Dover Shockwave Robotics

Mission Statement

The mission of Dover Shockwave Robotics is to inspire high school aged students to develop a deeper interest in Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) through our high school team’s annual participation in the First Robotics Challenge (FRC).

General Descriptions

Dover Shockwave Robotics strives to promote STEM education in the Dover School District, New Hampshire. We provide high school students with hands-on practical experience in multiple areas of engineering through our participation in the annual FIRST Robotics Challenge competition. At the end of the competition season, the robots we build are used in demonstrations at community outreach events by our students.

Since 2013, we have continuously supported a FIRST Robotics Challenge (FRC) team out of the high school each year. We have been doing year-round projects with students since 2016, focusing on skills learning through special projects that are of interest to the students. In the past, our students have worked on projects such as Robotics Vision, H-Drive train, improvements to autonomous software, etc. In the 2023 off-season, our team has been working on Swerve Drive and custom components for elevation mechanisms.

Our primary focus is to provide students with a safe environment where they can learn both hard and soft skills centered on STEM. Hard skills such as Requirements Analysis, Robot Design, Computer Aided Design (CAD)/ Computer Aided Manufacturing (CAM), Advanced Manufacturing (3d Printing/Lathe/Computer Numerical Control (CNC) Router), and Embedded Programming using Java/C++. Soft skills such as working as a team, leadership, speaking, and representing the team at all events including community outreach throughout our region. We believe that our students have the fun of healthy competition, but learn the value of cooperative support of each other, as per the basic tenets of FIRST.

Apart from our official competitions, we also compete during the offseason at annual events: Mayhem at Merrimack, NH Governor’s Cup, and Battle Of the Bay. These offseason events serve as an opportunity for our students to showcase their skills and knowledge, and to interact with other teams in a friendly and collaborative environment. Our community outreach includes our local library STEM Day or special robot demonstration day, annual Makerfest at the Children Museum of New Hampshire, annual Dover Apple Harvest Day, and bi-annual Thunder Over NH Airshow. We also hold demonstrations in support of other local non-profits such as Bring Back The Trade (https://www.bringbackthetrades.org/) at their events. These community outreach events give our students the opportunity to give back to the community, share their knowledge and learn how to present and communicate effectively to an audience.

Our program is designed to be inclusive and accessible to all interested students residing in Dover School District. To eliminate any barrier of interest, we have not charged any student activity fees since 2019. We are a non-profit organization and rely on sponsors for support. Our school provides a space for us to work in, as well as the support of the staff and students. We welcome any support from individuals or organizations who share our passion for STEM education.

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How We Measure Success

Our students will be able to present their work, respond to inquiries, and engage in technical discussions with independent judges during our two official competition events. Moreover, our program emphasizes learning from failures. At the end of each build season, our students will have the chance to reflect on all the challenges, failures, and successes they encountered. These lessons will be reviewed, and goals will be set to improve ourselves during the offseason in preparation for the next competition season.

Long term successes are measured by students achievements in STEM fields - whether it be continuation to college, direct workforce employment or trade skill. 

Financial Disclosure

Dover Shockwave Robotics, Inc is a 501c3 corporation in the State of New Hampshire. We are made up of 100% volunteers for both our board of directors and all of our mentors. All funds directly support program activities.