Texas Torque: Team 1477

The Remix is coming on November 11th!

This is an engaging opportunity for teams to use their  skills to improve last season’s robots and enter in an off-season competition.  Teams from as far as Mexico and Illinois have traveled to the competition in the past. This year, teams and attendees will have a chance to tour the brand new Texas Torque World Headquarters. Each year, CISD Superintendent Don Stockton comes to TheRemix and speaks in the opening ceremonies.  This event will be a fun, innovative atmosphere for teams to challenge themselves.

The Remix is free for spectators and only $300 for teams.

Please contact [email protected] or our lead mentor, Scott Rippetoe, at [email protected] for more information.

For more information or to register your team, visit The Remix Page.

From July 14th to the 15th, Texas Torque competed in the Indiana Robotics Invitational, an off-season “All-Star” event held in Indianapolis, IN. We were thrilled to have participated as one of the top 68 teams competing from all across the United States, Canada, and Mexico.Texas Torque is grateful for the opportunity to travel together with 3847 team Spectrum to Indianapolis.

Qualification rounds began on Friday, in which Texas Torque competed in nine matches. During the qualifications Texas Torque suffered some issues including gear intake breaking and autonomous modes not successfully working. Unfortunately, we did not perform in the elimination rounds due to other well performed robots on the field. Texas Torque members were still excited about world’s top class robots all in one place competing at the IRI.

Texas Torque is grateful for the opportunity to compete against some of the best teams in the FIRST Robotics Competition, as well as to have had such a great learning opportunity to prepare the team for the upcoming build season. We would like to thank teams 45 TechnoKats, 234 Cyber Blue, and 1024 Kil-A-Bytes for hosting such the event, as well as Indiana FIRST for organizing and streaming the competition. We would also like to congratulate teams 1619, 195, 2590, and 1710 for winning this years IRI competition, with a special shout out to the third member of the winning alliance, 1625, whom we had the pleasure of partnering with earlier this year.

This past Tuesday, Texas Torque took part in The Woodlands Township’s annual Fourth of July Parade!

The team’s float was , once again, a sight to remember.  The audience saw the Texas Torque 2017 robot, Corliss, shoot fuels to several members of the team, which drew the attention and admiration of children and adults alike. Stickers, info cards, and trading cards were shared to the excited community as our team spread the innovation and message of FIRST Robotics. The Woodland’s community admired Corliss and the many accomplishments of the team. They also were able to see the teamwork of the high school robotics team in action.

It was an exceptional experience to participate in the parade, and we hope to march again in the future!

From June 30 to July 1, Texas Torque had an awesome time competing at TRI. The robot did not have many changes since the Texas UIL State Championships, but it was a great chance for the team to test out new drive teams and positions. During qualification matches, we had some comm problems, resulting the team a low RP for the event.

The team was invited by 6377 Howdy bots, 3847 Spectrum, then we invited team 5986 Iron Fangs to complete the 5th alliance. We were glad to join back with spectrum, making it a Sporque alliance. (Thanks to 3847! They were giving our sporks at the event too).

Many Thanks to team 3847 Spectrum for hosting this amazing event, and congratulations to team 118, 3735, 4587, and 441 for winning at this event!

When FRC team 1477 was first established, we worked out of a U-Haul storage unit. We then moved into an unused science classroom at College Park High School, but it didn’t take us long to outgrow that space either. A few years ago, we presented our proposal for a district robotics center to our school district’s superintendent. Our superintendent approved, and in 2015 our new robotics lab was added to the district bond referendum. Students then went to polling locations to advocate for the bond, talking to voters and distributing flyers designed by the team. A few months later, construction began.

Mr. Rip, our lead mentor, welcomes visitors to the new lab.

Our new lab is a two-story extension of College Park’s gym wing. We drew up plans and sent them to the construction company, along with requests for equipment. Construction finished around the end of the school year, and we’re beyond excited to settle in and get to work!

Sonic, our 2013 robot, cut the ribbon to open the new facility. During the event, attendees were invited to try their hand at driving our robots. We also welcomed several members of the CISD staff who made this possible, including Dr. Stockton, our superintendent; Dr. Caffery, headmaster of the Academy of Science and Technology; and Dr. Murrell, principal of College Park High School.

Team president Eric R. and former VP London D. thank Dr. Murrell for his support.

We can’t wait to see where the new facility takes us! Our team is working to establish it not only as a new lab for us, but also as a center for robotics within our district. Come visit us during the Remix!