Pre-2018
The Sweeny High School Robotics team began operations in 2015, and competed in the BEST Robotics competition, TSA VEX competitions, and the ZERO Robotics program. We were a very small team, with very little experience, but our goal was to improve at least one aspect of our robot designs each year. Our facilities were dated, and we had next to no knowledge of design or CAD beyond the sketching phase. As we became more confident, we were approached by a local Dow Chemical Company representative about joining the FIRST Robotics Competition through their sponsorship of our program with startup costs.
In the fall of 2018, we continued competing in the BEST Robotics competition, and in the spring, we launched our inaugural year with FIRST. While our design won no awards, and certain aspects were less successful than we had initially hoped, we had no major malfunctions, and our robot was extremely robust
2019 was our final year competing in BEST Robotics, due to our desire to focus our energy more fully on FIRST Robotics and expanding our manufacturing and CAD skills. Thanks to a local bond election, we were also working with architects to design our new Chevron-Phillips CTE Center, while also consolidating, organizing, and packing up our tools and equipment from the old facility. Stretching the forbearance of our English teachers, we set up shop in an unused classroom and attached computer lab in the English hallway while crews began the demo process in our old space. The robot we built that spring won the 2020 Creativity Award at the Channelview FIRST Robotics Competition. The season was then cut short due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fall of 2020 saw us moving into our new facility and we began preparing for the unique robotics season of virtual challenges. The competition used the same game and field pieces as the previous year, but with slightly different challenges, we needed to redesign a more versatile robot if we wanted to be competitive. We also had the opportunity to compete in the Texas Robotics Cup in San Antonio, and it was a fantastic capstone to a unique schoolyear plagued by virtual learning, quarantines and other COVID-19 protocols.
Short blurb about this season
Short blurb about this season
Short blurb about this season