Category: Competition

NRG’s FIRST Robotics Showcase

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This past Tuesday, October 11, members of Texas Torque participated in NRG’s FIRST Robotics Showcase at NRG Stadium. For the competition, four of the teams that NRG sponsors – 1477 Texas Torque, 4587 Jersey Voltage, 3847 Spectrum, and 3735 VorTX (formerly Klein Bots) – were challenged to build a robot capable of completing football-inspired challenges. The robot had to be able to throw a football for distance and accuracy, kick for distance, and complete an agility course. The four teams involved also got to participate in a Q&A session with Houston Texans players Vince Wilfork and Christian Covington to discuss football, robotics, and STEM.

The competition was fierce, but at the end of the day, it was Texas Torque that came in first place and took home the check for $5,000. We got a real kick out of competing in such a fun challenge, and we hope everyone else had as much of a ball as we did!

Don’t pass up on your chance to attend The Remix, which will be held this Saturday at our own College Park HS. More information about this event can be found here. We hope to catch you there!

Texas Robot Roundup

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This past weekend, Texas Torque drove to Austin for the 6th annual Texas Robot Roundup. This year, the event doubled as the UIL Robotics State Championship.

We finished qualifications in the 10th seed and went on to become captain of the 7th seeded alliance, along with teams 3999 Shadetree Robotics, 3847 Spectrum, and 6171 Wildcat Robotics. Though our alliance was eliminated in the quarterfinals, we had a great time at the event and look forward to competing again in next year’s UIL Championship.

Congratulations to the winning alliance of teams 118 Robonauts, 148 Robowranglers, 5242 Robocats, and 5726 RHUMBOTZ for their stellar performance at the Texas Championship!

(Our own offseason event, The Remix, is coming up this October. We’ll have more information out soon, or you can contact us with any questions you may have. We look forward to seeing teams from the Houston area and beyond at The Remix!)

Texas Robotics Invitational

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This past Saturday, June 25th, Texas Torque had an awesome time competing at TRI. As our first offseason competition of the year, it was a great chance for the team to test out new drive teams and positions. We were eliminated in the quarterfinals, but our robot performed well overall. (After returning home, we will definitely make some improvements before the UIL State Championship later this summer!)

We thank FRC team 456 Siege Robotics for inviting us to join their alliance, and teams 2158 ausTIN CANs and 2881 Lady Cans for being such great alliance members in the elimination rounds!

It was an amazing event, and it only gets better every year! Many thanks to FRC team 3847, Spectrum, for hosting and running this event (as well as buying pizza after the event clean up)!

2016 FIRST World Championships

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From April 27th to April 30th, Texas Torque competed in the FIRST World Championships in St. Louis. We were thrilled to attend the event for the sixth year running, having qualified with our Regional Chairman’s Award at the Alamo Regional.

One rather long bus ride, a mild delay due to a tornado warning, and a healthy dose of team bonding later, the team arrived in St. Louis, Missouri and, along with some 900 other FIRST teams, took the city by storm. We split our time between work and play as we scouted matches and explored the city. The Edward Jones Dome was a mecca of scientific knowledge and excitement, and all members of Texas Torque greatly enjoyed reveling in the sights and sounds of the Championship.

In the qualification matches, we were able to practice with and adjust our shooter, allowing us to fine-tune our shot and practice aiming for the high goals. We finished qualifications in the 48th position and were selected by the third seeded alliance, headed by team 67, The HOT Team. The other members of our alliance were team 5172 Gators and team 3481 Bronc Botz, and we very much enjoyed competing with them and The HOT Team during elimination matches.

After a series of intense quarterfinals matches, our alliance advanced to the semifinals of the Newton division, where we were eliminated after two matches against the eventual division champions. Despite this elimination, the team is satisfied with our performance at the 2016 Championship and throughout the 2016 competition season as a whole. Congratulations to the new FIRST Robotics Competition World Champions, team 330 The Beach Bots, team 2481 Roboteers, and team 120 Cleveland’s Team! We would also like to congratulate team 987 High Rollers for their Championship Chairman’s Award and induction into the FRC Hall of Fame.

We are extremely grateful to have had the opportunity to compete in this year’s FIRST Championship and look forward to the adventures ahead!

Lone Star Regional

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From April 7th to April 9th, Texas Torque competed at the Lone Star Regional in downtown Houston. This was our home regional, but many teams from outside of Texas came as well from places such as Louisiana, Mississippi, Mexico, and even Turkey.

The team finished qualifications as the ninth-seeded alliance and was invited to join the 4th-seeded alliance along with team 1421 Team Chaos and team 1642 Techno-Cats. Our alliance played several playoff matches before being eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Congratulations to the Robonauts, Jersey Voltage, and the Klein Bots for their regional win!

We were glad to practice with and make improvements to our robot before Champs in late April, as well as to take home our first-ever Creativity Award for our flywheel. (The Creativity Award completes our “quinfecta” of engineering awards, which we are also excited about!)

Utah Regional

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At our week 3 competition, the Utah Regional, Texas Torque competed in a series of thrilling, fast-paced matches that resulted in our position as captain of the sixth-seeded alliance. We partnered with team 3374, the RoboBroncs, and team 5933, JudgeMent Call, and were regional finalists. Additionally, we took home our first-ever Entrepreneurship Award.25922300792_c6c2d451d6_z

The reliable performances of all three robots on our alliance helped us advance to the semifinals, and then to the finals themselves. In the two finals matches we played, we faced the first-seeded alliance, which consisted of team 4334, Alberta Tech Alliance; team 3166, First Year Ravens; and team 2468, Team Appreciate. Team Appreciate, the alliance captain and a fellow Texas team at the Utah Regional, also received the Utah Regional Chairman’s Award. We congratulate our friends at 2468 for this prestigious achievement and look forward to seeing them again at the World Championships in April.

Congratulations to Team Appreciate, Alberta Tech Alliance, and First Year Ravens for their regional win. We can’t wait to see you in St. Louis next month and wish you the best of luck in upcoming competitions!

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Our next competition is the Lone Star Regional, a week 6 competition taking place from April 6 to April 9 in downtown Houston. We look forward to meeting you on the battlefield, whether at Lone Star or World Championships!