Between attending an international competition, starting a nonprofit and meeting with Gov. Mark Gordon, Powell High School robotics has been busy.

In mid-April teams 3189 (Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly), and 3188 (Squiggle Splat Bang) headed to Houston to compete on an international scale. Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly was even ranked on the international level ahead of the competition. While neither team made it to the finals they held their own, with Rapid Unscheduled Dissassembly placing 22nd out of 64 teams in its division. They left the competition with a world ranking of 22nd based on a voting system at the competition, Alan Crawford of Rapid Unscheduled Disassembly said. 

A successful competition

The team’s success this year comes down to a combination of things, Crawford said: They have experience, and have put in the hours to improve their robot.

“Yeah, 3189 was over the top. A lot of teams came and checked them out. When they were good in their autonomous work, they scored a lot,” coach Joel Hayano said. “So it was nice to be able to be competitive and be in the top third of the division. So that was really nice.”

He also praised Squiggle Splat Bang, which after technical difficulties last year, had a robot that worked well and was able to compete. 

“It was super successful and in our final match there, we beat the number one team in our division,” Crawford said. “So yeah, it was a super fun time.”

It was a highlight facing the number one team, he added, and in his last match as a senior.

“I’m super grateful to all the people in the community that supported us in any way, throughout all these years of competition, this year especially,” Crawford said. 

Squiggle Splat Bang’s robot broke on the first day of the competition, which affected those matches, team member Lukas Legler said, but once their robot was repaired they were able to upset the eighth seed and nearly the sixth.

Squiggle Splat Bang placed 56th out of the 64 teams in its division. 

“I definitely think we did better than we did most years, because we actually came in with a plan on what we were going to build with our robot and really just tried to meet those goals,” said team member Mason Coombs. 

Helping others succeed

Outreach was a focus for Squiggle Splat Bang at the FIRST Championship, and now that they’re home they’re looking to make a difference in the Wyoming robotics scene.

“We decided really to just focus on outreach … [the FIRST Championshp], because there are so many teams that are knowledgeable there,” Coombs said.

They even set up a “make your own button stand.” Coombs said the team brought 1,000 buttons and ended up running out.

Now the team is back in Powell and focus has shifted to starting their nonprofit SSB Robotics, which will work to help underprivileged teams succeed and potentially make it to the FIRST Championship.

“So basically, our goal of this nonprofit was to get underserved or underfunded robotics teams in Wyoming kind of just access to vital things like 3D printers and mentorship,” Coombs said. 

The team members are currently gathering funds and building webpages for SSB Robotics and have sent out a form to Wyoming teams to gauge who may need assistance. The website will be a place where teams can find resources including  the computer aided design of Squiggle Splat Bang’s robot.

The nonprofit has made $600, and they are waiting to hear back on a Daniels Fund grant for $5,000.

“[Our goal is] just to really make Wyoming better at robotics, because right now, it’s just Powell High School and Jackson sometimes,” Coombs said, adding, “Most of the time it’s just because they don’t have access or just funding for everything like that.”

It will take roughly $800-$1,000 to help a team get something like a 3D printer.

“They can apply off our website for support and or support to start a new team … I’m going to use the funds that we have right now to kind of fundraise so we can gain more for the future,” Coombs said. 

Coombs was even able to share the idea of the nonprofit with Gov. Gordon, during a visit to the high school where he stopped to congratulate the teams on their rankings and learn about the process. 

“He thought that it was really cool that a high school program could be doing stuff [like the nonprofit,” Coombs said.

But, he was more focused on the robots, “he was more interested in that because he was watching it the whole time.” Coombs said with a smile.

Learn more about what Squiggle Splat Bang is up to at 3188squigglesplatbang on Instagram, where the team will be posting updates on its nonprofit efforts soon.