We had many highs and a few lows for the 2026 FIRST® Robotics Competition season Rebuilt. But through it all we had a lot of fun and learned a lot. We worked hard designing, building, testing and competing. But before we summarize our season we want to thank the sponsors and contributors without whom we could not have built and competed with our robot Li’l Sebastian. Their generosity is truly appreciated.
• Vestal Central School District
• Haas Automation Inc.
• BAE Systems
• Carrier Global Corp
• Corning Inc
• NYSEG
• IEEE Binghamton Section
• IEEE Electronics Packaging Society
• Williams Auto Group
• Lockheed Martin Corporation
• State Line Auto Auction
• PTC
• Binghamton University
• Innovation Associates
• Endicott Rotary Club
• Canaugh Family
• Endicott Precision Inc.
• Visions Federal Credit Union
• Wegmans
• And numerous individual personal donations
In the Fall, 2025, there were many preparatory activities for the upcoming 2026 season, including welcoming new students to the club, making repairs and preparing the shop. However, we got some very disappointing news. Drew Williams, our lead mentor since 2022, and Renee Williams announced that they were moving to California for new careers. Drew was the lead mentor since 2022 when the club transitioned from Union-Endicott High School to Vestal High School. We were very happy for Drew in his new career but very sad about his leaving. But luckily, during this transition period Andrew Beck stepped up as lead mentor. Andrew had been a student member of FRC at his high school and had been with us as a mentor for two years. Drew continued to support the team remotely, which helped immensely.
In October 2025, we welcomed prospective new members to the club. We described what FRC is and how our team participates in the yearly competition. We explained how Southern Tier Robotics helps students gain valuable skills and experiences that prepare them for academic and career opportunities. Here we are demonstrating the 2025 robot for the FRC Reefscape competition season.
During the Fall we did preparatory work to prepare for the 2026 season.
Sam experimenting with machining parts on the CNC mill under the tutelage of mentor Kyle.
We decided that we needed a new battery cart. Douglas and Andrew are assembling the parts that were cut out on our router.
We disassembled the 2025 Reefscape robot to salvage components for the 2026 robot. We’re testing the base and drive motors to determine their status and repair/replace if necessary.
With the FRC January 2026 release of the Rebuilt game our team immediately kicked off the race to build a competitive robot.
The team gathers after reviewing the just released FRC game manual. Game rules and strategy are debated. Plans for how to proceed are drafted to meet the very tight schedule.
We broke into smaller groups to continue with the discussions. And of course we had our discussions over pizza, chips, and soda.
As part of the kick-off activities, we held multiple mock game plays to better understand game nuances.
Explaining the rules and objectives of the human mock game exercise.
Getting ready for a mock game …
In play!
Once we were back at the classroom, we continued to discuss what the robot needed to do, what strategies we should use to maximize scoring, and what the design should be for the various parts of the robot. “Chalk talk” was a common activity amongst the students and mentors.
As the design and components of the design come into focus, we begin creating and assembling prototypes to test our ideas.
Discussing aspects of the design.
Examining the state of software development.
Building and assembling prototype intake and hopper for testing.
Building and testing a field element for future testing.
For the hardware design we used the CAD tool OnShape. OnShape is taught in the technology class at school, so the students are familiar with it. Here we are working on developing the CAD drawings for the various parts and visualizing how the components fit together. Approved parts designs are sent to the workshop area where we use the mill, lathe, router, power and hand tools to fabricate the parts.
As we move through prototype testing and freeze parts of the design we manufacture and assemble components for the competition robot.
Our CNC lath and mill are used to manufacture more complicated metal components.
Flat components are manufactured on our router.
Starting assembly of the shooter.
Integration of major components of the robot.
Assembly of the spindexer.
Spindexer prototype.
Additional work needed on the robot belly pan.
A major milestone has been achieved with the assembly of the shooter and spindexer onto the base. Our robot Li’l Sebastian is now taking shape.
Programming and calibrating Li’l Sebastian are just as important as the manufacture and assembly of the hardware components.
Calibrating the camera.
With everything in place, the team starts testing the spindexer and shooter mechanisms integrated together. These are the first tests of the “fuel” being shot from Li’l Sebastian.
More testing of the software to fine tune the shooter.
The shooter coming at ya!
We soon moved into the cafeteria where we had more space to test Li’l Sebastian. We are testing the speed and accuracy of Li’l Sebastian to score the fuel into the hub.
We were also able to do more extensive testing in our Pool Gym.
Li’l Sebastian complete and ready for competition!
If you are wondering why our robot is called “Li’l Sebastian” it’s because two of the components that support the intake look like a horse’s head. And the reference is to the horse in the sitcom “Parks and Recreation”.
Looking forward!
Hudson Valley Regional Competition March 18th – 21st
Our first competition of the 2026 season. Our cheering section.
Students working on Li’l Sebastian in the pit.
The drive team is ready to take the field.
Li’l Sebastian on the game field scoring fuel into the hub.
At the Hudson Valley Regional we had an outstanding performance.
We won the Quality Engineering Award and were one of the two teams in the finals. Ultimately, we won second place in the overall regional competition. On the strength of our performance, we were invited to the 2026 FRC Championship in Houston, Tx.
Tech Valley Regional April 15th – April 18th
After our performance at the Hudson Valley Regional Competition the team believed we could improve the performance of Li’l Sebastion. We identified and implemented 5 improvements to Li’l Sebastion prior to attending the Tech Valley Regional.
Li’l Sebastion (2053) on the mid-field gathering the fuel and sending it to our alliance in preparation for scoring into the hub.
Sam and Kyle reviewing Li’l Sebastian’s performance. Not all the modifications improved Sebastian’s performance.
Between matches we went to the practice field to assess the modifications and determine what changes can be made.
Li’l Sebastion back in the pit for more modifications.
At the Tech Valley Regional we did not do as well as we expected. When we returned from the competition we immediately got to work to determine what we needed to do to prepare for our trip to the 2026 FRC Championship at Houston, Tx. After evaluating our performance at the Tech Valley Regional, we determined that the modification to the shooter did not work as expected. So, we set to restoring the original shooter configuration.
Reassembling the shooter for testing.
Reassembling Li’l Sebastian and performing final testing.
Ultimately, it was time to button up and pack Li’l Sebastion for shipping to Houston.
FIRST® Robotics Competition World Championship April 28th – May 3rd
We’re on our way to Houston, Tx! We’re all excited to compete at such a high level and see other championship teams.
Arriving at our assigned pit at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston we set up and prepare Li’l Sebastian for competition.
Drive crew getting ready for their first match of the competition.
Placing Li’l Sebastian on the playing field.
Drive Team at the driver’s station preparing for the match to start.
Li’l Sebastion scoring fuel into the hub.
Enjoying our time at Championship.
Participating in the 2026 FRC Championship was an amazing experience for everyone. We learned a lot about the robots and strategies from teams all over the world. Just watching the myriads of other teams was fun. We were a little disappointed in our ranking. But this was our first time at championship. The experience we gained at participating in the championship and seeing how other teams performed will better prepare us for the upcoming 2027 FRC competition season!
Outreach Events
We have done several Outreach Events in our community. We spread the word about our focus on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts, Mathematics). We want our community to know that we provide an environment where mentors experienced and working in STEAM are dedicated to helping students gain the knowledge and experience to help in their academic work and provide insight into what the future can be.
Kopernik Science Center
We do an annual presentation and demonstration at the Kopernik Science Center in Vestal, NY. A team of students provided a presentation after which we demonstrated Li’l Sebastian and invite the audience to view Li’l Sebastian up close and ask questions.
Vestal African Road Middle School FIRST® Lego League Challenge Team Visit
The Vestal African Road Middle School (Grades 6-8) has a FIRST® Lego League Challenge Team. Students and parents came to our high school classroom. We talked about our club, demonstrated Li’l Sebastian, and had the students inspect Li’l Sebastian and ask questions. We hope that many of the eighth graders that graduate into ninth grade will join us and continue their interest in robotics.
Sam is explaining and demonstrating the Haas mill to the Middle School students. We hope that some of the incoming Middle School students will take an interest in learning how to use the CNCs. Sam has graduated and will be studying mechanical engineering and nuclear engineering at university. We will sorely miss Sam’s work on our CNCs manufacturing parts for our robots.
Berkshire Blueberry and Book Festival
The Berkshire Blueberry and Book Festival is an annual event held at the town of Berkshire, NY.
There was an off and on rain that day but luckily, we were set up in the Berkshire Fire Station.
Kids and parents stop by to see a demonstration of Li’l Sebastian. We even let the kids operate Li’l Sebastian (under Kayla’s watchful eye). Lucas and Mason are making sure Sebastian is OK.
The parent is showing his children our poster board. The parent was a member of the Union-Endicott FRC team Tigertronics. Perhaps we will see his children at a FIRST® Robotics Competition someday.
