubbed this when it caught fire in a practice run in the shop.
We competed in the Los Angeles and Ventura regionals and finished ranked 26th and 8th but were not chosen for the brackets.
2016: Stronghold
The game for this year was Stronghold and revolved around a mid-evil theme with boulders used to destroy a castle and obstacles the robot needed to negotiate placed around the field. We built a sturdy robot that was very fast and very powerful but at times appeared to have a mind of its own or a driver that was out of control. We’re still not sure which it was. We named it Knightmare, a name that was significant in many ways.
We competed in San Diego and Ventura this year and finished ranked 33rd and 14th. In both competitions, we made it into the brackets but lost again in the quarter-finals.
2017: White Rabbit
The year 2017 brought us Steamworks, a steampunk-themed game that used gears and whiffle balls. The gears were used to start the rotors moving and the whiffle balls represented fuel used to start the rotors moving. The end game involved a climb that would add additional power and points to our score. We named the robot White Rabbit in honor of Alice in Wonderland, a story slightly representative of the game, a little out there.
We competed at the Central Valley and Sacramento regionals and finished ranked 28th and 33rd, a very unfortunate year for Team 1388. Needless to say, we looked forward to a better year in 2018.
The best thing about White Rabbit, it has turned out to be a very successful demonstration robot. It plays very well with the kids and they love chasing the whiffle balls.
2019: Scorpios
In 2019 Boeing presented us with “Destination Deep Space” a game based on Planet Primus. The teams were to create a robot to collect cargo pods a prepare their spaceships before the next sandstorm arrived. Scorpios was created and we competed at the Central Valley Regional in Fresno where we finished 10th. We then went on to compete in the Las Vegas Regional where we finished as a team captain in the 5th position. Unfortunately, in both regionals, we were defeated in the quarter-finals.
Team 1388 was awarded the Quality Award at Central Valley for its strength in concept and fabrication. In Las Vegas, we received the Innovation in Control Award for the unique way we applied our control system to the different electrical, mechanical, and software functions.
Once again we resolved ourselves to work toward a better finish in 2020.
2020: R2 Detour
Little did we know the challenges that 2020 was to bring to the world. FIRST pair with Lucasfilm to present “Infinite Recharge” a game based on protecting the alliance’s city from destruction by an asteroid storm. Foam balls were used as power cells to charge a shield generator. The balls were shot by the robots into high and low goals to boost the generator’s power. The end game was highlighted by the climb to close the match.
R2 Detour was created, and the team headed off to the Los Angeles North regional ending up in 13th and losing in the quarter finals. As we prepared for our second regional in Sacramento Covid hit and the rest of the FIRST competition season was shut down. Such is life, nothing more we can do but look forward to the next year.
2021 Infinite Recharge at Home
Covid all but shut the team down. FIRST provided an at home version of the game from the previous year. Team 1388 had eight students participate in creating a potential game for FIRST to use in the future and a challenge that revamped the robot from 2020.
The team participated the best they could but with such small numbers and so many restrictions put on meetings it was nearly impossible for us to generate much interest.
On to next year!
2022 Rapid React
Once again Boeing partnered with FIRST to present “Rapid React”, a game
themed around transportation. The game revolved around both alliances
shooting inflatable balls, “cargo”, into a central hub with a
climbing element to end the match.
2023: Option 8
2023 started off in typical 1388 style. We welcomed 13 new team members in the Fall and began training them in their selected sub-teams. After four months of intensive training, the team was ready for a break, and we all took off for the Holidays. Over the break, we had severe winter storms that showered us with over 5 inches of water. Little did we know that we would be coming back to a room with 3 inches of water on the floor. This set us back by more than a week. After our slow start, we were under the gun for most of the build season and finished the robot at our first competition.
We again traveled to Ventura and Las Vegas for competition. Ventura was very much a proving ground for us as we went 5 -4 in our nine matches but learned a lot about our robot. The shining moment in Ventura was the awarding of the Judges’ Award. We came back to Arroyo Grande and immediately went to work on improving the robot.
Off to Las Vegas, this trip was highlighted by a 10 hour bus ride for the bulk of the team. On their way across the desert, the bus encountered an accident that delayed their arrival in Las Vegas by three hours. Once assembled the team was ready for competition. We had 12 matches and went 8-4 for the meet. We became the eighth alliance captain and entered the playoff rounds. Our alliance was very successful and we finished third for the competition and came home very encouraged by our finish and looking forward to a very successful year in 2024.
