Texas Torque: Team 1477

After two weeks of planning and designing robots for 2015’s game Recycle Rush, we started to build prototypes and finalized the process of prototyping. The prototypes are expected to be finished by the third week of our six-week build season.

Our programming and electrical subteams worked on our old robots this week. We were able to see Sonic, VelociRiptar, and Sarge back up and running. Our robot Sarge was reprogrammed and tuned. VelociRiptar was re-stripped and all electronics were redone, while some mechanical issues were fixed.

The Hydraulic Press’ wheels are fixed to mobilize so members of Texas Torque reduce risk of injury while working in the lab. We also milled the gearbox plates for the gearbox to keep dimensions correct during all prototyping and building, our first milled parts of the season.

Texas Torque hosted a successful sponsor open house on Saturday, January 17th. On this day, we also celebrated the birthday of our team captain, Matt Bartell. Team 5469 Flair and team 3735 Kleinbots came to the Texas Torque World Headquarters to learn about the new technology RoboRIO to boost their success in the 2015 season.

With the long-awaited 2015 FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff now in the past, Texas Torque is revved up and ready to make the most of the build season. The lab is buzzing with ideas and iterative tests as the team prepares for this year’s competition season, planning on both succeeding in this year’s game and presenting the team’s outreach efforts over the past year through the Chairman’s Award submission.

After kickoff day, the team gathered once again to develop a game plan for this year’s challenge, Recycle Rush. Given the game’s revolutionary nature as compared to the challenges of years past, team members had to tackle the problem with an entirely different mindset from the norm. Monday’s extensive conversations on game strategy and the resulting strategic design yielded a clear and concise game plan, as well as a list of potential prototypes designed to meet the challenge most effectively.

As a result of these discussions, the team has seen significant progress in this first week of the build season. Prototypes design, led by various subteam captains, has run smoothly and has yielded useful data that will undoubtedly come to define many details of the final robot. Based on the successes and failures of certain prototypes, an image of what the final robot might look like is already coming into form. The efficacy with which the team has tackled this year’s challenge thus far is truly admirable, and we hope to continue to work with the same degree of diligence.

The Awards and Outreach subteams have also been hard at work in this past week, hoping to follow up on the successes of the 2014 season. Captains Reagan Spexarth and Jeffery Zhang have worked closely with alumni of the team to improve plans for the essay and presentation and center the work around a common theme. So far, the team is on schedule with these efforts due to the subteam’s hard work.

In other news, the team has been happy to see many of its alumni return to the lab to share ideas, experiences, and good times with the current members of the team. Their continued presence is a testament to the family that the team has built over the years. Of course, the free food is just a benefit on the side.

Stay tuned for more updates from Texas Torque World Headquarters! With the progress of this first week, it’s hard not to be excited for what’s to come.

On November 8th, Texas Torque hosted and competed in the third annual Houston Robot Remix. Texas Torque was proud to have two robots in the competition. The first of which was our 2014 robot “Rev1”, which was displaying the roboRIO and competed as Team 1477 Texas Torque during the competition. We also premiered our 2014.5 robot “Jounce” which competed as Team 7741 Kalifornia Kinematics.

After leaving qualifications with 1477 ranked 21st and 7741 ranked 31st, alliance selection began. In the first round of alliance selection Team 1477 was chosen third overall by 4587 Jersey Voltage. Meanwhile, as selection moved into the second round, 7741 was chosen as a third bot by 118 The Robonauts and 624 CRyptonite. 418 The Purple Haze was picked up by 1477 and 4587 during this time as well.

As eliminations approached, both alliances prepared for the upcoming matches. Team 7741 competed first, winning both of its quarter finals matches. After that 1477 lost its first QF match only to come back and win the next two matches in order to advance to the semis. Then 1477 and 7741 competed head to head in the semi-finals. After two heart pounding matches, 7741’s alliance came out on top. 7741 then faced off against 3847 Spectrum, 1625 Winnovation, and 2080 Torbotics. 7741, 118, and 624 then came out on top to win the competition.

Rev1’s drive team flashes torque signs at the start of elimination matches.

Texas Torque is glad to have competed with many of our close friends in our last competition before the upcoming 2015 season. We are extremely grateful to all of the teams in attendance, especially 624 for co-hosting the competition, 3847 for graciously loaning out their practice field, and 1625 for coming all the way down from Illinois to Texas for the competition. We were thrilled to have hosted this event and we hope to hold it again next year.

The full team gathers around Jounce after winning the competition.

Happy Woodlands Robotics Day!

This past September 24 was declared Woodlands Robotics Day by our township government. On that day, students and mentors of Texas Torque were recognized at a Woodlands Township meeting by Bruce Trough, the Chairman of the Board. The team was recognized for our invaluable part in spreading STEM throughout our community, including our elementary school demos, outreach efforts, and creation of over 15 other robotics teams in our area.

In addition to this, Team Captain Matthew Bartell gave a short presentation to the town citizens in attendance, spreading FIRST awareness to over 20 prominent community members. Matthew Bartell then conversed with the government officials about the creation of an annual robotics celebration in our community, which would culminate in a widespread demonstration of robots from all teams in The Woodlands area. This event would not only be a day to recognize FRC, but also to celebrate of all robotics teams throughout The Woodlands, including Vex, BEST, and FLL.

Texas Torque is currently working with the Township to establish a venue and date, but will be extending our communication into the near future. The team looks forward to a continued relationship with the Woodlands Township, and is excited about this step in our mission to spread the idels of FIRST and STEM.

Texas Torque receives the Woodlands Robotics Day proclamation.

This past Saturday, Texas Torque furthered our partnership with our local Women’s Shelter by demoing at one of their housing locations. While there, we demonstrated our 2012 robot velociraptor in front of many of the children living at the Women’s Shelter complex. We drove the robot, shot baskets, and answered the questions of all everyone in attendance. In addition, we advocated for FLL, and got many of the children interested in the program. Texas Torque is proud to have such an influence on our community. We plan on continuing our partnership with the women’s shelter and we will continue to strive for an even greater impact as our relationship with this charity grows and develops.