Last weekend, Texas Torque traveled to Austin for the fourth annual Texas Robot Roundup. This two day competition proved to be a great testament to the skill and ability of Texas FIRST teams, of which Texas Torque was happy to be a part of.

After unloading early in the morning, Texas Torque soon began to prep for the afternoon qualifications matches. Texas Torque ended up with a 3-2 record by the end of the day, and was near the bottom of the rankings. However, Texas Torque was able to come back the next day and finish with a qualifications record of 7-3. This put Texas Torque in the 5th seed position for alliance selection. After the first and second seeds made their choices, Texas Torque was in position as the third alliance captain. Texas Torque chose 4587 Jersey Voltage as our first pick, and in the remaining rounds chose 3735 Klein Bots and 5287 Flare to round out the all-Houston alliance. After winning our quarterfinals matches, Texas Torque ran into tough competition in the semis facing off against the affectionately nicknamed “three cyclers” 1296, 3005, and 2158. After each alliance won one match, our alliance pulled of a victory in the rubber match winning 254-200. After a couple rounds of friendly rock-paper-scissors, the finals matches started and our alliance was defeated by the first seeded alliance, going home with a second place finish.

Texas Torque would like to congratulate our friends 624, 118, 2789, and especially pre-rookie team 9997 for their finish as the Texas Robot Roundup champions. We would also like to thank team 2158, the AusTIN CANS, as well as National Instruments, for hosting this amazing event for the fourth year in a row. We would also like to thank all of the Austin area FIRST volunteers and the Alamo FIRST organization for their phenomenal event running. Texas Torque was thrilled to have been a part of this amazing Texas event, and hopes to compete in it again for years to come.