Our "Specialist" Teams

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TJ² is divided up into sub groups that each complete a specific task to help the team survive as a whole. This is a brief description of each of our specialist teams.

The Art Group
TJ² is known for their tie-dye shirts, hoodies, and bandanas. Every article of clothing is designed and dyed by a TJ² member. We design and print all of our bandanas in house. Art constructs posters, signs, bulletin boards, and other visual parts of the team. We strive to make the team look as great as possible and never leave a meeting without tie-dyed hands.

 

The Build Group
The build group is responsible for designing and manufacturing the robot. Students in the build group learn to use the many tools and machines that we use to manufacture the robot, such as hand drills, the mill, and the CNC machine. When students first join the build group they may have never used tools previously. Within a few years veteran members become mentors who teach skills to the new members. When students first join the build group, many of them have no experience with our tools and machines. Acknowledging that, for the first couple months, veteran members become mentors who teach the new members everything they need to know. It is incredible just how much the students learn in such a short period of time.

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The Programming Group
The programming group is what makes a robot come to life. Our job on TJ² is to write the code necessary in order for our robot to perform its given tasks. The programming group also manages many of the electronics and sensors that the robot needs to function. Without the programming group the robot would be lifeless, it would be an impressive looking piece of metal that has no purpose.

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The Public Relations Group
The public relations group, or PR for short, is responsible for TJ²’s involvement with the community. We are responsible for spreading the message of STEAM and FIRST. FIRST is the organization that enables our team to create and innovate, FIRST stands for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology. We put on demonstrations at our local schools, community events, and for our sponsors. We host an annual STEAM Day out our school, STEAM stands for Science Technology Engineering Art and Mathematics. On this day, we to help students learn about how people use STEAM in their everyday lives. The PR group will be geared towards community involvement in an effort to interest young minds in the field of STEAM. These students create the Impact Award presentation, the Woodie Flowers Award submission, the Judge's pages, and assists with team fundraising.

The CAD Team
Trains our students to design and produce CAD drawings of our robot subsystems, parts, and then learns and uses our CNC router to produce the parts they design. 

The Strategy Team
TJ²'s strategy group is in charge of choosing the strategic path that will lead the team to victory. At kickoff, the strategy group leads the discussion on the team’s priorities in the game. During the design phase, the strategy group makes sure that the robot is being designed to meet the team’s game priorities. At competitions, the strategy group is involved in scouting which is how our team gathers information about other teams. With the scouting information, the drive team can be advised on the best way to work with their partners and against their competitors. If our chosen strategy leads us to the final matches of a competition our team strategy selects other teams to form an alliance with our team.

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Fundraising - our entire team is involved in funding the business plan of our team.  We want this team to be open to all, so members are encouraged to raise more than they need individually to help other teammates in need.