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History

Robot History

Team History

FIRST Robotics Team 3641 The Flying Toasters

 

BUILDING BRIDGES and STEAMing AHEAD into a BETTER FUTURE!

 

 

Our Mission Statement:  “To inspire and intrigue, unite and achieve greatness”

 

2011 was our Rookie Year!  We are only five years old, yet our young team performs like a seasoned, long-time veteran team.  We strive to be the best on and off the playing field and we reach out to help other FIRST teams, at all levels, to do the same.  We set our sights high and choose to exemplify “Coopertition” and “Gracious Professionalism.”  We have earned respect in the FIRST community and our local community.   

 

Members: The Flying Toasters combine students from both of our community high schools - South Lyon High School and South Lyon East High School - to create our robotics team.  Rivals in our athletic varsity sports, we are strong teammates in FIRST Robotics.

 

 

Team Highlights:

 

  • Last year our goal was to grow our high school robotics team.  We went from last year’s 11 members to 44 team members this year.

 

  • This year we started and mentored a FTC team at our district middle school.  Our FTC team, the Robo-Toasters, made it all the way to States in their first robotics season, which is quite an accomplishment for a rookie team.  They also received the “Connect Award”, given to one team that best promotes engineering, science and technology in their local community.

 

  • We are providing classes and workshops to intrigue and inspire elementary students, motivating them while spreading the word about FIRST and STEAM. We are offering guidance and mentorship to new JrFLL and FLL teams in our areas.  We are working with our neighboring community, Novi, volunteering assistance for their Frog Force Frenzy and feeding our new developing teams to their FLL competition.  Our children’s book, “The Flying Toasters Spread the Word: A FIRST Reader” will provide scholarship resources to assist our newly forming JrFLL and FLL teams.

 

 

The Flying Toasters' Community Outreach includes:

 

  • Marching in the Pumpkin Fest, Salem Flag Day and SLEHS Homecoming Parades

  • Running games and FIRST Robotics information booths with our robot at the Annual South Lyon Chamber of Commerce Pumpkin Fest

  • Participation in South Lyon Active Faith Community Service Empty Bowls and Hunger Bowl fundraisers

  • SLEHS Holiday Giving Tree Drive to benefit needy families

  • One Laptop Per Child Fundraiser

  • Operation Injured Soldier Fundraiser

  • Supporting the South Lyon East theatre program by building the motorized gondola for the Phantom of the Opera performance, consulting on the Shrek dragon and helping to the create Maurice’s STEAM powered invention for Beauty and the Beast.

  • Greenfield Village Maker Faire

  • Hosting the “Robofest” at the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum

  • Presenting on Robotics Badge workshop for local boy and girl scout troops

  • Providing team and robot visits to elementary school science fairs

  • Community Robotics Open House

  • Holding "Moving Ahead with STEAM: Science, Technology, Engineering, Art and Mathematics" classes for elementary students at the Salem-South Lyon Library

  • Hosting a “Crayons for a Cause” drive for Mott’s Children's Hospital, collecting coloring books, crayons, markers, puzzles and craft supplies for the young patients and their visiting family members

  • We have also created "Fun With FIRST" Activity Books that are being distributed to schools, libraries, business and hospital waiting rooms.  Mott’s Children's Hospital has already requested a second supply to have available in their pediatric emergency ward.  These will also be distributed at our library classes and at our FIRST robotics competitions to children visiting our team pit.

  • Exciting news is that our children's book "The Flying Toasters Spread the Word: A FIRST Reader" will indeed be ready to share with children this season.  We have persisted through many setbacks, but with the help of our new art mentor and a private donation, we are going to self-publish our book and have it ready to share with children this year to spread the word of FIRST and STEAM.  We will be reading and donating our children’s book at schools, libraries, hospitals and local events.  We will also sell additional copies to create a scholarship fund to support the newly forming JrFLL and FLL teams in our area.

  • Supporting our new FTC team, the Robo-Toasters

  • Mentoring and providing support, resources and facility

 

  • We are proud of the fact that South Lyon Community Schools recognizes the value of The Flying Toasters FIRST Robotics Team by awarding Robotics Varsity Letters to the team members who exhibit full involvement in:

1.    Robotics meetings and activities

2.    Fundraising

3.    Robotics kick-off, design and build, Chairman’s and competition tasks

4.    Outreach and community service

 

 

The Flying Toasters’ History & Accomplishments:

 

*All of our Flying Toasters have a 100% graduation rate from high school.  All of our high school alumni have gone onto to college or higher level learning after high school.  Many of our alumni students return to our team as mentors or have found teams to mentor near their universities.

 

2011:  Our Rookie Year

  • 12 members

  • 2 members graduated that year

  • Robot’s nickname: Brave Little Toaster

  • Competed at 2 District Competitions: Skyline and Livonia

  • Ranked 36 of 40 at Skyline Competition

  • Won the “Rookie Inspiration Award” at the Livonia Competition

 

2012: Year 2

  • 15 members

  • 1 member graduated that year

  • Robot’s nickname: Patriot Toaster

  • Competed at 2 District Competitions: Northville and Livonia

  • Ranked 67 of 194 teams in Michigan

  • Won the “Imagery Award” at the Northville Competition

  • Won the “Engineering Excellence Award” at Livonia Competition

  • Developed our team website: theflyingtoasters.org

  • Created a team newsletter

  • Created our Articles of Incorporation to start our Student Government

  • SLCS approved our Robotics Varsity Letter

  • Started to use QFD for our robot design

  • Participated in MARC (Michigan Advanced Robotics Competition)

  • Hosted OCCRA (Oakland County Competitive Robotics Association) Diversity Robotics Tournament at South Lyon East High School

  • Created the gondola for the high school musical production, Phantom of the Opera

  • Invited to give a 2012 robotics season presentation to the South Lyon School Board

  • Participated in:

    • Greenfield Village Maker Faire

    • South Lyon Pumpkin Fest

    • Operation Injured Soldiers

 

2013: Year 3  

  • 17 members

  • 6 members graduated that year

  • Robot’s nickname: Poptart

  • Mentored Teams 1502 and 1076

  • Competed in 2 district competitions: Gull Lake & Livonia

  • Provided our machine shop for the Gull Lake Competition

  • Ranked 64 of 203 teams in Michigan

  • Won “Chairman’s Award” at Gull Lake

  • Won “Engineering Inspiration Award” at Livonia

  • Team 3641 advanced to Michigan State Competition

  • Team 3641 advanced to Worlds

  • Invited to (IRI) Indiana Robotics Invitational

  • Participated in MARC (Michigan Advanced Robotics Competition)

  • Girls’ robotics team finished 1st seed in Bloomfield Hills Girls’ Competition

  • Girls’ robotics team went undefeated

  • Created QFD workshops to share with other FRC teams

  • Presented a robotics presentation at University of Michigan

  • Invited to share our robot at the Michigan Science Center

  • Received a $1,500 grant from VEX

  • Created “Rye The Flying Toaster” Coloring Book

  • Invited to present to the SLEHS SIP School Improvement Committee

  • Invited to give a 2013 robotics season presentation to the South Lyon School Board

  • Participated in:

    • Greenfield Village Maker Faire

    • South Lyon Pumpkin Fest

    • District Elementary School Science Fairs

    • SLEHS Holiday Giving Tree to benefit families in need

    • One Laptop per child

    • Scouting Badge Workshop

    • Hosted the “Robofest” at the Ann Arbor Hands On Museum

    • At HS Graduation Commencement Ceremony, a Flying Toaster was invited to represent the robotics team and ring the symbolic bell

 

2014: Year 4  

  • 11 members

  • 3 members graduated that year

  • Robot’s nickname: Pizza Bagel

  • Initiated auxiliary and junior team member program

  • Mentored FRC Teams 1502, 1076, 4988, 857, and 2676

  • The new UP team 4988 we mentored won the “Rookie All Star” award at Escanaba and won first place at the robotics competition in Traverse City

  • Team 3641 Competed in 3 District Competitions: Escanaba, Livonia and Bedford

  • Provide our machine shop for the Escanaba and Livonia Competitions

  • Won the “Delphi Excellence in Engineering” Award at Escanaba

  • Won the “Creativity Award” and seeded #1 out of 40 at Livonia

  • Team 3641 advanced to Michigan State Competition

  • Presented QFD workshop at the Michigan State FIRST Robotic Competition

  • Participated in MARC (Michigan Advanced Robotics Competition)

  • Girls’ robotics team competed Bloomfield Hills Girls’ Competition

  • Invited to give a 2014 robotics season presentation to the South Lyon School Board

  • Participated in:

    • Greenfield Village Maker Faire

    • South Lyon Pumpkin Fest

    • District Elementary School Science Fairs

    • SLEHS Holiday Giving Tree to benefit families in need

    • Shrek from the SLEHS Musical Theatre Production attended the Livonia District Competition.  Shrek is a Flying Toaster!

    • Having a Team 3641 member sing the National Anthem at many HS sporting events and at the FIRST State competition at EMU.

    • Empty Bowls, a South Lyon Active Faith Food Pantry community-wide fundraiser, serving soup and bread and bussing tables.

 

2015: Year 5

  • 44 members

  • 5 members will graduate this year

  • Our new FTC Team, Robo-Toasters, competed for the first time this year and made it to States.  The judges chose them to receive the “Connect Award”

  • Continuing to mentored FRC Teams 1502, 4988, 857, and 2676

  • Will be competing at 3 competitions: Gull Lake, Livonia and Bedford

  • Providing our machine shop to Gull Lake Competition

  • Updating our team website

  • Updating our team newsletter format

  • Creating a Facebook and Social Media Presence

  • Restructuring our Student Government to reflect the specific goals and functions of our growing team.

  • Created our “Fun With FIRST” Activity Book Vol.1 and creating Vol. 2 & 3 for distribution this season

  • Publishing our children’s book, “The Flying Toasters Spread the Word: A FIRST Reader”

  • Invited to present our Robotics Team 3641 at a Lyon Area Rotary Club meeting

  • Will return to the South Lyon School Board with our presentation of our 2015 robotics season

  • Kerry Pierce, a Toaster Alumni, now at Lake Superior State University, had her proposal accepted and she will be giving a TEDx Talk this March

  • Participating in:

    • SLEHS Homecoming Parade

    • South Lyon Pumpkin Fest

    • District Elementary School Science Fairs

    • SLEHS Holiday Giving Tree to benefit families in need

    • Mott’s Children's Hospital Art and Craft Item Collection Drive

    • Boy and Girl Scout Badge Workshops

    • Salem-South Lyon Library “Moving Ahead with STEAM” Classes

    • Active Faith Community Services “Hunger Bowl” Fundraiser

    • AND MORE...

 

2016: Our 6th year has just begun !

 

We are THE FLYING TOASTERS!  We fly because we believe we can!

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