Category: Slideshow

Robotics Teams Rise to the Challenge

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Medical personnel and facilities across the country are running low on personal proection equipment, such as face shields and surgical masks. We were contact by local medical professionals about designing and providing a 3D printed face shield. Here is the current 1477 design.

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Demand is starting to surge locally. Each masks costs about $2.50. We are also working with FRC Teams 118 (Robonauts) and 148 (Robowranglers) as they also have designs. Those versions have no 3D printed parts but require a water jet or laser cutter.

Mr. Rip has also been contacted by former students (one pictured above) working in the medical field requesting shipments of the 1477 Face Shield. The cost of ten shields plus shipping is approximately $30.

We are currently working with VEX Robotics in Greenville, Texas to get the 148 design waterjet cut by the thousands and i-SOLIDS in Tomball, Texas to help print parts for 1477 version so we can keep up with demand.

If you would like to help, please consider donating using the button below. The money will be used to purchase filament and plastic sheets to make face shields. If the crisis passes and we have funds remaining, those will be used to purchase a 3D printer and filament for the team.

We are looking for other ways to help the local medical community. We know there is demand for N95 filters and surgical masks.





Big Win at Dripping Springs Competition!

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Week 1 District Dripping Springs Competition was a huge success! Texas Torque competed alongside 32 other teams at the event and ended up in Rank 2 with a record of 16-2-0. During Alliance selections, they had the privilege of being first pick for the #1 ranked team, 3847 Spectrum. It was then decided to invite 3240 Team Orion to join the alliance, who graciously accepted the offer. After intense rounds in quarter and semi-finals, Texas Torque, Spectrum, and Team Orion faced 624 CRyptonite, 4610 BearTecs, and 6155 ElektraBots in Finals, and ended up coming out on top. After winning the competition, Texas Torque was honored with winning the District Chairman’s award for their remarkable work in Outreach. This award tied them with team 2468 as the #1 ranked team in Texas. Next stop: Fort Worth!

Thank you to everyone who helped make this event possible!

See Texas Torque’s Chairman’s video here:

 

See Texas Torque’s Dripping Springs recap video here:

 

2019 FIT District Del Rio

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Texas Torque participated in the Week 4 District Del Rio Competition this past weekend alongside nearly 40 other teams. After a great series of qualification matches, the team finished Saturday night at Rank 1 excited for the day to come. On Sunday, despite multiple technical problems, the team finished the rest of the qualification matches with a record of a 10-2-0 (wins-ties-losses) and earned 22 Qualification Points. Torque’s final alliance partnered them with close-by Team 5892 Energy HEROs from Houston, Texas and Team 5894 J.E.H.S. Cyber Jags from Edinburg, Texas.

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Elimination matches were tough but the team was able to make it to the semifinals with our great alliance members. Congratulations to the winners; Team 7521 Ultimate Robotics,  Team 7088 Robodogs, and finally alliance captain Team 6377 Howdy Bots!

While disappointed by the robot’s results, the team was able to end the competition on a high note since we won the Chairman’s Award! This has continued our four year Chairman’s winning streak! Be sure to check out our chairman’s video below:

The Del Rio Recap video can be seen below:

The team will be competing in the First in Texas State Competition in two weeks and are excited for what we will accomplish there! Keep up with our Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or The Blue Alliance for updates on our progress.

2019 FIT District Channelview

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Last weekend, students, mentors, and parents of Texas Torque traveled to Channelview, Texas to compete for our first competition of the season. Ray, the 2019 robot, competed in 10 qualification matches and ended in rank 13.  Texas Torque joined the alliance captain team 5261 Cyber Shock and Team 7494 Circuit Bizurkers to compete in the elimination rounds as the fourth seed alliance. The teams advanced to the finals and ended with a 9-9-1 record. Although there were some problems with the robot, overall Texas Torque performed very well. Congratulations to Team 624 Cryptonite, Team 3834 Crab-bots, and alliance captain Team 5892 Energy HEROs for winning the district championship.

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Torque was also very proud to be awarded with the Safety Award- sponsored by Underwriters Laboratories as well as safety captain Victoria Tatman for being awarded “Safety Star of the Day” by Underwriters Laboratories.  Additionally, for the second year in a row, the team won Engineering Inspiration Award for our outreach efforts.

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Check out our Channelview Recap video!

 To keep up with the District Del Rio Event that we are competing at this weekend, be sure to follow us on Twitter, Instagram, Facebook, or The Blue Alliance for updates on our progress.

2018 FIRST Houston World Championship

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Texas Torque’s last official event of the 2018 season was the Houston World Championship (our 8th consecutive World Championship) after triple qualifying at Lone Star Central (Regional Winners, Engineering Inspiration) and South Florida Regional (Chairman’s Award). The World Championship was held in George R. Brown Convention Center and Minute Maid Park, both held in our area, Houston, brought over 400 teams to Houston.

Texas Torque played on the Carver field, competing against 67 other teams for a spot on Einstein. After tough qualification matches, Texas Torque ended at the 47th position, with 4-6-0 record. Although the ranking was lower than anticipated, the robot performed well by continuously being the robot by being one of the robot that placed the most cubes. We were picked by team 5026 Iron Panthers, and together we picked team 108 SigmaC@T and team 1622 Spyder; together the teams formed the seventh seeded alliance. During the playoffs, our alliance was eliminated in the quarterfinals.

Congratulations to Carver division alliance on the World Championship finalists! We would also like to congratulate our friends 2468 Team Appreciate for their Hall of Fame Finalists, and team 148 Robowranglers for winning the Houston World Championship! We would also like to congratulate team 1311 Kell Robotics for their induction into the Hall of Fame.

We’re thankful to have enjoyed a successful and action-packed 2018 season, but the action hasn’t ended yet — we’ll be facing the boss this may at the Texas UIL State Championships!

2018 Repsol Student Awards

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On Thursday, April 12, Texas Torque was invited to attend the Repsol Student Awards, an event created by Repsol to recognize students who placed first in any local STEM related school district competition.

We demonstrated our 2018 robot “Bravo”, a version of our bagged competition robot, which we built for drive team practice in our lab. Although the stage space was too small to fully use and extend our robotic arm, we were able to invite NASA Astronaut Dr. Anna Lee Fisher to drive “Bravo” around the stage.

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At the event, Texas Torque members had the opportunity to speak with Dr. John Charles, a NASA researcher and head scientist, Dr. Anna Lee Fisher, a NASA Astronaut and Medical doctor, the president of Repsol, and our school district’s remarkable superintendent Dr. Don Stockton. Both Dr. Charles and Dr. Fisher were kind enough to sign Bravo’s blue bumpers after taking group photos.

A high-achieving local FLL team 983 had also been invited to the Repsol Student Award ceremony, and the FLL team presented their own homemade video showcasing their achievements, much like an FRC Chairman’s Award video.

Texas Torque was honored to attend the event and we were happy to present our accomplishments  to our local business community, from parents, to small business owners, to major corporations.