Wilsonville Robotics got started where many FIRST teams do, growing out of experiences from FIRST Lego League. In the fall of 2002, three eighth-grade boys from Wilsonville showed an interest in entering in FLL – Eric Rippey, Jeff Lewis, and Dane Bennington. These three boys won their local FLL tournament, and went on to finish in the top 4 at the state competition. At the completion of that season, Jeff Lewis began asking questions about what the next step could be in robotics, since they had so much fun with the FLL experience. The Lewis family heard a rumor of a full-size robotics tournament in Seattle being held in the spring after the FLL season had concluded, so they took their video camera and trundled up to Seattle to watch the “Stack Attack” competition.

When they returned, Jeff got the other boys together and showed them the video. The reaction was a mixture of “this is way cool!” and “there is no way we can do this!”. But, Jeff was determined, so his mom and dad (Janet and Jim) became the de-facto lead mentors and began figuring out how to get a team off the ground. Janet headed up fundraising, getting all the applications and rules and stacks of paperwork in order. Jim started procuring parts and getting the team oriented towards the physical side of the robot.

We signed up in the fall for the 2004 “First Frenzy – Raising the Bar” competition. It was a typical rookie year, with plenty of chaos. The addition to the Wilsonville High School happening around this same timeframe, and the school wasn’t really in a position to offer space to the team – so Jim and Janet’s basement and garage became the meeting place. We spent a considerable amount of the first four weeks of that bulid season just getting our heads around the technical aspects of the robot – how to program the controller, what the heck a Victor is, etc. The design came together in the last two weeks, and the robot shipped. We arrived at the Portland competition a few pounds overweight and with a few bugs to work out, but the kids competed in Portland and Sacramento. The main goal was to learn as much as possible, and of course, to hang from the bar (which we eventually did!). The team worked really hard, and won the Rookie Inspiration Award in Portland and Sacramento.

In 2005 the team picked up more members and picked up steam. The game was “Triple Play” and the team competed in Portland and Las Vegas, where we were able to compete as high as the Regional Finals. In 2006 the “Aim High” game gave the team plenty of opportunity to hone their camera and control system skills. This set the stage for 2007, “Rack and Roll”. This was the breakout year for 1425, developing the robot we affectionately know as “whomper”. All the sub-teams performed amazingly, developing advanced teaching modes into the code, custom processor circuits for sensing the rack, and a mechanical design that we robust and reliable. The team competed in Portland, the inaugural event in San Diego and Las Vegas. We received two Rockwell Automation awards, the AutoDesk Visualization award, and the Judge’s Award in Las Vegas. The icing on the cake was being undefeated in qualifying matches, and then winning the regional with the gracious help of experienced competitors Cheezy Poofs and an amazing rookie team from Seattle, the Skunkworks. This earned us our first trip to the fantastic experience of Atlanta, where we went undefeated in match play again. We didn’t make it through the semi-finals, but oh-what a great experience it was.

In 2008, we were rebuilding a bit, having transitioned from having the benefit of the energy, drive and experience of the Lewis family to learning how to make the team go with new leadership, as Jeff graduated and went on to pursue an mechanical engineering degree. The game was “First Overdrive”, and we competed in Portland and Las Vegas that year, and won the Imagery Award in Portland through the tireless efforts of Patty Guzman and the spirit team, and the Gracious Professionalism Award in Las Vegas. The team, having some experience under their belt by now, did a great job of volunteering and assisting in Vegas.

The 2009 game, “Lunacy” was a great challenge for the team and marked the first time we attempted a completely new drive system – the swerve drive. We competed in Portland and Seattle. Portland was a bit rough, but a great way to work out the kinks, which put us in the position of being able to win the Seattle Regional, and be recognized with the Gracious Professionalism Award in Seattle.

We embark on the 2010 game with the largest group of Freshman we’ve ever had, the largest group of rookie Seniors, a strong contingent of Juniors who came through the FLL experience years before, and delightful diversity throughout. We are blessed and thankful for the support we have received from Xerox over the years, in the form of materials, access to facilities and shop, a constant stream of great mentors and generous financial support. Many other great organizations in the Wilsonville area have also provided generous support over many years, including: FLIR, The City of Wilsonville, Mentor Graphics, Subway, Tektronix, Langlitz Leathers, Wilsonville Boosters, Platt Electric, and ITT Technical Institute. Mentors find their way from those and many other companies, including: VeriWave, Intel, Furrow Pump, and Wilsonville High School.