This past weekend, the Robowranglers competed at the Texas UIL State Robotics Championship in Austin, where the team finished in second place.

Thirty-two teams from across the state qualified for this event by earning enough points at regional competitions throughout the season. The Robowranglers took their robot, Rogue, to participate in its final event of the season.  The team went 7-1 in the qualifications and ended the tournament ranked number two. The team chose team 1477, Texas Torque from The Woodlands, and team 5417, Eagle Robotics from Allen, to work with in the elimination rounds. The alliance advanced to the final round where they lost to the number one ranked alliance in two closes matches.

“This season has tested the tenacity of the robotics team. We started the season by realizing we were not happy with our design and after or first event, decided to redesign and re-build every sub-system, except the drive train,” said Adrienne Emerson, Robotics Director, of their season. She continued, “this weekend, the robot that took the field was a top competitor and one of the top scoring robots at the event. To see the progress we made throughout the season is incredible. The students made a tough decision to rebuild, and it was a lot of work. But, in the end, we all got to see that hard work and dedication pays off,” she said.

The Robowranglers ended the season as finalists at the Dallas Regional, Lone Star Regional, Las Vegas Regional, and the Texas UIL State Championship. They were also semi-finalists in their division at the FIRST World Championship tournament earlier this year. The Robowranglers also received several awards this season, including the Industrial Design Award, which celebrates form and function in an efficiently designed machine that effectively addresses the game challenge, the Gracious Professionalism Award, which celebrates outstanding demonstration of FIRST Core Values such as continuous gracious professionalism, working together both on and off the playing field. They also received the highly prestigious Engineering Inspiration Award, which celebrates outstanding success in advancing respect and appreciation for engineering within a team’s school and community. Congratulations to the GHS Robowranglers on a standout season.