Our History
How it Started
In 1999, six students came together and created a First Robotics Team for the Appomattox Reigonal Governor's School.
1999
At the turn of the new millenium, under the supervision of Mr. Roland Cabanos, six students banded together and created the new FIRST Robotics team: Team 404: Flamin' Dragons
2000-2005
The Flamin' Dragons head to their annual competitions at NASA Langley!
404, baby.
Accomplishments
- 2000 - The first robot, Inferno (first slide), won the Featherweight in the Finals award!
- 2004 - The Flamin' Dragons move on up to the World Championships for the first time.
- 2005 - Now rebranded Distant Rage, the team goes up to the world stage, with the robot Victoria! (second slide)
After 2005
Mr. Cabanos unfortunately left ARGS, leaving the students without a sponsor for the robotics team for the forseeable future. Thus, the team disbanded.
Nine Years Later
In 2014, a group of students, captivated by the idea of an ARGS Robotics Team, banded together to rekindle the flame. This was their innovation.
2015
These students named themselves A.R.T. - ARGS Robotics Team - and developed a new gear logo. Despite it being their first year, they won the Rookie All Star Award, advanced to World Championships, and placed 67th in our championship division!
2016
Behold our robot: Starry Knight!
Because nerds need this much power.
Accomplishments
- Won the Creativity Award sponsored by Xerox
- District event winner
- Judge's Award winner
- District Championship Points Qualifying Team winner (2x)
- Advanced to World Championships and placed 19th in our championship division.
2017
Our 2017 robot, named ART.2.D.2, was designed for the FIRST STEAMWORKS game. Sadly, however, it did not make it past regional stage. However, it did win the Innovation in Control Award sponsored by Rockwell Automation.
You can check the robot out on YouTube.2018
Our 2018 robot, Ella Vader, was designed for the FIRST Power Up game. We again made it all the way to the World Championship again, winning eighth in the Chesapeake district and 36th in our Championship division. We also won the Quality Award sponsored by Motorola Solutions Foundation.
2019
Our 2019 robot was designed for the Destination: Deep Space game. We made it to the Chesapeake District Championship, where we placed 31st. We won the Safety Award sponsored by Underwriter's Laboratories twice, along with the District Engineering Inspiration Award.
You can check the robot out on YouTube.The COVID years
During the 2020-2021 robotics seasons, we were unable to compete due to the COVID-19 virus. The virus impacted our team greatly, and we lost most of our sponsors. In 2020, we had an incredible robot but were unable to finish the season to see the results. Ultimately, we lost a lot that could have been to COVID and struggled to recover.
2022
Our 2022 robot was designed for the FIRST Rapid React game. Due to the lack of experience from many of the members, we did not do well and did not make it past the regional events.
Return of the 404
After the 2022 season, the team felt like it needed a reboot. We were able to get our old number 404 back, and we worked to rebuild the team from scratch. We still, however, did not have many sponsors.
2023
Our 2023 robot, Jerome Bot, was designed for the FIRST Charged Up game. We again did not make it past the regional stage, but we won the Gracious Professionalism Award, the second highest award FIRST has to offer.