About Us:
Our team, Anderson Robotics, the Austin Cans, operates in a cohesive, efficient and democratic manor.
After kickoff the team was gathered and the objective was presented. All members were told to come up with possible ideas and designs for the robot. Everyone was allowed 2 days to design a CAD, physical model or drawings. At the end of the allotted time three main designs were procured. These three designs were then presented to the team so that they could be analyzed for their strengths and weaknesses. In the end the team held a democratic vote on what the final design was to be. That design was adapted, modified, and build upon to produce what, in the eyes of our team, was the best possible robot that we could produce.
We're still the underdogs and because of that, we at Anderson Robotics, realize that to succeed it takes a lot of hard work. We work with very limited resources; our school offers us no funding what-so-ever, we are not provided with a shop, tools or materials and there is no class time allotted to help support our endeavors. Our dedicated members have sought all of our funding and resources out. By establishing a sponsorship though the University of Texas we have been able to receive an area to build and work in; by establishing a relationship with National Instruments we have received funding for our robot. Lowes Hardware has provided us with a substantial amount of store credit to purchase supplies and tools. Only through these types of efforts and connections is our team able to exist. Our team has entered its second year, and has shed much of its mentor support. We have one main mentor, while a few others attend infrequently. We have become an autonomous student organization.
Our team works to actively recruit members and the diversity of our team is impressive because of such. Rather than try and draw the typical science and math-oriented students we have made an effort to incorporate people interested in advertising, design, art and photography as well. We have also made a huge effort to bring females into the mix, something that is goal of businesses and colleges as well.
We hope to do well during this season of FIRST and wish everyone else the best of luck.