Summer Robotics
The last thing on the minds of most students is going back to school, but that is exactly what Texas Torque will do on Tuesday, June 4, from 3 to Continue Reading →
Spring FLLing
Texas Torque held an event for local FLL teams on May 16th. We were happy to see the joy in everyone’s faces while they were in competition, and to have a hand in spreading STEM throughout our community. More than 20 teams participated, and members of Texas Torque volunteered to referee, keep score, and help students to learn the importance of STEM. Our goal was to expose children in a critical learning age to (and hopefully spark lasting interests in) STEM.
During the event, FLL students were able to tour TTWHQ, where members of Torque taught them about subteam structures and showed off our robots from past years. Many FLL students enjoyed the tour, and we were happy to show off the lab. Through this, Torque encouraged FLL students to continue their STEM education by giving them a glimpse of the excitement of an FRC lab.
We at Texas Torque were happy to host an FLL event and hope to host the event again in the future to show the exciting competition to young students.
2015 FRC World Championships
From April 21st through 25th, Texas Torque traveled up to St. Louis, Missouri for the FIRST World Championships. The team was excited to attend the championship event for the fifth year in a row, having qualified for the championship this year by winning an Engineering Inspiration Award at the Bayou Regional.
After a fourteen-hour bus ride, Texas Torque team members divided their time between work and play, taking time out of their busy schedules to enjoy the city in the midst of competition responsibilities. We were glad to see FIRST take St. Louis 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 600 FRC teams preparing their robots 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. Texas Torque earned a high score average for the first three matches, but as the day continued our score dropped and Texas Torque ended up ranking 54th out of 76 teams. Every member of the team was thrilled to play with and against some of the best teams in the world.
Upon alliance selection, Texas Torque was chosen to be a part of the 7th seeded alliance, which consisted of FRC Team 364 (Miracle Workerz), FRC Team 494 (Martians), and FRC Team 245 (Adambots). The elimination matches were easily the most intense matches we had played during the 2015 season. In our first match in quarterfinals, we ended with a score of 84, and after a riveting final match against the 1st seeded alliance, our alliance could not bring its average back up and was eliminated with a score of 138.50.
Overall, the team is ecstatic with their performance at the World Championship. We would like to congratulate FRC Team 118, FRC Team 1678, and FRC Team 1671 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 Team 597, the Wolverines, 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.
Preparation for FIRST World Championships
It’s that time of year again— the 2015 FIRST World Championships are almost upon us! We’re going to be the only Texan team competing in the Galileo Division.
Following a rocky start to the season in the Dallas Regional, the team made thorough improvements in both subsystem elements and driver control. After Torque’s last regional, the team traveled to the Johnson Space Center for drive practice with other teams, simulating matches and allowing for priceless drive experience on the field.
After the past seven weeks of competition, we can say with confidence that we have made all of our preparations for the World Championships, from preparing our Engineering Notebook to making necessary adjustments to the robot and our strategy. We hope to have a grand showing in St. Louis and can’t wait to see our fellow teams at competition!
More information about the FIRST Championship event can be found at:
Spectator Schedule
Campus Maps
Practice at NASA
Last weekend, members from Texas Torque, Jersey Voltage, Spectrum, and CRyptonite met at the Johnson Space Center, the new facility of FRC Team 118, the Robonauts, to prepare for the next event— the FIRST World Championships.
From morning to night, dedicated members of all teams worked together to simulate the upcoming matches. Through this, all the drivers and operators were able to gain useful and realistic experience on the field. Through the resources and effort provided by all, we were able to benefit greatly from the extra practice. Our main goal was to perfect the can grabbers, and Torque members made great progress in determining the necessary changes to the robot.
Without a doubt, the upcoming week will be spent in further preparation for the FIRST World Championships. Our experiences with other FRC teams were indispensable learning opportunities and have helped us advance significantly. We thank the Robonauts for offering their home field to their fellow teams in the spirit of Gracious Professionalism and Coopertition.
In addition, we are very thankful for all of the time and effort our fellow teams put forth in coming out to practice. (Texas Torque would also like to thank the Robonauts for the can grabber.) We can’t wait to see all these teams and more at FIRST World Championships later this month!
2015 Lone Star Regional
From April 1st to the 4th, Texas Torque competed in the Lone Star Regional, which took place in Houston, Texas. We were very pleased to have been one of the 57 teams from Texas to attend the event.
Qualification rounds began on Friday with two amazing matches by Texas Torque early on, setting the bar high for the top qualification score in the tournament. However, as with any highly competitive event, anything can happen. This was certainly evident in the next few matches, in which Team 1477 suffered a few disappointing losses in average score. All team members were glad to have a few hours of peace that night and took the opportunity to get some rest before the big day ahead.
Our team was chosen in the second round of alliance selection to be a part of the sixth seeded alliance, which was composed of teams 3335, 3556 and ourselves. During the elimination rounds, we had a success in trying out our autonomous mode. Though we were eliminated in the quarterfinals, we were excited to watch other teams compete and learn strategies.
Texas Torque is certainly proud of our second Innovation in Control Award at the Lone Star Regional and is grateful for the opportunity to compete against some of the best teams in FRC. We would like to thank all volunteers for making this such a brilliant event, as well as FIRST in Texas for organizing the competition. We would also like to congratulate team 3478 LamBot for winning the Chairman’s Award, as well as teams 118, 624, and 37287, who are this year’s Lone Star Regional Champions.
2015 Bayou Regional
After the Dallas Regional and continued work on the robot, Texas Torque was eager to compete at its second official FIRST Robotics Competition event— the Bayou Regional.
Following the first day, which consisted primarily of travel and pit setup, the team entered its first day of competition at the Bayou Regional. While key members in each of the build subteams spent nearly the entire day working on final adjustments on the robot, other teams members took time to help out other teams at the regional. As a team that considers Gracious Professionalism one of the driving influences on the team’s character, a solid portion of our members went out into the pits to make sure that all teams would be in tip-top shape for the following day of competition. Work on the robot finished successfully as well; near the end of the day, our team played two practice matches to get a feel for the game and performed very well on the field.
On the second day of the competition and the first day of qualifications, Texas Torque started the day off scoring 71 points in the first qualification match. That night, team leadership and scouting/strategy officials on the team met to discuss what could be seen in the following day of competition and potentially strong alliance partners.
The third day of competition started with a relatively low score due to further problems on the robot. We continued to play through the rest of the qualification matches, ranking 13th. We were happy to form an eliminations alliance with FRC 3959, Morgan County Mech Tech, and FRC 1421, Team Chaos.
The regional ended fantastically with a well-deserved Engineering Inspiration award, the second in Texas Torque’s history. The team is honored to have been bestowed this prestigious award and be identified as a team whose character and impact serves as a model for other FRC teams. We would like to congradulate FRC 3337, Panthrobotics, for winning the Bayou Regional Chairman’s Award.
Texas Torque would like to congratulate FRC 3937, Breakaway, FRC 3039, Wildcat Robotics, and FRC 3946, Tiger Robotics, for their victory at this event. In addition, we are grateful for the efforts of the Pontchartrain Convention Center for hosting the event, as well as the constant support of our sponsors and everyone involved with the team. We hope to see many of these amazing teams at the Lone Star Regional in two weeks; in the meantime, Texas Torque members across the board will be busy preparing for this upcoming challenge.