Author: Scott Rippetoe

The Remix 2016

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On the weekend of October 22, teams from all over Texas and as far as Mexico gathered at College Park High School to compete in Texas Torque’s annual offseason competition, the Remix.

Students, alumni and various other volunteers worked all Friday afternoon to transform CPHS’s gymnasium into a FIRST Stronghold game field. On Saturday 25 teams, both veteran and rookie, competed to become the Remix champions. Dr. Stockton, the superintendent of CISD, came as a guest speaker and gave a talk about the importance of STEM in schools. During the Remix, there were also workshops about topics like Emceeing and Chairman’s Award. Texas Torque also sponsored a bedding drive at the Remix, and the bedding collected from that will be donated to Angel Reach.

At the end of the day, the 2nd seed alliance consisting of 3847 Spectrum, 624 CRyptonite and 4205 Robo Vikes got to go home with the Champion title (and replica swords). We would like to congratulate the winning alliance, as well as thank our alliance partners 231 High Voltage and 3335 Cy-Borgs! Overall, the Remix 2016 was a great success, and we would especially like to thank all of the team, volunteers, students, mentors and parents that made it happen!

 

NRG’s FIRST Robotics Showcase

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This past Tuesday, October 11, members of Texas Torque participated in NRG’s FIRST Robotics Showcase at NRG Stadium. For the competition, four of the teams that NRG sponsors – 1477 Texas Torque, 4587 Jersey Voltage, 3847 Spectrum, and 3735 VorTX (formerly Klein Bots) – were challenged to build a robot capable of completing football-inspired challenges. The robot had to be able to throw a football for distance and accuracy, kick for distance, and complete an agility course. The four teams involved also got to participate in a Q&A session with Houston Texans players Vince Wilfork and Christian Covington to discuss football, robotics, and STEM.

The competition was fierce, but at the end of the day, it was Texas Torque that came in first place and took home the check for $5,000. We got a real kick out of competing in such a fun challenge, and we hope everyone else had as much of a ball as we did!

Don’t pass up on your chance to attend The Remix, which will be held this Saturday at our own College Park HS. More information about this event can be found here. We hope to catch you there!

Texas Robot Roundup

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This past weekend, Texas Torque drove to Austin for the 6th annual Texas Robot Roundup. This year, the event doubled as the UIL Robotics State Championship.

We finished qualifications in the 10th seed and went on to become captain of the 7th seeded alliance, along with teams 3999 Shadetree Robotics, 3847 Spectrum, and 6171 Wildcat Robotics. Though our alliance was eliminated in the quarterfinals, we had a great time at the event and look forward to competing again in next year’s UIL Championship.

Congratulations to the winning alliance of teams 118 Robonauts, 148 Robowranglers, 5242 Robocats, and 5726 RHUMBOTZ for their stellar performance at the Texas Championship!

(Our own offseason event, The Remix, is coming up this October. We’ll have more information out soon, or you can contact us with any questions you may have. We look forward to seeing teams from the Houston area and beyond at The Remix!)

Houston Museum of Natural Science Demo

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On Friday, July 15, 10 members of Texas Torque brought our 2016 robot, Impulse, down to the Houston Museum of Natural Science.

Children around the demo area were able to “feed” boulders to Impulse and then watch as it shot the balls across the lobby to Texas Torque members. During battery changes, spectators were allowed to come up close to Impulse and learn about the mechanics and electronics inside, as well as take pictures. In the 3 hours that Impulse was there, over 2000 museum visitors stopped by to feed boulders, take pictures, and learn about Impulse and FIRST Robotics.

This experience was enjoyable and educational for team members and spectators alike. We look forward to future demonstrations at the museum and hope to have have some other teams bring their robots as well!

Fourth of July Parade

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

The team’s float was, once again, a very memorable part of the parade. The audience saw our 2016 robot, Impulse, shoot boulders to several members of the team, which drew the attention and admiration of children and adults alike. Stickers and trading cards were shared to the excited community as our team spread the innovation and message of FIRST Robotics. Crowds watched in amazement to see the accomplishments of a high school robotics team, inspired both by Impulse and the teamwork our members displayed during the trek.

This event was a fantastic experience for the team, and we hope to march again in the future!

Texas Robotics Invitational

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This past Saturday, June 25th, Texas Torque had an awesome time competing at TRI. As our first offseason competition of the year, it was a great chance for the team to test out new drive teams and positions. We were eliminated in the quarterfinals, but our robot performed well overall. (After returning home, we will definitely make some improvements before the UIL State Championship later this summer!)

We thank FRC team 456 Siege Robotics for inviting us to join their alliance, and teams 2158 ausTIN CANs and 2881 Lady Cans for being such great alliance members in the elimination rounds!

It was an amazing event, and it only gets better every year! Many thanks to FRC team 3847, Spectrum, for hosting and running this event (as well as buying pizza after the event clean up)!