What is Team 25?

Team 25, Raider Robotix, is more than a team. It's a family. It's a family of high school students from North Brunswick, New Jersey who, working together, aspire to make a difference in their own future and their community by pursuing their interest in the fields of science, math, and technology.

How does Team 25 organize itself?

We organize ourselves into different groups with different groups to maximaze what our team is capable of, ensuring that the members of each group are not strictly isolated to the work of their group but get involved in other groups as well. The groups are as follows:

Animation - The Animation Team uses 3D Studio Max and other professional software to plan, create, and edit computer-generated animations. Team members will be expected to commit large amounts of time, even during school vacations. This time commitment will vary depending on the sub-team that the team member belongs to. Members will be expected to attend additional meetings and go through software training. They must have a computer at home to work on projects.

New! To see the 2008 season storyboard, click here. (Note: Slideshow reader required).
          To see the 2008 season animation, click here. (Note: .wmv video player required).

Build Crew - This team does the actual assembly of the machine during the build phase. The jobs vary depending on the direction of the BMS (Bristol Myers Squibb) shop crew and the abilities of the students. Normally this group dissolves into the Drive and Pit Teams once competition starts.

Drive Team - The Drive Team consists of an arm operator, a chassis driver and a human player. A competitive selection process using several robots from previous years selects the drive team. Students interested in becoming drivers should practice as much as possible to develop their skills. There is a main team and a back-up crew usually made up of rookie drivers.

Pit Crew - The Pit Crew has several functions depending on what stage of the competition we are in. In the fall they are responsible for maintaining current robot and tools. Once the competition starts the crew creates the playing field to specific directions. Once this is completed they assist in the development of the robot and operate the pit area at the competitions. A major responsibility is the preventive maintenance and repair of the robot at the competition.

Programming - This team develops the code for the autonomous functions of the robot. The team learns the C language necessary to do the job and spends time working with the build crew and drive team making the robot play the game well.

Scouting - The Scouting team is formed prior to the competition. Students on this team will develop materials and methods to assess the competition giving our team as much advantage as possible. The collection of data and the analysis of the information will assist our team in all phases of the competition. The team is also responsible for the creation of the competitive assessment book working closely with the photo team.

Volcano Crew - The Volcano Crew is formed in preparation for the competitions and team activities. At the competitions we show support for our team and other teams by cheering and other activities. Showing spirit at the competitions is very important. The Crew develops the cheers and organizes the development of our “unique” spirit activities.

Web - This team develops many sections of our website at www.raiderrobotix.org. Members of this team need to have internet access at home and have or be willing to learn basic HTML as well as other elements such as Flash to ensure the creation of a competitive site.