The Veterans Memorial High School (VMHS) Patriot Engineering program had several teams compete at the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) South Regional Competition. FTC Team 12448 M.A.R.S. performed exceptionally well in the Curie League throughout their season. This team’s robot performance and presentation allowed them to receive the highest award possible, the Inspire Award, in their league championship. As an Inspire Award winner, M.A.R.S. advanced out of their league as the #1 ranked team. For their contributions and performance, M.A.R.S. was also sent a formal letter of recognition from Texas Senator Ted Cruz.
In addition to team M.A.R.S., VMHS had 5 other teams that moved on to the South Texas Regionals and they are; 12401- Quantum Fusion, 12449- Revolution, 12450-Cyberious, 12696- High Altitude, and 12697- Kronos. At the South Texas Regional the Patriot teams performed exceptionally well advancing 4 teams to the elimination rounds. In the end, team 12448 M.A.R.S. had a great performance and advanced to the championship final. The team put forth their best effort, but were eliminated in a tightly contested match. Due to their great performance, however, team 12448 M.A.R.S. has advanced to the UIL State Robotics Championship.
The competition consisted of the top 48 FTC teams from the Rio Grande Valley and Laredo. In the FTC Competition, teams (up to 15 team members, grades 7-12) are challenged to design, build, program, and operate robots to compete in a head-to-head challenge in an alliance format. In order to qualify for the South Texas Regional, teams were assigned to 5 different leagues that included 20-28 FTC teams. The teams then participated in 3 meets throughout the season. During each league meet, teams would play five matches with random alliance partners and opponents. With each win, teams would accumulate points that determined their final ranking in their league. Towards the end of the season, each league had a championship in which 6-7 teams advanced to the South Texas Regional either through robot performance or various team/presentation awards.