Rebuilt and Rising: Team 2609

The second month of preseason has been nothing short of inspiring for Team 2609. From competition prep and strategic workshops to hands-on skill development and outreach planning, November pushed our team to grow in confidence, creativity, and capability.

Take a look at what we did!

Week 5 – STEMley Cup Prep

As we geared up for the STEMley Cup, Team 2609 was busy as a beaver. Members across the team focused on sharpening skills and preparing for our first preseason competition.

• Driver Practice: The drive team put in their final practice sessions, running laps, scoring coral, and refining communication to ensure smooth gameplay.

• Impact Planning: Our Impact team started early, brainstorming video ideas and outreach initiatives for the season. Several students also attended the WWFIRST Youth Council meeting.

• Marketing & Media: Students worked on new merch concepts for the 2026 season and filmed fresh content for our team Instagram.

• Programming: Programmers practiced with a Limelight on the spare drive base, building their vision skills ahead of the season.

• Robotics Course: The TA2OS class met in person this week, learning CAD fundamentals and applying them to real design exercises.

• Mechanical: Mechanical students built a competition kit of parts and equipment to support robot maintenance and double-checked all systems to ensure the robot was competition-ready.

  
  

Week 5 set the tone for a focused, energized push into the STEMley Cup weekend.

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Week 6 – STEMley Cup!

After weeks of determined preparation, Team 2609 was ready to dive into the STEMley Cup.

Load-In & Calibration

As the event opened, BeaverworX jumped straight into action:

• calibrating systems on the field

• organizing the pit

• ensuring every mechanism was competition-ready

Early Matches

Thanks to weeks of driver training, our team’s efforts surfaced beautifully in the first matches. New members took the helm with confidence, navigating the field with only minor adjustments needed.

New Drive Team Rotation

We rotated new drive team members throughout the day, giving rookies and veterans alike hands-on experience both on the sticks and in the human player roles.

Autonomous Performance

Our auto routines shined in several matches, though occasional inconsistency highlighted great learning opportunities for the future.

Real-Time Troubleshooting

On the practice field, the programming team showed quick thinking and adaptability, diagnosing and solving issues under pressure, gaining invaluable match-day experience.

Qualification Results

After qualification matches, we ranked 17th and were honored to be selected by:

• Team 4907 Thunderstamps

• Team 8884 Knight Owls

to join Alliance 6 for playoffs.

Playoffs

In our first playoff match, we graciously let Team 8789 take our place as they faced uncertainty about future opportunities, a decision rooted in the values of gracious professionalism. Despite a strong effort, our alliance was eliminated after a tough loss to Alliance 2.

Team 11227

We also had the chance to connect with Team 11227, our RCCR sister team. Seeing their teamwork and spirit up close strengthened our bond and added a special layer to the event experience.

Event Reflection

Throughout STEMley, our team:

• rotated drive members

• adapted quickly

• tackled mechanical and coding challenges

• improved match-to-match

• and gained critical competitive experience

Even though we were eventually knocked out, the learning we gained prepares us for whatever Rebuilt will throw our way.

A huge thank you to Teams 4039 MakeShift Robotics, 5406 Celt-X, and all volunteers who make STEMley possible each year!

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Week 7 – Skill Building & Creative Thinking

Week 7 blended hands-on learning, problem solving, and technical development.

• Creative Problem Solving Session strengthened teamwork and idea generation

• Progress continued on the Can Crusher outreach robot

• Swerve drive programming advanced steadily

• Robotics course students completed Onshape assembly tutorials

• Team-wide laser cutter training began, starting with custom name tags

The shop buzzed with creativity and craftsmanship as students deepened their understanding of design and fabrication.

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Week 8 – Strategy Rebuilt: Mock Kickoff

The highlight of Week 8 was a full mock kickoff based on the 2017 FRC game, FIRST Steamworks. To simulate real kickoff day:

• Students split into groups to analyze rules, scoring, match play, robot constraints, and tournament structure

• Teams identified potential robot archetypes and developed early strategy concepts

• Findings were compared with Beaverworx’s original 2017 analyses, showing how strategy thinking has evolved

We also revealed the classroom game/challenge, which serves as the final project for the robotics course and further reinforced the kickoff simulation.

Meanwhile, mechanical and outreach teams continued polishing the Can Crusher and prepping for the Guelph Tool Library demo on November 29th.