On Saturday, November 11th, Energy's FRC Robotics Team 5892 competed in Robot Remix. This competition, at College Park High School, was the final off season tournament of last year's STEAMWORKS game. Preparing for the one day tourney, Energy HEROs worked after school to train new members and reconstruct the robot's mechanisms. Off season games are meant to inculcate first time recruits during a low-stress event, preparing them for the fast paced season in the Spring. Team 5892 began with a rough start: they were first plagued with technical and mechanical difficulties as the entire front side of the bot torn apart. In their second round of qualification matches, the automaton lost power in center of the field. Needless to say, they bounced back, placing 9th out of 32 teams, and later were chosen by team 118 on a three team alliance. In the quarterfinals, we lost the first match only to win the second, ready to break the tie in the third round. The teams were prepared, starting behind the line and waiting for the bell to ring to begin. Ding! They were off cycling gears as fast as they could within a two minute period. When time was up and the results were in, the Energy HEROs came in behind the blue alliance. They finished strong and kept a positive attitude as they congratulated the other alliance and left the last competition with a signature from every team on the robot to remember the 2017 season (bottom left photo). They packed up their pit until next year's games, ready to challenge future alliances.  

On Saturday, November 11, Mr. Hamilton accompanied fifteen of his 9th and 10th grade students to South Early College High School, where the BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science, and Technology) competition was held. The goal of this competition, hosted by the North Houston BEST organization, is to foster the growth of science and engineering in high school students throughout the country. This competition also teaches students more about engineering design, manufacturing, electronics, and robotics. During their second year at this event, Energy students were tasked with the challenge of creating a robot that could pick up and throw objects. The students created their robot solely from the materials listed: wood, PVC, plastic, and motors, as well as other electronics. In addition to the limited set of resources, the robot was required to pick up mannequins and paint cans and throw ping pong balls. Finally, Energy's robot competed against other robots created by schools from North Harris County and Montgomery County. Overall, this competition offered the students a unique opportunity to build upon and showcase their teamwork and engineering skills.