FIRST Team 1317 Digital Fusion

Past Awards

2004: Rookie Inspiration Award
2006: Johnson & Johnson Sportsmanship Award
2007: Xerox Creativity Award
2007: Website Excellence Award
2008: Imagery Award
2009: Spirit Award
2009: Judges' Award

Regional Competitions

2004: Buckeye Regional
2005: Buckeye Regional
2006: Purdue Regional
2007: Buckeye Regional
2008: Buckeye Regional
2009: Buckeye Regional
2010: Pittsburgh Regional
2011: Buckeye Regional

Mission Statement

Our mission is to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders, by engaging them in exciting mentor-based programs that build science, engineering and technology skills, that inspire innovation, and that foster well-rounded life capabilities including self-confidence, communication, and leadership.

SERVICE: The students will participate in service projects as designated by the team during the season.
TEAMWORK: The students and parents will grow together as a team, and they will show respect and appreciation for each other's assigned responsibilities.
PROCESS: The object of our team is to learn about robotics, technology, and the other related team activities. Learning is MORE IMPORTANT to our team than any finished product or award.
COMMITMENT: Each student will actively participate in team meetings, and will help to strengthen the team by his/her adherence to the student code of conduct and by his/her commitment to the team.
LEADERSHIP: The students will demonstrate leadership abilities by taking increased ownership over the development of the team as well as the conduct of its members.
SKILL: Each student will demonstrate a measurable increase of learning and skill by being able to understand and communicate well about their efforts.
ROLE MODELS FOR OTHERS: Each student should consider himself/herself to be a role model for other students.
COMPETITION: The team will compete in at least 1 regional competition.

2004

The team enters its first season, partners with the Ohio State University (OSU), and involves mentors from Batelle, OSU, and many other professional engineers. The team is one of only 3 homeschool teams in the nation to register. Digital Fusion is chosen as the offical team name, blue and orange as the team colors, and 1317 is given as the team number.

The game for 2004 is FIRST Frenzy Raising The Bar. 1317 builds a robot with a hopper to catch the balls, and an arm that is able to lift the robot off the ground. The robot's name is the Centurion, and is known in the competition for its bright orange and blue "wings" that made up the hopper.

Digital Fusion makes its debut at the Buckeye regional and wins the Rookie Inspiration award. The team finishes 35th out of 62 teams.

2005

The team enters its second season fired up from the previous season's success. Digital Fusion gives robot demonstrations at Cedar Point, COSI, and several other events to spread community awareness of FIRST.

The 2005 game is called Triple Play. Smelborp is the name chosen for the robot, which is built with a simple arm that carries tetras and places them on top of the goal tetras.

The team returns to the Buckeye regional for the second time, feeling confident and ready. Even with a few setbacks, FIRST Team 1317 ends the competition ranked 11th over all, and is chosen for the 8th ranked seed team. This is the first time 1317 participates in a semifinal match.

2006

The team enters the 2006 season with 5 new team members and several new mentors. The team is starting to feel old!

The 2006 game, Aim High, presents the team with a great challenge. A robot is made that picks up balls off the ground and shoots them into a "hoop" 9 feet up. At competition, the team members decide to name it Wabash because of how cool it sounds when you say it and because of the Wabash river at the Purdue Regional.

Purdue proved to be much smaller than the Buckeye Regional, which was quite a change for the team. The robot performed decently, and the team finished 14th out of 32 teams. Digital Fusion was picked to be on the 6th ranked alliance, but was knocked out after the second round. Because of the gracious professionalism displayed by the students, the judges awarded 1317 with the Johnson & Johnson Sportsmanship Award.

2007

The team enters the 2007 season with 6 new students, 5 new OSU mentors, and 2 new professional mentors.

The 2007 game "Rack & Roll" requires the robots to pick up inflatable rings and hang them on a cylindrical structure affectionately referred to as "The Rack". At the end of the match, robots could earn extra points by lifting other robots.

The robot, "Shpiffy", performed well and won an innovation award for its removable pneumatic lifter. In the final matches, 1317 was picked to join the 2nd ranked alliance due to their powerful defensive drivetrain.

2008

Despite the loss of several great senior-year students, Digital Fusion starts 2008 with a strong team of students and mentors.

The 2008 game "OverDrive" has robots racing around a circular track, herding 40-inch-diameter "trackballs" as they go. Teams earn bonus points by hurdling their trackballs over a 6¹/₂ foot high "overpass".

The team built a small robot (called "Mini-me") designed to fit inside a larger chassis. Depending on which strategy the team chose for a particular round, either robot design could be used.

FIRST Team 1317 did fairly well at the Buckeye Regional; the teams and judges loved Mini-me. 1317 took home the Imagery award for their creative theme and team spirit.

2009

FIRST Team 1317 moves into a new build site, along with a host of new students and mentors, as well as returning veterans.

The 2009 game "Lunacy" introduces a new game arena with a slippery floor surface to simulate the moon's low gravity environment. Teams must score balls ("lunar rocks") into trailers attached to the opposing robots.

Digital Fusion develops a reliable ball scoring mechanism and a sturdy drivetrain to cope with the challenging environment. Their hard work paid off; the team was selected as an alliance partner at the regional and the robot did exceptionally well. The team received the Judges' Award and the Spirit Award for their professionalism and enthusiasm.

2010

FIRST Team 1317 relocates yet again, and a whole host of new mentors and students joins the team!

The game for 2010, "Breakaway," features a field that is split into three sections, with bumps or "hills" separating each section. Teams may shoot or herd balls into goals, scoring points for their team. At the end of the round, robots may lift themselves or other teammates for bonus points.

Digital Fusion designed and built a square robot with an arm and kicker mechanism. At the Pittsburgh Regional, they were selected to join one of the alliances in the semifinals.