This last Saturday, November 14th, Texas Torque joined teams 624 CRyptonite, 2587 Discobots, 4082 RoboSpartans, 4587 Jersey Voltage, 3335 Cy-Ranch Cy-Borgs, 3847 Spectrum, and 4412 SST Steel Stallions at the 3rd annual Houston Maker Faire at the George R. Brown Convention Center for a full day of demo-ing and exhibiting. The Maker Faire is a convention that showcases “makers” (independent inventors, engineers, craftsmen, hobbyists, etc) and their innovations at one large, centralized location. Here, products and inventions ranging from simple DIY fabrications to hand-built completely wooden C&C machines are presented for public viewing and interaction. FIRST had a strong presence at this demonstration with all of the aforementioned teams exhibiting together on a model FRC field. All sorts of functions were showcased, including challenges and events from previous years, like 2013’s Ultimate Ascent, last year’s Aerial Assist, and this year’s Recycle Rush. Team 624 made a guest appearance of it’s 2012 Rebound Rumble Robot. All of the teams there had great fun demonstrating the variety and intricacies of robotics to all kinds of crowds, and team members enjoyed the friendly interaction between audience and robot. Many of us look forward to returning here next year to continue upholding the standard of local robotics capabilities.

More info and a comprehensive maker participant guide can be found here and here, respectively.