Team 1086 came into existence for the 2002 school year when Deep Run High School opened its doors. We first participated in the 2003 FRC season with our robot, iPoe. In 2004 we became known as "The Pirates of the Black Pearl". We then competed as the Pirates for the next four years with tremendous success. Our team's membership grew from a modest 15 members to more than 50 members. Throughout those four years as the Pirates, we brought home multiple awards from the NASA/VCU Regional Competition. In 2004, we won the VCU Imagery Award for outstanding engineering and visual integration from the team to our robot. In 2005, we won the VCU Daimler-Chrysler Team Spirit Award. Then, our team won the Delphi "Driving Tomorrow's Technology" Award for two years in a row. Our team competed in the Championships in Atlanta, Georgia in 2005 and 2007 as Pirates.

2007 Alliance

In the 2007 season, three teams located in Henrico County, 1086 from Deep Run High School, 384 from Tucker High School and 540 from Godwin High School formed the Henrico Triad. The three teams worked together in the off season to perfect a mecanum drive base, utilizing the design during the 2007 build season. They also

shared resources provided by their sponsors and mentors. Flexicell provided facilities for the three teams to build their robots, while Showbest Fixture Corporation fabricated crates and control boxes designed for the three teams, as well as a full size "rack" used in the 2007 Game Rack 'n' Roll for the teams to practice on. The design created by the three teams was tremendously successful at both the NASA/VCU Regional and at the World Championship.

2008 - 2009 Alliance

For the 2007-2008 season, we became Team 1086 Blue Cheese after a team member pointed out robot's similarity to Swiss cheese because of the weight-reducing "cheese holes" we drill in our aluminum frame. We also wanted to integrate more closely with Deep Run High School's main color, blue; thus, we became Blue Cheese. At the NASA/VCU Regional, we were the Regional Winner and the Chairman's Award Winners. We also took home the Xerox Creativity Award and the 2008 Website Excellence Award. To contribute to our accomplishments, we had an overall team membership increase of 294%. These new students as well as our returning members were the key to our success in the 2008 season.

In the 2008 season, Teams 1086 and 384 worked together in a unique partnership in which our two teams shared resources and experience in a creative collaboration. We worked together on design ideas and created prototypes together, seeking the best design and finally constructing two nearly identical twin robots. We benefited from the community partnerships of both teams including those with 1086 sponsor, Flexicell, and 384 sponsor, Qimonda, who provided machine shop time and mentors for both teams. This unique partnership has helped to advance the spirit of FIRST, thus creating an atmosphere of Gracious Professionalism and camaraderie between the two teams.