2014BusinessPlanFinal

BUSINESS PLAN
FOR THE 2013-2014 FRC YEAR
STEINERT ROBOTICS
ZERO GRAVITY
FRC TEAM 2180
1 Learn,Grow,Serve.

Table of Contents:
Learn, Grow, Serve.2
 Title … 1
 Table of Contents* … 2
 Executive Summary … 3
 Intro to FIRST … 5
 Team Summary … 7
 We Learn. … 16
 We Grow. … 32
 We Serve. … 45
 Notes … 50

Executive Summary:
 Mission Statement:
“Zero Gravity FIRSTTeam 2180 strives to learn creative problem solving
and cooperative skills; to grow our opportunities and other’s interest in our
program; and to serve our communities by promoting FIRST and STEM.”
 Formation Date:
Fall, 2007
 Founder:
David Kohler
Team Coach, SteinertTechnology Chair
 Number ofTeam Members: 38
 Team Location:
Joseph Steinert Memorial High School
2700 Klockner Road
Hamilton, NJ 08690
 Sponsors:
 Sun Chemical
 New Jersey EducationAssociation
 Lockheed Martin
 Waste Management
 Bloomberg
 Nav-Air
 FMCTechnologies
 HamiltonTownship EducationAssociation
 Nation Defense Education Program

Executive Summary:
 Services Rendered:
 To provide an environment that facilitates real-world experiences. This is done
through teamwork, trial-and-error discovery, and making the organization
student-run.
 To provide an outlet for community service by participating in various
community events.
 To instill a new set of values in students including STEM, engineering skills,
and internal growth.
 Current Sponsors:
 Our current sponsors are largely local, who contribute to a yearly ad booklet
handed out at our largest fundraising event.
For information about how we rank sponsors/our current sponsors, see 40-41.
 Team Growth:
 The team has grown largely in part due to our experiences. For instance,
Hurricane Sandy and the Syrian Civil War has largely affected our growth as a
family. Our participation in local events helps spread the word about our
program, thus inspiring students to join FIRST.
 Future Plans:
 In the future, our team would like to see ourselves participate in events such as
the 2014 Special Olympics, and reach out to corporate sponsors in said events.
In addition, the team would like to create a Summer Camp to instigate future
team growth.

Intro to FIRST:
 For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology
(FIRST) was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen. Over the
past twenty years, FIRST has become a multinational,
nonprofit organization with teams located in Brazil,
Canada, Great Britain, Israel, and the United States.
 During FIRST’s introductory year, 28 teams competed.
Now, over 2,300 teams compete in 31 Regional
Competitions in the FIRST Robotics Competition. FIRST
has made it their goal to inspire students from grades K-12
to pursue subjects such as Math, Science, and Technology
in ways that one would not usually experience in the
typical high school setting.
 When FIRST began, the organization was funded by
Businesses, Educational Institutions, and the Federal
Government. With the help of new investors every year,
and the encouragement of every US President since its
inception, FIRST is able to put together more difficult
tasks that keep everyone challenged year after year.

Intro to FIRST:
 FIRST credits the success of the organization to the
thousands of volunteers, engineers, teachers, and other
mentors who have helped make the organization as
prosperous as it has become worldwide.
 Many of FIRST’s past student participants have returned
to help coordinate the Regional and National competitions
in order to allow present members achieve the same – if
not more – opportunities that they received from the
program.
 Since it’s beginning as an organization, FIRST has become
a worldwide phenomenon. Now with 2,300+ teams, and
thousands of students all over the world competing, the
organization has come a long way since its introductory
days. Robotics programs have been promoted in schools
worldwide as an excellent way for students to learn new
things in a hands-on environment.
 With FIRST and its beliefs becoming well-known around
the world, the future looks bright for a society that
celebrates STEM education.

Team Summary:
“First is a great way to prepare yourself for future skills needed in varying
courses of study and career choices.”

Developing a Mission.
 “What words are important to us?”
 “What do we do?”
• Creative problem solving skills for real-world issues.
• Technical and non-technical skills to carry on in the future
We
Learn.
• Opportunities in the FIRST program and local community
• Interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and
Mathematics
We
Grow.
• Local and FIRST communities by extending and open hand
• People interested in FIRST and STEM, including our
students/mentors
We
Serve.

Team Mission Statement:
“Zero Gravity FIRSTTeam
2180 strives to learn creative
problem solving and
cooperative skills; to grow our
opportunities and other’s
interest in our program; and to
serve our communities by
promoting FIRST and STEM.”

Team History:
 Steinert High School became acquainted with the FIRST
program by joining the VEX Challenge in the Fall of 2007.
the 2007 team consisted of 8 students and one
mentor/team captain: Mr. Kohler.
 The team was – in terms of the program – very
inexperienced but ambitious, as the team consisted of
students interested in the STEM career path. The goal of
the team was to help ignite this ambition in future
students.
 In November of 2007, Steinert joined the FIRST Robotics
Challenge and successfully won a NASA grant that
provided for the entrance fee for the World Championship
for the 2007 year.
 In December of 2007, during a VEX Robot Competition,
the Steinert team was awarded the 2006 New Jersey
Championship Inspire Award, presented by Public Service
Electric & Gas.
 This award would secure our admittance to the FVC
World Championship in Atlanta, GA.
 A year later, team Zero Gravity was involved in FRC as a
rookie team, where we placed in the top 8 in a Trenton
Regional Competition.
 In addition, the team was awarded the Top Rookie Seed
Award in 2007.

Team History:
 Due to the team’s success, Zero Gravity was invited to attend the
FRC and FRCWorld Champion inAtlanta, GA.
 The team was able to attend due to the assistance of the Sun-
Chemical Corporation. Through mentor Dr. Rich, a Sun-Chemical
employee, the entrance fee was paid for the team and shipping was
provided for the team’s tools and supplies.
 7 of the 8 students in both the FRC and FVC programs attended the
championship. Overall, the Steinert team placed poorly out of the
teams within their division.
 However, the World Championship – with its various teams – was
described as an overwhelming experience. This drove the team to
compete harder for the upcoming years in order to perform better
at theWorld Championships.
 This unwavering determination allowed the team to win various
awards following the 2007 rookie year. In 2009, Zero Gravity were
awardedWoodie Flowers finalists.
 In 2012, Team 2180 won the Engineering Excellence Award and the
Xerox Creativity Award. In addition, the Steinert Team placed as
finalists in both of the regional competitions they attended.
 The greatness of our team was additionally awarded with attendance
to the FRCWorld Championship in St. Louis, Missouri.

Team Goals – Listed:
 To compete in all award categories of FIRST.
 To document by way of writing and video all aspects of the
organization.
 To develop, maintain and update the team website.
 To design and build a robot to compete in FRC and FTC
competitions.
 To develop a positive relationship with the community.
 To obtain and maintain sponsors for a self supporting program.
 To expose students to possible career opportunities in math, science,
technology and engineering.
 To develop activities for fundraising.
 To develop an annual off-season robotics tournament – open to local
teams and teams in the FIRST community.
 To secure scholarship opportunities for Steinert High School
robotics team members.
 To mentor other robotics teams.
 To organize and mentor local FIRST Lego League robotics teams at
local elementary schools.
 To develop life long skills needed to succeed in high school, post
high school education and career.

Figure 1: Team Hierarchy
Zero Gravity
Student’sAssociation
Engineering
Mechanical Electrical
Design Programming
Public Relations
Awards Outreach
Social
Media
Collateral
Parent’sAssociation
Planning
Food Financing
Mentoring
 The success structure of Zero Gravity has been created from the team’s
success in previous years.
 The team is divided into three committees that encompass general
responsibilities of the team:
 Student’sAssociation Committee
 Parent’sAssociation Committee
 Each committee has a chairperson and each committee serves its own
purpose in the team’s success. The chairpersons of student’s association
committee are elected after FRC competition season, and the offices
(President, Vice President, Secretary, and Treasurer) of the parent’s
association committee are elected in the Fall of the following school year.

Student’s Association:
 The student’s association committee is broken up into four units, which
contain the team’s technical and non-technical sub-teams. These sub-
teams are:
 Engineering – responsible for designing, developing, and testing the robot.
29 members of Zero Gravity are on this sub-team.
 Public Relations – responsible for submitting awards and marketing the
team through various forms of media. 9 members of Zero Gravity are on this
sub-team.
 The Engineering sub-team is further divided into the following units:
 Electrical – responsible for the wiring and circuitry components of the robot.
 Mechanical – responsible for building the robot and the drive train.
 Programming – responsible for implementing code for the robot.
 Design – responsible for designing blueprints and developing strategy of the
robot.
 The Public Relations sun-team is further divided into the following units:
 Awards – responsible for submitting the team’s awards, including the
Chairman’s Essay, Dean’s List, Woodie Flowers, Chairman’s Video, and Team
Business Plan.
 Social Media – responsible for collecting video and footage of the team
throughout the year; in addition, this unit maintains and updates the team’s
websites and social media pages.
 Outreach – responsible for pitching the team to prospective local news,
sponsors, and the community for service.
 Collateral – responsible for creating the team’s shirts, logos, banners, etc.

Parent’s Association:
 The parent’s association committee is broken up into two units –
which is comprised of mentors, teachers, and – more or less –
the parents of every student involved on the team. These two
parent’s association units are:
 Planning – responsible for organizing the team’s finances and
attendance at events.
 Mentoring – responsible for guiding students in both the
Engineering and Public Relations committee.
 The Planning unit is further divided into the following units:
 Financing – responsible for maintaining and publishing information
concerning the team’s budget every fiscal year.
 Food – responsible for reaching out to parents via email about time
slots to bring food to team meetings.
 The Mentoring unit works alongside the team’s student
association committee in each of the units and sub-teams in order
to ensure that each member of the team learns, grows, and
serves as a result of their involvement on the team.
 Together, each part of the team comes together into one whole –
working alongside together in order to carry out the team’s
mission in the most effective way possible.

We Learn.
“FIRST means learning new things everyday, from STEM topics to interaction
and networking. Steinert Robotics gives me an opportunity to learn the
things that I'm not always exposed to.”

Grassroots Learning.
 From our past, we have learned a lot about the FIRST
Program and teamwork. In order to improve the team, we
documented these lessons, in order to improve for the future.
 Although our team has learned a lot, there is certainly room
for improvement; the continuity of learning is something that
our team strives to embrace, and continues to achieve with
each season.
LESSONS LEARNED:
• Additional Fundraising needed for costs of entrance fees and building
robot.
• Student handbook, which would include the FRC manual and general
safety procedures.
• A proper business plan would be periodically updated in order to better
organize the team as a whole.
• A focused mission statement would developed to accurately describe
the aims and intentions of the team.The mission statement would also
serve as a tool to evaluate the actions of the team (e.g. would doing this
help carry out our mission?).
• A parent’s association and larger mentor body would be required to
better strategize the aims of the program in terms of efficiency,
management, and other key factors.
• Various technical and non-technical committees must be assembled in
order to better tackle the challenges and problems provided by first.

How do we learn?
 Learning to Zero Gravity is - quite simply – the fruits of
trial-and-error experimentation.
 In order to learn, Zero Gravity embraces this trial-and-
error process by using an algorithm of learning. In every
endeavor of the team, this problem solving method is used
to make and carry out decisions. While it may seem
logical, it has nonetheless resulted from our years of
involvement in the FRC and FTC programs.
 This algorithm is an effective, tried-and-true method that
has crystallized into a mantra that the entire team has
learned to use in every aspect of the team.
•Identify the
problem.
•What is
our goal?
1. Identify.
• Brainstorm
Various
Methods To
Solve Our
Problem.
• Does It
Carry Out
The Mission?
2. Brainstorm.
• Get rid of
methods that
are not
practical.
• What are
our
constraints?
3. Eliminate.
• Analyze the
best method(s)
and revisit
Steps 2-3.
• How can this
become more
efficient?
4. Perfect.
•Put the
ideas to the
test.
•What are
we
waiting
for?
5. Act.
• Collect
feedback from
our
participants.
• Did it work?
6. Measure.

Seminars and Workshops:
 The seminars and workshops provided by our and other teams are the
basic steps towards the learning process. Through them, the members of
the team become familiar with the program and gradually become
contributing members of the team.
 The team – throughout the year – contains the following workshops,
lessons, and seminars for various units of the team:
 Safety Workshop – basic workshop for the entire team that teaches members
standard safety procedure and protocol in the shops. Members that are more
involved with the technical aspects of the team learn how to use specific tools
as the meetings progress before Build Season.
 Team Mission Workshop – beginning of the year workshop, where every
member of the team learns about the team’s history and the team’s mission.
 Programming Workshop – various workshops conducted throughout the
year for students involved in the programming sub-team of robotics. Various
programming languages, such as LabView and Java, are studied.
 Electrical Workshop – various workshops conducted throughout the year
for students involved in the electrical sub-team of robotics. Sensors, Servos,
and Pneumatics systems are studied.
 Mechanical Workshop – various workshops conducted throughout the year
for students involved in the mechanical sub-team of robotics. Tools in the
workshop are demonstrated and are offered for students to test.
 Public Relations Workshop – various workshops conducted throughout the
year for students involved in the public relations sub-team of robotics.
Brainstorming about team vision is carried out.
 In addition, the team attends seminars in other schools (i.e. Montgomery
High School Kickoff) to gain insight from other school’s teams in each
year’s annual challenge.

Team Mentors:
 Our mentors are an integral chain in the learning process at Steinert
High School.
 The mentors involved in Zero Gravity come from a broad range of
fields in the workforce – including marketing, systems engineering,
mechanical engineering, software engineering, financial services,
education, web management, and telecommunications. Some
mentors of the team even include Steinert High School Alumni, who
have returned to the FRC at their high school to help current
students achieve what they could, and more.
 Our mentors have one mission at Zero Gravity: to promote
discovery. Our mentors refuse to tell our students that the endeavor
that they pursue is incorrect; instead, they encourage our students to
pursue that avenue and inquire how to achieve it.
 The student-to-mentor ratio on the team is approximately 2:1,
which means each student on the team is able to interact and inquire
from our mentors at our team meetings.
 By ensuring that our mentors are not directly involved in the
learning process, Zero Gravity believes that it offers the greatest
learning opportunity to our students. The trial-and-error, hands-on
approach to learning is – according to Team 2180 – the greatest way
to allow our students to learn past mistakes.

Team Stats:
 Starting from just 8 students under one mentor coach, Zero Gravity has
really branched out, with a more rich, diverse student body.
 Zero Gravity credits its success largely in part to its diversity, which
facilitates the learning experience for all of its constituents.
 Today, Zero Gravity consists of 38 students:
 Every grade level of the high school is represented on our team.
 3 middle school students are represented on the team.
 7 female students are represented on the team.
 Our students are highly motivated to pursue a future career in STEM. In
fact, 30 of our 38 members are eager to do so. Of the members that said
no, all of them either find the field interesting or are still considering
other career options.
Are you interested in STEM (Science,
Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) as a
career choice?
No, not at all (0)
No, but sounds
fascinating (3)
Perhaps, I'm still
considering (5)
Definitely (30)

Student Handbook:
 The student handbook is an essential item for every member of the team;
in it, key documents can be found that help members on every unit of the
team:
 Awards Guidelines – contains instructions and guidelines about awards
submissions (i.e. Dean’s List, Woodie Flowers, Chairman’s Essay, etc.) from the
FIRSTWebsite.
 Team’s Safety Manual - contains the team’s safety manual, which contains
the power point presentations from the team’s annual safety workshop;
instructions about operating machinery and being safe in the shop are included.
 FRC Game Manual – contains the game manual for the year’s annual
challenge from the FIRSTWebsite.
 Zero Gravity Team Manual – contains the team manual, including
information about team meetings, membership fees, and an overview of the
program – including each sub-team and its duties.
 Zero Gravity Seasonal Calendar – contains a calendar of all team meetings
and event dates throughout the year.
 With every important document of the team organized in a handbook, a
unity of the team is created – providing each member with insight of the
other units of the team.
 Students who wish to drive the robot during competition must be
especially well-read in the student handbook – particularly the FRC
Game Manual. Prospective drivers are tested based on the rules outlined
in this manual before consideration.

Group Learning:
 Zero Gravity fully supports the group learning process in order to
prepare our students for the workforce; beyond high school, many of our
students will find themselves working with colleagues in order to solve
problems similar to the ones provided annually by FIRST.
 From its units to it’s sub-teams, and from its committees to the team as a
whole, every member of the team feels as the part of a greater whole.
These parts don’t only include the individual members themselves, but
different sized groups such as the units, sub-teams, and committees.
 For instance, the Social Media unit may cooperate together internally in
order to determine the best way to lay out the websites. However, social
media may also cooperate with the Mechanical or Electrical units in
order to gather footage and photos for the website.
 Decisions that affect the entire team (e.g. our attendance in off-season
events or fundraising tactics) are made and discussed by the entire team
before each meeting. One of the greatest examples of team decision-
making includes the End-of-the-Year Evaluation that concludes Build
Season, where the entire team evaluates its performance in the past year
and devises a plan for next year in order to become a better team.
 In the end, Zero Gravity believes that all members of the team – despite
their future aspirations – will at least benefit from the opportunity to
work with others to solve problems.

Resources:
 Zero Gravity utilizes various resources in order to develop our robot and
carry out our mission:
 LabView, for programming the team robot
 AutoCad, for making scaled, digital drawings during the robot blueprinting
stage
 Google Docs – to maintain a database for award submissions and status reports.
 SMART Board and SMART Technology – for periodic group and team
discussions.
 FRC Kit of Parts
 AndyMark/FIRST Choice Kit
 National Instruments
 Modules:
 Voltage Modules
 Digital Modules – rendering/writing switches
 Solanoid Modules – opening/closing valves
 Motors:
 Fisher-Price motors, from Fisher-Price products
 Servo motors, from airplane/craft hobbies
 Money – to run the team’s various programs
 Scrap parts – the team collects scrap parts from Steinert High School classes
and utilizes them for the team’s robot.
 Computers – our school is armed with computers in the computer-aided
drawing rooms. computers allow us to maintain file-sharing and to keep
important documents digital.
 Shops – Team 2180 uses the school’s machine and wood shops to craft the parts
necessary for creating the robot.

SWOC Analysis – Listed:
 Steinert Robotics FRC Team 2180 utilizes the SWOC Analyses
when weighing the benefits and drawbacks of fundraising
methods, ideal events, blueprint designs, and involvement plans
for the future. In essence, it allows us to learn.
 This method is also used by the team during the End-of-the-Year
Analysis, which requires members to provide their feedback
about the pros and cons of the team during the FRC year.
 The SWOC Analysis usually generates many ideas and points
when evaluating key events and processes.
 The sample SWOC that proceeds discusses the following points:
 End-of-the-Year Evaluation – how effective is the annual EOTY
in perfecting the team with each successive year?
 Applebee’s Flapjack Fundraiser – is the Applebee’s Flapjack
Fundraiser an avenue of fundraising worth pursuing in the future?
 Robotics Summer Camp – will creating a township-wide robotics
summer camp be beneficial to the team long-term?
 Team Debriefing – is a team debriefing session that concludes each
meeting effective in keeping the team on track?
 Involvement in Chief Delphi – should the team consider
becoming more involved in Chief Delphi?

SWOC #1: EOTY Evaluation
STRENGTHS:
*We already perform an annual
evaluation of our events and
performances
* It’s a tried-and-true method
in improving the way we carry
out events, such as our Steinert
Slam
WEAKNESSES:
*We would need to do a better
job each year collecting
feedback in order to evaluate
our performance at any given
event or meeting
*Another task to do in addition
to overseeing our events
OPPORTUNITIES:
*Would allow us to better carry out our
team mission by putting Learn, Grow, and
Service into practice
* Self-perfection - leads to fewer errors
and smoother performance in the future
* Have each subgroup evaluate
performance
*Compile an EOTY Binder - filled with
notes about each event, etc. (e.g. 2013-
2014 FRC)
CHALLENGES:
* Documenting all of our actions via
status reports and surveys
* Collecting in-depth feedback and
notes at each of our events
* Compiling and organizing our
feedback in a binder
* Making sure to follow through
with perfecting the team
EOTY
Evaluation

SWOC #2: Flapjack Fundraiser
STRENGTHS:
* Now used to the entire
registration process
* Has been largely successful in
the past for a one-day event
* Food is provided to the team!
WEAKNESSES:
* Requires massive PR for a
great turnaround
* Goes to waste in the event of
inclement weather
OPPORTUNITIES:
* Provides the team with a
source of income
* Can be done multiple times
throughout the year
*Allows the team to bond by
taking on new jobs together
CHALLENGES:
* “Spreading the word” to
people in the area about the
date of the Fundraiser
* Predicting how much money
we can make an event based on
multiple fundraisers
Flapjack
Fundraiser

SWOC #3: Summer Camp
STRENGTHS:
*Allows our team to grow for future
years
*Realistic; we have a large mentoring and
student base
* Preserves team’s technical and non-
technical skills and keeps them fresh
during the FRC build season
* Less time is spent informing and
mentoring students on how to operate
tools, machinery, etc.
WEAKNESSES:
*The resources needed to execute
such a program would cost money
*Would require our team to come
during the summer to help mentor
youth
*The temptation of going outside
and enjoying the weather!
OPPORTUNITIES:
*Would allow younger kids to see if
they are actually interested in
robotics
* Educating youth about science and
technology
* Provides the team with a chance
to spread the core values of
FIRST/STEM
CHALLENGES:
* Motivating our audiences to
participate in the camp
*The assistance of other volunteers
is needed
*Advertising this program through
means of media
* Keeping track of the team’s
progress
Summer
Camp

SWOC #4: Team Debrief
STRENGTHS:
* Keeps our team informed
about our status and events
* Provides the team with due
date estimates as time
progresses
* Is already a routine that we
carry out during every meeting
WEAKNESSES:
*Would require team members to
show up/stay before/after meetings
*Would require team captains to
add another task to their lists by
maintaining notation of events
* Our team isn’t extremely active
on Google Docs,Windchill, etc.
OPPORTUNITIES:
*Allow file-sharing to occur
within the team by updating
status reports on a network
such as Google Docs
* Update and compile status
reports to submit online on
team website, Chief Delphi,
etc.
CHALLENGES:
*Team captains must be able to
access Google Docs on a daily basis
in order be updated on the team
* File-sharing may go haywire,
organization is essential!
*Team members must stay on the
same page by actively visiting our
file-sharing sites
Team
Debrief

SWOC #5: Chief Delphi
STRENGTHS:
*Already have Chief Delphi
account
* No cost to maintain our status
on the forums
*Allows us to openly express
our team in a public forum
WEAKNESSES:
* Our involvement on the Chief
Delphi forums is minimal
*Would require time, and
perhaps certain delegations
* May be intimidating in a new
environment
OPPORTUNITIES:
*Would allow us to develop
better relations with other
teams; may help during
competitions and scouting
* Share future FRC ideas with
other teams (“Cooperatition”)
CHALLENGES:
* Finding teams to
communicate with
* Developing the profile of an
experienced, veteran team
* Multiple members must be
involved on the forums
Chief
Delphi

Learning Expenses:
 The following table outlines the team’s learning expenses, and the
methods we’ve used to generate the necessary income to learn:
PURCHASE: PRICE:
ROBOT PARTS $3,000- $3,200
ENTRANCE FEES $12,000 - $15,000
TRAVEL $3,000 - $13,000
OTHER SOFTWARESAND
PURCHASES
$400 - $500
TOTAL MONEY NEEDED (EST): $20,000 - $30,000
EVENT: CASH FLOW:
FIRST LEGO LEAGUE $3,200 - $3,500
GRANTS:
•BRISTOL-MYERS SQUIBB
•MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL
•NEW JERSEY EDUCATION ASSOCIATION
•LOCKHEED MARTIN
•NAV-AIR
•JC PENNY
MONEY MADE:
•$6,000
•$8,000
•$2,000
•$3,500
•$925
WREATH SALES $1,000 - $1,200
AD BOOKLET $3,000 - $3,100
SEPTEMBERFEST,OTHER ITEM
SALES
$200 - $500
TOTAL MONEY RAISED (EST): $27,000 - $30,000

We Grow.
“FIRST is a great way to become exposed to engineering and gain experience with
different types of technology. I am involved in Steinert robotics to meet new people,
gain experience, and learn about a field that I'm interested in.”

FRC Calendar:
PRE-BUILD:
GRANTAPPLICATIONS
STEINERT SLAM
TOUCH-A-TRUCK
SEPTEMBERFEST
BRUNSWICK ERUPTION
READYMAN GROUP
BUILD:
BUILD ROBOT
SUBMITAWARDS
RESCUE MISSION OF
TRENTON
SOUP KITCHENS
SYRIA RELIEF EFFORT
COMPETITIONS:
WEEK 1
WEEK 3
WEEK 4
WEEK5
WEEK 7
POST-BUILD:
MONTY MADNESS
END-OF-THE-YEAR
EVALUATION
BANQUET
PARENT’SASSOCIATION
MEETING
TRENTONTHUNDER

FRC Season – Pre-Build:
 During the Fall, Zero Gravity becomes involved in a lot in order
to prepare for the upcoming Build Season. The following is
completed during Zero Gravity’s Pre-Build Season:
 Grant Applications – the parent’s association will meet
together in order to write grants to all of our sponsors.
 Fundraising – Steinert Robotics is involved in various
fundraising events before Build Season begins, namely our
holiday Wreath Sale, Applebee’s Flapjack Fundraiser, and ad
booklet which is largely distributed at the Steinert Slam.
 Steinert Slam – students help host the FLL Tournament at
Steinert High School. The students – as a result of fundraising –
have provided the team with advertisements that eventually
become compiled into an ad booklet.
 Touch-a-truck – during the Mercer County Touch-a-truck
event, students volunteer whilst spreading the first message.
 Septemberfest – at Hamilton’s Septemberfest, Steinert
Robotics sets up a booth – making sales and spreading the word
about our program to people within our community.
 Brunswick Eruption – in addition to outreach events, Zero
Gravity is involved in off-season first events. At New Brunswick’s
eruption event, Steinert Robotics competes with other teams.
 Cub Scouts Readyman Group – at Mercer County
Community College, Steinert Robotics demonstrates the robot
and informs parents about the Robotics program to Cub Scouts
troops all across the state.

FRC Season – Build:
 During Build Season, Steinert devotes much time to developing a
robot to compete in the FRC Competition, and is as a result
withdrawn from fundraising and community outreach events.
However, we still participate in the following:
 Build the robot – the engineering team attends meetings
to develop the robot and optimize its capabilities.
 Submit awards – the public relations team attends meetings
to finalize and update information for awards submissions –
including the Dean’s List, Woodie Flowers, Business Plan, and
Comcast MediaAward.
 Rescue Mission of Trenton – students help carry out the
school’s clothing drive effort in order to provide donations
for the Rescue Mission ofTrenton.
 Soup Kitchen – students invest time at local soup kitchens
– such as the Trenton Area Soup Kitchen – in order to give
back to the community and promote FIRST.
 Syria Relief Effort – initiated by a Syrian member of the
team, the team collects clothes and other items throughout
the season to send to Syrian Refugees displaced by the recent
conflict.

FRC Season – Competitions:
 It’s Competition Season!Around this time, students will
be out in the stands: cheering, scouting, and making
partnerships with other teams. Good luck to all teams in
the MidAtlantic Regional!
 Week 1 – Hatboro-Horsham; March 1-2, 2014
 Week 3 – Springside-Chestnut Hill; March 14-15, 2014 *
 Week 4 – Lenape-Senaca; March 22-23, 2014 *
 Week 5 – Bridgewater-Raritan; March 29-30, 2014 *
 Week 7 – MAR Regional Championships at Lehigh
University;April 10-12, 2014
* =WillAttend this Event

FRC Season –Post-Build:
 Competition Season is over, and the new season will rear
its head in the upcoming months. Until then, our team
will be on the outlook. Our objective is to make sure
everything, including our robot, financial plan, and social
media outlets, is up to date and running smoothly.
 Monty Madness – our team competes in another off-
season event during the end of competition season –
having fun and demonstrating Gracious Professionalism.
 End-of-the-Year Evaluation – at the end of the year,
the team will assemble to evaluate our events and actions
throughout the course of the season. The notes will be
taken and will be considered in the creation of the
schedule for the next year.
 Banquet – before the school year concludes, our team
will host our annual banquet to celebrate our efforts and
say farewell to the FRC year.
 Parent’s Association Meeting – during August, the
parent’s association committee will meet at the Hamilton
Township Public Library to review the End-of-the-Year
Evaluation notes and set up a budget and schedule for the
upcoming year.
 Trenton Thunder – our team gathers tickets and sells
them to the school to attend the Trenton Thunder game
during August.

Where are we now?
 Since the inception of Zero Gravity in 2007, the team has grown vastly.
32 determined students have sprouted from the team of 8 kids that
invested in their robotics course experience. From the sole mentor of a
past team, FRC Team 2180 has an even greater amount of parents and
mentors – who make up a powerful parent’s association.
 Every parent affiliated with the robotics program contributes to the team
somehow. Parents that help mentor our students have various fields of
experiences, including the fields of marketing, engineering, and
communications.
 Here are some of the many services our parents and mentors provide to
the team:
 Guide and assist students during build and competition seasons.
 Provide transportation to events and competitions.
 Bring in food during our build meetings, which occur 3 times a
week: Monday, Wednesday, and Saturday. In the event of a snowstorm
or a holiday break, these dates are rescheduled accordingly.
 Support the team in terms of financing and connections with other
companies (e.g. a print company that produces our t-shirts).
 The involvement of parents in Zero Gravity makes growth possible, as
parent involvement increases our networking infinitely more than sole
mentor-student involvement.
 In just seven years, Zero Gravity has sprouted from a technology-
exclusive club to a diverse, multifaceted organization with year-round
activities. Our membership growth has come to include middle school
students who desire to enter the FRC in the future, and we’re just
getting started.

EOTY Evaluation:
 One of the greatest ingredients to our growth is the annual End-of-the-
Year evaluation, in which the team gathers together to discuss how the
year was executed – event-by-event – and to propose ideas on
improvement for future years.
 As the evaluation takes place, students, parents, and mentors voice their
thoughts and concerns about the season and notes are thus collected onto
a SMART Board Document.
 Generally, the team runs through each of the events from the beginning
of the year until the end of the year. During the evaluation, the team
discusses the following:
 What happened
 The event’s significance
 What was good or bad
 How to improve the execution of said event
 During the parent’s association meetings later in the summer, the parents
go through a binder containing the SMART Board Documents and make
preparations for the upcoming school year based on what was discussed
during the EOTY.
 By doing this, Zero Gravity simulates growth inside the team to
accommodate for the external changes to come.

Zero Gravity Sponsors:
 Sponsors – both material and financial – are undoubtedly
essential in our ability to grow and complete our goals.
 The costs of maintaining the FRC Program at Steinert High
School are not cheap; our sponsors make our program’s long-
term existence possible by providing us the financial and material
needs in order to accommodate for these expenses.
 The past year saw the following corporations, organizations, and
businesses sponsoring us:
 Sun Chemical
 New Jersey Education Association
 HamiltonTownship Education Association
 Lockheed Martin
 Capital Health Systems
 Waste Management
 Bloomberg
 FMCTechnologies
 National Defense Education Program
 To celebrate the opportunities that these sponsors have given us,
we include their logos on the team’s t-shirts, banners, and robot.

Thank you.
 However, large enterprises aren’t the team’s only
sponsors. In fact, we have many more locally-based
sponsors and contributors.
 Every year for the Steinert Slam, FRC Team 2180 carries
out a fundraiser that allows our organization to reach out
to other local business and contributors for financial aid to
the team – asking them to place an ad in an ad booklet.
 These advertisements are compiled and placed into an ad
booklet that is available for distribution during our event –
where hundreds of people attend.
 The ad booklet contains the following charitable donation
ranks, all based on the price of the donations:
 Gold ($500+, full-page ad)
 Silver ($200-499, half-page ad)
 Bronze ($100-199, quarter-page ad)
 Sponsors ($75-99, honorable mention in ad booklet)
 Friends ($50-74, honorable mention in ad booklet)
 Patrons ($1-49, honorable mention in ad booklet)
 Based on the contributions received, most sponsors (gold,
silver, bronze, and sponsors) receive placement on our
team’s sponsor banner, t-shirts, and team website. All
sponsors receive a thank-you letter with our competition
schedule and team picture.

Team Building.
 Our team is more about intellectual growth; at Zero Gravity,
building life-long friendships is equally important.
 The team, at every Saturday meeting, practices team building
exercises during lunch hours. These exercises – which range
from Socratic Circles to Icebreakers – are gauged to bring the
team together.
 Our team experienced some of its greatest growth during the
last FRC Season.
 In the event of Hurricane Sandy, which left devastation all across
the East Coast, Team Coach David Kohler had his home reduced
to the ground. Shortly after that, team student captain Adam
Cyran’s home burned to the ground.
 The team felt compelled within to extend a helping hand to these
members by visiting the site of the damage and cleaning up the
debris and remnants of their homes. What has resulted was a
tighter, stronger bond between all the members of the team.
From this, we learned that each of the members on the team
could count on one another to help out during times of need.

Team Visions:
 The team’s visions for future growth include the following:
 One of the team’s greatest long-term goals in terms of growth is to
maintain a functioning team. By doing so, we will be certain that our
FRC Program can continue to provide students with the resources
needed to spark that devotion to STEM.
 In addition, Zero Gravity wishes to expand its relations with other
teams, locally and nationally. To the team, maintaining a broad
network of friends and partners will be important for success at
FIRST and for our students – facilitating a real-world experience in
which coworkers meet together to solve problems.
 Our team would like to maintain a broad range of sponsors, and
would like to reach out to larger corporations for assistance. While
local contributors are certainly valued, the team feels that having a
network of larger industries is important for maintaining and
surpassing our financial constraints every year.
 Finally, Zero Gravity would like to spread the FIRST message to a
broader audience – allowing for a growth in opportunity for us and
for the world.
 By meeting these goals, we are completing one of the three facets
to our mission; therefore, we must devise several methods to
successfully meet these visions.

How can we get there?
 The team has devised several broad strategies to do so:
 Zero Gravity has considered starting a township-wide Robotics
Summer Camp for students grades 9-12 in order to raise interest in
the program and provide students with lifelong skills that are
required for a career in STEM.
 Zero Gravity would like to co-host said Summer Camp with the
other FRC Teams in the township in order to develop this relationship
with local teams. In addition, by becoming more active on Chief
Delphi, Zero Gravity will branch out to other teams and develop
partnerships with other teams.
 Zero Gravity would like start a marketing program which specifically
targets large corporations for financial assistance. By doing so, we
will be eligible for expanding our horizons as a team and allowing
our other forms of growth to follow.
 Zero Gravity would like to start attending large-scale events in order
to increase the FIRST demographic from a local community to a
statewide or nationwide community.
 The team’s acquisition of growth is constant, and has no end.
Should we complete all of the following tasks, the team will take
on a new set of objectives, thus placing the sky as the limit and
fostering the boundless energy of youth to power our future in
Science andTechnology.

We Serve.
“The opportunities presented by FIRST are the marriage of scientific and social
interactions in a committed, interested group. Through the Organization, creative
thinking and problem solving - as well as socializing and friendship making - can
coexist. To me, FIRST is a preparatory model of the working world where you
make up a group - regardless of your assets or strengths.”

What does service mean?
 To most, service means provided for those that are less
fortunate. While this is certainly the case, service has
another mean for us in Zero Gravity.
 In addition to providing a helping hand to those less
fortunate, Zero Gravity wishes to promote FIRST to the
broadest audience possible in the process, wherever
applicable.
 To the team, doing this is the greatest service of all, as
encouraging today’s youth to make scientific discoveries
will become a great turnout in the future.
 Students who participate in research today become
tomorrow’s innovators, inventors, scientists, and problem
solvers. Therefore, performing Zero Gravity’s brand of
service becomes a great investment in the society of
tomorrow.

Relations/Partners:
 Zero Gravity exhibits many partnerships and relationships with other
teams, organizations, and sponsors.
 Within our sphere, we have strong relationships with other first teams:
 We share insight, information, and even parts with the other teams in our school district:
teams 2495 and 2191.
 In addition, we housed first team 192’s robot all the way from California before the 2011
FRC New Jersey Regional Competition.
 We are the host of the FLL Steinert Slam and invite other FRC teams to help.
 Within our sphere, we have strong relationships with other organizations.
 Our robotics team organized a presentation for the Hamilton Township’s Board of Education
– who provided students with certificates honoring the problem-solving innovation that is
cultivated within our program.
 Our robotics team helps organizations such as the local boy scouts troop with their Veteran’s
Park cleanup.
 Zero Gravity becomes annually involved in the rescue mission of Trenton Clothes Drive –
where our team asks the high school to donate clothes for the less fortunate.
 Our team annually hosts an end-of-the-year banquet, where we invite our sponsors,
contributors, and school administration.
 At Grice and Crockett Middle Schools, local Hamilton Township schools, Zero Gravity sent
students to help mentor the FIRST Lego League teams.
 Within our sphere, we have strong relationships with our sponsors:
 We thank our sponsors and invite them to our regional events. Some of these local sponsors
include the Hamilton Township Education Association, Clarici Graphics, and the Inn of the
Hawke.
 During the 2010 FRC year, zero gravity developed an addition, recycling robot named
“Robo Willie” for the Mercer County Improvement Authority. To this day, we maintain
strong relationships with the MCIA.

Service – Today and Tomorrow.
 Throughout the FRC year, from season to season, Zero Gravity currently
participates in the following service activities:
 Trenton Area Soup Kitchen – volunteering at local soup kitchens
while simultaneously informing other volunteers about the program.
 Rescue Mission of Trenton Clothes Drive – donating clothes to
the homeless within the Trenton area, but additionally providing a
letter to the volunteer offices about the team and its programs.
 Syria Relief Effort – initiated this year; collecting clothes and other
items, packaging them, and shipping them to Syria for the internally
displaced peoples devastated by the recent conflict.
 8th Grade Mentoring – allows 8th grade students in the township
to acquire skills practiced in FRC by allowing them to work closely
with the team.
 Zero Gravity has future visions for the team in terms of service:
 Princeton Special Olympics – this summer, the Special Olympics
will be held in Princeton; Zero Gravity wishes to participate in this
event by helping coordinate the event.
 Start a new FIRST Team – Zero Gravity would like to initiate a
new team within the FIRST Community, be it the JrFLL, FLL, FRC,
or FTC.

The End.
STEINERT HIGH SCHOOL - EAST
2900 KLOCKNER ROAD
HAMILTON,NJ 08690
(609) 631-4150
FAX:(609) 631-4117
EMAIL:dkohler@hamilton.k12.nj.us

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