On June 29th and 30th, the RoboSpartans competed at the Texas Robotics Invitational hosted by team 3847, Spectrum. The first day included an All Girls Drive Team tournament and a Mentor Drive Team tournament, where both our girls and mentors performed well. Our girls drive team finished in second place! The rest of the day consisted of practice matches, many of which were "powered down," meaning the lights had been turned off. The LEDs on Killswitch really stood out,  and the team had a blast!

On the second day, the competition began, and after our of qualification matches, our team finsihed at rank ten, eventually becoming the 7th Alliance Captain. For our alliance, we invited teams 5427, 5986, and 1745. Unfortunately, after two hard fought matches by all of our alliance members, we were eliminated in the quarterfinals. Even though we may not have had the best ending to the competition, our team had a wonderful time playing in the numerous events during the Texas Robotics Invitational! 
 
For more photos from TRI, check out our gallery here

 This past weekend, May 18 and 19, the RoboSpartans were given the opportunity to compete at the UIL Robotics State Championship along with other teams from Texas. Though the team had a rough start, the RoboSpartans worked between every match to correct any problems that the robot may have. After our qualification matches, the team moved to the alliance selections where we were chosen by the captains of the third seeded alliance team 148, the Robowranglers, and their partner team 3005, the RoboChargers. As elimination matches began, alliance 3 moved through the quarter finals, then the semi-finals to get all the way to the finals, a first for the RoboSpartans. Unfortuantely, we were not able to beat the first seeded alliance in the finals, but that did not let the team's spirits fall. Along with our alliance partners, we were the official runner-ups for the UIL Robotics Championship. A huge thanks to all the parents and mentors that have been with us throughout the season, we could not do this without your help and guidance, and thank you to all teams who were with us during the competition season for making this season full of wonderful memories! 

       On April 5-7, Team 4639, the RoboSpartans, competed at the Alamo Regional in San Antonio, the last regional until off season, unless we qualify for the UIL Robotics State Championship later on in May. But before that, here is how the Alamo Regional went. The qualifying matches went really well, so much so that we were rank 1 for about a third to half the competition, however, that was lost and we were placed around 5th. When it came down to it, the team did not accept this loss and kept pushing further to get a higher rank. Although we did not get our number one spot back, the team was able to secure a spot as the 3rd seed alliance captains. During alliance selections, the team selected teams 4063 TriKzR4Kidz and 4734 The Iron Plainsmen for our alliance.                   After moving through the quarterfinals, the team had a lead after winning the first semi-final match, but unfortunately our alliance was faced with some problems that sadly got us eliminated. However, there was so much more than that. Once again, 4639 was the only team at a regional to attempt and successfully perform a double-climb, earning four ranking points along with team 3481 Bronc Botz. Even though we faced a heartbreaking defeat in the semi-finals, there was still much joy to be found. At the end of the day, the team had won its first ever award, the Team Spirit Award! Despite the losses, the team left San Antonio with heads held high and many new friends from numerous FIRST teams. Thank you to all mentors, parents, and volunteers who helped our team through the good and the bad. We couldn't have done it without you!  

This past week, the team went to compete at the Texas Lone Star Regional in Houston. Here is a summary of our performance. After several qualification matches, the team came to qualification 71 as if it were any other match, but near the end of the match there was something different. Along with team 3676, Warrior Robotics, and team 6951, Spartans, the game went well until the endgame, the final 30 seconds. When our team set the hook to climb, it was shocking when team 3676 set their hook as well, leading to a double climb, a feat that was the only of its kind at the competition. Along with the levitate power up to get the free climb for team 6951, our team was give the face the boss bonus, giving us a 4 ranking point match, likely the only one. When it came to alliance selections, we were chosen by the 5th seed alliance captain, team 3676, our double climb partner, and proceeded to select team 2587, the DiscoBots. After beating the 4th seed alliance in the quarterfinals, the team moved to the semifinals, where we faced the 1st seed alliance. Unfortunately, we did not move on from there after the losses, but the outcome of the competition was astounding. Now the team looks to solve the issues that were noted at Lone Star and further improve our robot for our next competition, the Alamo Regional, where we are looking for greater success.
If you are interested in the full look at our competition turn out, check out this link here.

Well, it has been 6 weeks since the game was revealed and we started to work on our robot. Now, the time has come to bag and tag the bot until we are able to open it up for competition, which is now the main focus. The team has worked incredibly hard on this seasons robot and continues to work on the practice bot so that the drive team can begin practicing for the upcoming competitions. There is still quite a bit of work ahead, and the team is going into the competition season heads held high. Look out for updates on the upcoming competitions in March and April.

Since the Kickoff, the team has been planning, and now comes the building after numerous ideas were thrown around. Strategy is one of the key factors in the robots final design, and is without a doubt considered quite often. Once all the issues and design flaws get fixed, there is little reason to doubt the potential that this robot has. Many aspects of the robot have begun to spring to life as various prototypes are tested, revised, and tested again so that we can create the best possible bot. With the build season being around he halfway point, our team is without a doubt putting their best foot forward. Wherever the winds take us, the team’ll always be prepared.

     Alright, by now we all know that the 2018 game is something entirely new, and at times, seems confusing, but so long as we understand the manual, it shouldn't be much of an issue. Anyways, for the past week since the reveal, there has been planning upon planning for a good amount of time, ideas are circulating, being tested, and being crossed off the list. With so many possibilities for this game, who knows what direction the team is headed. All we can do is to see where the wind takes us, and we might not end up where initially planned, either way, the team is looking forward to our new robot and competing in the years competitions.

From August 26th to December 9th, 2017, Cinco ranch High school teamed up with Seven Lakes High School to put together a series of live broadcasts to Onslow, Australia- over 16,000 miles away from Katy, Texas.

Our goal was to foster curiosity, inspire discovery, and educate others about robotics with the help of each school’s FLL and VEX teams. The students in Onslow learned how to build both Ev3 and VEX robots from scratch, code them in their respective languages, experiment, and drive them- the result of over 70 hours of filming, editing, planning, broadcasting, and mentoring.

This project has impacted both sides of the globe positively by providing a one-of-a-kind STEM learning experience that will last a lifetime- and the cooperation between schools has taught us what it truly means to be part of a single robotics community.

"...You guys have been very helpful... You are very patient even with the communication problems we have at times, we really appreciate all the hard work and effort you guys put into this- Thank you for that." -A mentor broadcasting from Onslow, Australia on our last day of the Onslow Project.

We couldn’t have done it without our sponsor, Bechtel, who helped us achieve innovation spanning continents. The VEX and FLL teams of Seven Lakes would like to thank you, and hopefully, we can continue to change students lives, one robot at a time, no matter where in the world they are.

On December 2nd, a small group of girl scouts came to the RSC so we could help them earn one of their science badges. Doing various stations involving density, electricity, and a little bit of chemistry, as well as making ʻdino snot.ʻ The following week, a different group was invited, but this time we made slime, gave them a tour of our bay, and gave a rather exciting robot demo, as they were more interested in what we do. Without a doubt, there was a mess to clean up, but What does that matter if you had fun?