On 4/19, the Coronado Cougars Gone Wired robotics team boarded the bus for the 16 hour ride down to Houston, Texas for the 2017 FIRST Steamworks Championship. This marked the team’s 9th year going to championships and the third year they qualified for the Engineering Inspiration award.
At competition, the Cougars joined more than 400 teams at the George R. Brown convention center where the Championship was held. Due to the vast number of teams, the Championship was divided into six divisions, each with around sixty-seven teams. Cougars Gone Wired was placed in the hopper division along with 2 other Colorado teams, team 1619, Up-A-Creek Robotics, and team 1410, the Kraken.
The competition started on Thursday, 4/20, with qualification matches that continued through Friday. By the end of Friday, ranks had been determined and the teams were ready for alliance selection. The team from Longmont, Colorado was ranked number one in the division, but ended up getting knocked out early in the quarter finals. Cougars Gone Wired wasn’t selected for an alliance and therefore didn’t play on Saturday, 4/21.
The competition gave the team many opportunities to talk with other teams and build bonds with many potential sponsoring companies. The Championship marks the end of the 2016-2017 FIRST robotics season. Cougars Gone Wired will continue to do demos and other activities including their STEM summer camp for middle school students throughout the summer.
The team had another great season, overcoming many challenges and pulling together a robot that performed very well at the competitions. The cougars plan on learning from their experiences this year and coming back for the 2018, season hungry for more!