FRC Team 254

The Cheesy Poofs are a FIRST Robotics team from San Jose, California. They are a member of the FIRST Hall of Fame. They are well known for their consistently high level of performance, as well as for their many side projects.

History

The NASA ARC Robotics Team, the Cheesy Poofs, competes in the FIRST robotics competition as Team 254. FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a national organization that focuses on inspiring students about math and science. FIRST (www.usfirst.org), among other things, runs a national robotics competition; this competition involves students, adults, and engineers in the challenging and multifaceted robot design and construction process.

The Cheesy Poofs Robotics Team, 254, has evolved over the past seven years from the smallest program in the country in 1999, at a struggling high school, to a large program based at the NASA Ames Research Center (ARC). While the team’s student members have changed, the Cheesy Poofs have continued to flourish.

From the modest beginning of Team 254 in the fall of 1998, NASA engineers Bob Holmes and Steve Kyramarios joined teacher Jason Morrella in exciting students about robotics and about teamwork. This spirit of team work continues today, in spite of the downsizing of Broadway high school, to the subsequent transfer of the program to Bellarmine College Preparatory in the fall of 2000, to what it has evolved to here in 2009. With the support of mentors and teachers Cory McBride, EJ Sabathia, Travis Covington, Kirk Oden, Jakub Fierdovicz, Rob Janke, and Jim Urhausen, as well as additional volunteers, we are looking forward to a great year.

In the past, 254 has started numerous teams on the West Coast and has collaborated with teams 22, 60 and 968.

Robots

• Cartman - 1999
• Rocky - 2000
• Holmz - 2001
• Ecko - 2002
• Mario - 2003
• The Bionic Poof - 2004
• Kara - 2005
• Black Knight - 2006
• Raptor - 2007
• Barricade - 2008
• Devastator - 2009
• Onslaught - 2010
• Slipstream - 2011
• Skyfire - 2012
• Overkill - 2013
• Barrage - 2014
• Deadlift - 2015
• Dropshot - 2016
• Misfire - 2017
• Lockdown - 2018
• Backlash - 2019