Category: Competition

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.

From July 18th to the 19th, Texas Torque competed in the 15th annual 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. We were especially pleased to see Texas so well represented, with a delegation of six robots that included 118 The Robonauts, 148 The Robowranglers, 624 CRyptonite, 1477 Texas Torque, 1817 RoboRaiders, and 2468 Team Appreciate.

Qualification rounds began on Friday, in which Texas Torque competed in six matches. During the qualifications Texas Torque suffered a wide variety of mechanical malfunctions, leading to losses in four of our six matches. However, due to the quick thinking of our pit-crew, Texas Torque was able to fix and overcome these difficulties and go on to win matches 34 and 62. Match 62 in particular was a great testament to our abilities, because along with alliance partners 118 and 51, Texas Torque was able to win the match with the highest score of the entire competition (335).

On Saturday Texas Torque completed our final three qualification rounds, with a 1-2 record. With this mind, Texas Torque went on to prepare for alliance selection. In the second round of selection, Texas Torque was invited to join the 5th seed alliance, in which we were happy to have joined up with teams 2175 The Fighting Calculators, 368 Team Kika Mana, and 233 The Pink Team for the elimination portion of the competition. We were also glad to see our fellow Texas teams 118, 148, and 624 make it into the eliminations portion of competition.

In a heart-pounding first quarterfinal match, the fifth seeded alliance (playing 2175, 368, and 1477) lost to the fourth seeded alliance 153-322. The fifth seeded alliance (playing 2175, 368, and 233) then lost the second nerve-wracking quarterfinal match to the fourth seeded alliance 207-321, eliminating our alliance from the competition.

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 2056, 469, 1625, and 4039 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.

Texas Torque team members pose after the competition.

This past weekend, Texas Torque took part in the Texas Robotics Invitational, a new off-season event hosted by FRC 3847 (Spectrum). A total of 32 teams attended the competition, including several pre-rookie teams. The main objective of the event was to give local teams some play-time and practice. Texas Torque assisted in this goal by providing one of our one of our bots, Bravo, to the pre-rookie team FRC 9999.

The team performed well throughout the qualifying matches, finishing 3rd from from all of the teams participating in the event. Texas Torque was thrilled to invite teams FRC 57 (Leopards), FRC 5287 (Flare), and FRC 4639 (Spartan) to our alliance. Unfortunately, the team lost in the quarterfinals to the first seeded alliance, led by FRC 2468 (Appreciate). Torque is excited to congratulate FRC 624 (CRyptonite), the alliance captain of the winning team, and its partners FRC 3847, FRC 1429 (KAOS), and FRC 5070 (Gearnotics).

Texas Torque would like to thank FRC 3847 for planning, organizing, and hosting TRI this year. We also greatly appreciate the numerous volunteers and Lone Star Regional Committee for making the event possible. Torque also would like to thank our alliance partners for their much-valued efforts.

The event was essential to helping us learn and prepare for next season’s regional competitions, and enjoyed seeing our fellow Texas teams hard at work. Overall, this competition was a great experience and was important for fostering close relations with the other teams in our community. We look forward to seeing both our traditional friend teams and the new pre-rookie teams at next season’s competitions!

This weekend, Texas Torque traveled up to St. Louis, Missouri for the final event of the FIRST Robotics Competition season — the FIRST World Championships. The team was excited to attend the championship event for the fourth year in a row, having triple-qualified for the championship this year via the previous World Championship, a Regional Chairman’s Award, and a “wild-card” at the Lone Star Regional.

After the fourteen hour bus ride, Texas Torque team members spent time in both work and play, taking time to enjoy the city in the midst of competition responsibilities. A group of our students and mentors took short walk over to the famed Gateway Arch for some pictures and relaxation before the first day of competition. We were glad to see FIRST take the city by storm; in every restaurant and attraction, another FIRST Robotics Competition team could be found leaving their mark. The Edwards Dome itself was bustling with over 400 FRC teams preparing their robotics for inspection, running practice matches, and generally enjoying the sights, sounds, and attractions of the FIRST World Championship.

The much-anticipated qualification rounds began with excitement, and Texas Torque won their first four qualification rounds handedly. Every member of the team was excited to play with and against some of the best teams in the world. While the first day of qualification matches ended with an astounding 4-1-0 record, communication issues with the robot plagued our performance in the second day, leading to a final qualification record of 6-4-0 and a final ranking of 31 out of 100.

Upon alliance selection, Texas Torque was chosen as part of the 5th seeded alliance, playing with FRC 2590 (Nemesis), FRC 1625 (Winnovation), and FRC 3467 (Windham Windup). The elimination matches were easily the most intense matches that we played during the 2014 season, and in a riveting final match with the 3rd seeded alliance, Texas Torque came out on top of the Archimedes Division, making this the team’s 2nd year in a row advancing to Einstein Field. On Einstein Field, the Archimedes Champions faced off against a powerful alliance led by FRC 254, The Cheesy Poofs, losing against the eventual 2014 World Champions.

Overall, the team is ecstatic with their performance at the World Championship. We would like to congratulate FRC 254, FRC 469, and FRC 2848 for their inspiring play on the field and their new status as the FIRST Robotics Competition World Champions. We would also like to congratulate FRC 27, RUSH, for their induction into the FIRST Hall of Fame and their sustained influence on the FIRST community. Many thanks to our alliance partners for a fantastic run, and to all of the hardworking individuals and organizations that made this Championship possible.