Wild Ride at FiT San Antonio District Event
Hopes were high going into this past weekend but reality easily exceeded expectations. FRC 1477 Texas Torque went undefeated over the two days of competition, finishing with a record of Continue Reading →
2017 Texas UIL State Championship
Competition season may have ended, but there was no shortage of robotics action last weekend at the 2017 Texas UIL State Championship. Teams from all across the Lone Star State came to the Austin Convention Center for two exciting days of off-season competition. The event is in its second year and also includes an FTC division.
During an exciting Day 1 and some tough qualification matches against many excellent teams, the team successfully showcased Corliss, our 2017 robot, and its unique abilities. During alliance selections, Texas Torque was invited to join team 148, the Robowranglers, on the 2nd-seed alliance. We then invited team 5417 Eagle Robotics to join our alliance. Throughout the elimination rounds, our alliance performed well, efficiently scoring points and working together. In the finals, however, we were defeated by the 1st-seed alliance. (The captains of the 1st-seed alliance, team 118 the Robonauts, won last year’s inaugural UIL championship; we congratulate them on successfully defending their title!)
We would like to congratulate teams 118, 3310 and 6547 for winning the second Texas UIL State Championship. We had a great time playing against y’all, and we look forward to seeing you at future off-season events!
2017 FIRST Houston World Championship
As the last event of our official 2017 season, Texas Torque attended the inaugural Houston World Championship (our 7th consecutive World Championship) after qualifying at Hub City (Finalist Alliance Captain) and Lone Star Central Regional (Regional Winners, Chairman’s Award). Located in the George R. Brown Convention Center and Minute Maid Park, the championship brought more than 400 teams to Houston.
Texas Torque played on the Roebling field, competing against 66 other teams for a spot on Einstein. Through qualification matches, Texas Torque played well, ending with a 7-5-0 win-loss record. We selected team 1414 IHOT, team 5803 Apex Robotics, and team 6508 Hastings to join us in the eighth-seeded alliance. During playoffs, our alliance was eliminated in the quarterfinals against the alliance that would go on to win Roebling and Einstein.
Congratulations to Roebling winners 973, 1011, 2928, and 5499 for their stunning performance and World Championship victory! We would also like to congratulate our friends the Robonauts for reappearing on Einstein as the Newton division champions, as well as team 3132 the Thunder Down Under for their induction into the Hall of Fame.
We’re thankful to have enjoyed a successful and action-packed 2017 season, but the action hasn’t ended yet — we’ll be taking flight this May at the Texas UIL State Championships!
FRC Top 25 (Week 5)
Earlier this week, First Updates Now (FUN) asked fans to vote on which teams they thought deserved to be the top 25 robots out of all the Week 1 competitors. After voting closed, FUN announced their results on their First Updates Now livestream on April 4th. As Texas Torque members eagerly watched the livestream, we were very excited to find out that out of the over 800 teams that competed in Week 5, Texas Torque was voted the #19 spot! To see the full list, you can watch the episode here. We’re looking forward to attending Houston Champs in 2 weeks and keeping Texas Torque in the top 25!
Lone Star North Regional
Texas Torque was honored to host the Week 5 Lone Star North Regional at College Park High School this past weekend. We had 33 teams from Florida to Mexico to Turkey compete to become the winning alliance. Texas Torque spent the practice day making mechanical changes to our robot, adding on a new floor gear intake. During the qualification matches, Texas Torque played very well, ending with a 9-2 win/loss record and a 1.90 ranking score, placing us 2nd.
During alliance selections, we allied with 2992 S.S. Prometheus, 4295 Hudson Robotics, and later, 6363 Ricebird Robotics. We had a great run, but lost in Semifinals to a great 3rd seeded alliance (who went on to win the regional!). We would like to congratulate 3284 Camdenton 4H LASER, 5842 Royal Robotics, and 6547 Flaming Metal Robotics on their regional win! Serious props to our mentee team Flaming Metal Robotics – they won their first and only regional of their rookie year!
During the awards ceremony, Texas Torque took home the Quality Award, and our own Ithza Lopez was chosen as a Dean’s List Finalist! Also, a HUGE congratulations to our friends 2881 Lady Cans for winning their first Chairman’s Award!!!
We would also like to give a huge thanks to the student, parent and mentor volunteers that helped our first ever regional run so smoothly! We’re looking forward to hosting more in our new lab these coming years.
FRC Top 25 (Week 3)
Earlier this week, First Updates Now (FUN) asked fans to vote on which teams they thought deserved to be the top 25 robots out of all the Week 1 competitors. After voting closed, FUN announced their results on their First Updates Now livestream on March 21st. As Texas Torque members eagerly watched the livestream, we were very excited to find out that out of the over 800 teams that competed in Week 3, Texas Torque was voted the #6 spot! We would also like to congratulate our alliance teammate from Lone Star Central The Robonauts for ranking #2, and all other teams who ranked in the top 25! To see the full list, you can watch the episode here. We’re looking forward to hosting Lone Star North during Week 5 and keeping Texas Torque in the top 25!
Lone Star Central Regional
Texas Torque participated in the Week 3 Lone Star Central Regional this past weekend, and suffice it to say that this regional was one for the books. Along with 40 other teams, Texas Torque competed at Strake Jesuit College Prep for the chance to take home the regional win.
After a great round of practice matches, Texas Torque emerged from the qualification rounds with a 9-1 win-lose record and the first 4-rotor match of the regional and state. We finished ranked 2nd after team 118, the Robonauts. At alliance selection, the Torqueonauts were revived after six years when Texas Torque was the first pick of 118’s 1st seed alliance. Joining our alliance as the 3rd bot was team 5526 tCATs from Torreon, Coahuila, Mexico.
With the help of our talented alliance partners, we were able to get multiple 100+ point autonomous periods and 300+ final match scores. We faced some fierce competition throughout the elimination rounds, but at the end of the day we were able to win the regional! This was the first time since 2013 that Texas Torque has won a regional, so needless to say the team was ecstatic!
More good news came during the awards ceremony, when Texas Torque was also selected as the Chairman’s Award winners! This is our 3rd Chairman’s Award in four years, and the start of a now two-year streak of winning Chairman’s. This was also the first time in Texas Torque history that we came home from a competition with 2 blue banners! You can watch our 2017 Chairman’s Video here.
We would like to thank our alliance partners 118 Robonauts and 5526 tCATs and congratulate the finalist alliance of 3847 Spectrum, 5829 AwtyBots and 3997 Screaming Chickens, who all qualified to attend the World Championship! We would also like to congratulate 5526 tCATs on winning the Engineering Inspiration Award!
We look forward to hosting (and competing in) the Lone Star North Regional at College Park High School in Week 5!