The first FIRST Robotics team in San Diego, CA, Team 812 began in the fall of 2001 at The Preuss School UCSD. With the support of UCSD, The Preuss Foundation, and NASA Jet Propulsion Laboratory, Team 812 embarked upon its first year of competition. Without the aid of a machine shop, the team struggled to build a robot strong enough to withstand the rigors of the 2002 FIRST Competition. Team 812 persisted and in the end were able to produce a great rookie robot, "WAH-HEE-SAH". Though final standings were low at the competition in Los Angeles, Team 812 won the All-Star Rookie Award for its outstanding achievements as a first year team. Team 812 members also chose the name, "The Midnight Mechanics", this first year. The team name came from Team 812's inclination for staying at school till wee hours of the night, working on the robot.

During its second year, Team 812 set out to spread the message of FIRST and recruit more teams in the San Diego community. By creating a partnership with San Diego City College, they began making presentations to local San Diego teachers. Three schools registered with FIRST and thus began the mentorship of Teams 1125, 1079, and 1136.

Since Team 812's humble beginnings This season, Team 812 has continued to achieve the same level of success from past years. The team has created new partne ships in the community, recruited more teams to join Team San Diego, and has spread the message of FIRST to further. There is no doubt that Team 812 is living up to its recognition as an engineering inspiration to all.