Our FIRST Journey

By Ink and Metal

Ink and Metal 5773 is a robotics team from American High School in Fremont, CA that represents the school in the FIRST Tech Challenge - a rigorous and fast-paced robotics competition where students design, build, program a robot and compete against other teams. In this compilation of memoirs from Ink and Metal alumni, the team shares their exhilarating experiences within their journey in FIRST and glimpses throughout their seasons.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Ink and Metal
• Release date: Feb 17, 2023
• ISBN: 9798215674840

Book preview

Preface

Team 5773 Ink and Metal was founded in 2011 by a group of curious high school students at American High School in Fremont, California. Since then, the team has been on a rewarding journey. 

Since the team advanced to the World Championship in 2019 for the first time, it has become our team’s ultimate goal to have a shot at competing at the highest level once again, while inspiring and helping as many teams as possible along the way. This, of course, is made more difficult by competing in Northern California; many teams in this region are elite competitors, worthy of competing at the World Championship. Our team now is not the same team from five years ago. The FIRST Tech Challenge has become the forefront of many members’ dedication. This is apparent through the multitude of unique stories.

None of it would have been remotely possible without the amazing people behind the wheel. The members who pushed the team through this drastic change are the alumni you will be hearing from in the rest of the book. It seemed that every week, each member experienced a distinctive story; with each story came knowledge. Ink and Metal is made special by these stories. As each alumni  moves on in their professional careers, we found it important to solidify their stories, knowledge, and advice in a record. We wanted to make sure their legacies are not forgotten, and remain for members of Ink and Metal and teams across the globe to read, understand, and share. Through this book, we are remembering and sharing the experience that makes our team special. Moreover, the alumni provide excellent pieces of advice for any individual or team to follow. From their years of experience, they have truly a valuable insight on how to approach the FIRST Tech Challenge. We hope you are looking forward to learning more about FIRST, the competition, and our team. So, buckle up, and get ready to be inspired. 

-Waleed Yagoub, Senior at Ink & Metal

FIRSTⓇ

Is For

Discovery

1

Hi, I’m Rahul, a freshman at UCLA studying computer science. As I enter this next chapter of my life, I am quite heartbroken that I am leaving behind my favorite hobby throughout high school—FTC robotics. Despite FTC being my absolute favorite these last 4 years, rest assured, it was not the smoothest of journeys and was, in fact, a complete rollercoaster. Hence, here I am sharing my experience riding this roller coaster to help you all succeed in the rest of your robotics journey, through which you will make memories that will last a lifetime.

Rover Ruckus. Sky Stone. Ultimate Goal. Freight Frenzy.

While these are the four challenges I completed in my four years, in retrospect, they are your biggest friends, paving the path for knowledge and victory. Surprisingly, the real challenges that you need to solve lie beneath the names of the seasons.

2

Creativity is intelligence having fun. - Albert Einstein

Winning is only half of it. Having fun is the other half. - Bum Phillips

The two most powerful warriors are patience and time. - Leo Tolstoy

I entered the team a couple days before kickoff of the Rover Ruckus season, and with the team being busy getting materials and parts ready for kickoff, the upperclassmen could not focus on us—the newly recruited team members. While this was the case in early September, I was confident that once kickoff was over, times would change and we would get an opportunity to work hands-on on the robot. October passed by. Tick-tock. Tick-Tock. November passed by. Tick-tock. Tick-Tock. December. Tick-tock. Tick-Tock. January. Tick-tock. Tick-Tock. February. Tick-tock. Tick-Tock. March. Tick-tock. Tick-Tock. 7 months had passed, I had still done no hands-on work with the robot’s mechanisms or autonomous programs, the NorCal State Championship was over, and our robot was no match for the other teams competing there. A dejected team came back to the garage, knowing we would have to wait several more months before getting the chance to compete again.