BRINGING THE HEAT - FRC Heroes of Tomorrow (HOT) Team 67 Competes at 2023 Houston
World Championship- By HOT Team student reporter Aiden Zemblaku
The 2023 First Robotics Competition (FRC) Worlds Championship held from April 19
through April 22 in Houston, Texas was the culmination of the 2023 “Charged Up” season, with
teams from all over the world competing to find who was the best of the best. Robots dazzled the crowd with their performance, and HOT Team 67, sponsored by GM, Altair, Prim3 Labs, Azoth and the HVEF, was no exception.
During the qualification rounds, HOT Team 67 scored 11th place in ranking points. They
were in the 5th seed alliance with LED Robotics from Florida, the Fabricators from Freeland,
Michigan, and alliance captain Valor from Texas. The alliance repeatedly “supercharged” their grid, where they scored so many points they had to stack objects on top of each other for more points, making their way to finish as division the semifinalists.
As in past seasons, FIRST teams were given 6 weeks to design, build, and program robots
to function and complete set tasks in a match. HOT Team 67 was up to the challenge, creating a
robot that was unique and exemplary in its abilities. The robot operated with swerve drive, which allows the robot to glide with ease across the field and easily change directions and make tight movements. This year, a partnership with Altair allowed the team to optimize the design. The robot featured a custom designed arm and gripper, using innovative ideas such as a belt bent at 90 degrees for the claw. Despite the fact that these were uncommon practices, HOT Team 67 demonstrated their skill in engineering and design, as they were recognized for these features and won the General Motors Industrial Design Award. This was the first judged award the team has won at the World Championship level since 2009.
In conclusion, the success of HOT Team 67 is proof that their efforts and passion for
robotics paid off. This competition was the perfect sendoff to weeks of working to create a
masterpiece of a robot and participating in competitions. The season will surely be remembered for a long time as members of the team can leave confident in what they have accomplished.
Thank you HOT Team 67 for an incredible performance!