By Hunt Brabrand

The almost deafening roar of the enormous space hit me first. The sounds of multiple announcers talking over one another, blaring music, conversations throughout the room, and the whir of tools repairing all bounced off the walls of the first-floor exhibition hall at George R. Brown Convention Center. 

Here, in the middle of Houston, Texas, FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) teams gathered to compete, learn, and connect. Hordes of different robotics teams from across the world all navigated their ways through the identical halls, past vendors selling overpriced meals. Once through the crowds, I made my way up the bleachers to join the rest of our team, Torch Team 5804. There, I began to understand the true scale of this event, seeing eight fields lined up beside each other in this space, which is over five football fields long. In each of these fields, each named after a notable figure in STEM, 75 globally-ranked teams each competed for a spot through to the championship. Over 600 teams occupied the same room, each with dozens of team members. And that’s just one third of the event.

I have been fortunate enough to get to travel to this event, known as Worlds, twice with Collegiate’s Team 5804. The trips have made a lasting impression on my view of robotics. My first trip to Houston was in April 2024. As a Freshman, I felt incredibly lucky to be included in an event of this scale, as the previous local robotics events I had been to had hosted, at most, 50 teams. That year, we were doing particularly well, ranked fifth in the Chesapeake District, so our hopes were high as we flew from Richmond to the “Super Bowl for nerds,” as current robot driver Ned Wash (‘27) puts it.

Torch 5804’s 2024 season robot, “TJ.” Photo credit: AJ Buster.

We went straight to the convention center from the airport and helped the robot, which had arrived via van early that day, settle in. Our team had been placed in the Newton Division, so our pit, where we would prepare our robot if something was damaged, was surrounded by the other 74 teams in our division. Each side of the first-floor exhibition hall was given to four divisions’ worth of teams, so almost immediately after arrival, I was met with 300 teams and their robots, each designed with different strategies in mind. Soon after checking in with our pit crew, many of us took spots in the stands to watch the first practice matches before the actual competition started the following day.

Each division holds its own competition, whose winners then go on to compete on the Einstein Field against the other division winners. First, teams compete in more than 100 matches. In each match, six teams are split into two alliances, where they do season-specific tasks to earn both points and ranking points. Teams earn ranking points by completing certain objectives, such as winning the match or scoring enough points in specific portions of the game. Each year, the game changes, usually consisting of moving game pieces and a component that tests the robots’ mobility.

Einstein Competition. Photo credit: Hunt Brabrand.

Finally, teams are ranked based on their total ranking points earned throughout the qualifying matches. After several days of matches, the top eight teams then choose their own alliance to compete in a finals bracket. The bracket is then played out, with the finals winner being decided by a best-of-two-out-of-three competition.

Although placed alongside some of the top-ranked teams in the world in our division, we still felt confident about our competition. Our driver at the time, Shane Gantz (‘24), was considered one of the best, and our robot was sleek and effective. 

However, morale quickly shifted. As we returned to our vans that first day, the van carrying many of the upperclassmen had its windows shattered in the garage. Much of their belongings had been stolen, and we hadn’t been to our hotel yet. To make matters worse, a few students soon fell ill, which affected our performance both on and off the field. 

We were still a decent team, though. Watching each match was stressful for us in the stands as we watched our high-ranking spot shift up and down throughout qualifications. I spent most of my free time collecting data on each of the robots during the matches, something every team member was required to do, and continuously updating and improving the app that we used to gather data on the other teams. Otherwise, I was strategizing briefly with the driving team before their matches or pitching to other teams why we would be a great pick come alliance selection time. I did find the time to go see the famous engineering YouTuber Mark Rober in person, one of many tech leaders from around the world in attendance. Tensions were high the entire competition, all building up to finals. 

Though our rank had dropped fairly low, we were able to display our talents on the field sufficiently. We hoped to be chosen for finals and, luckily, we were. We were chosen by the fourth-ranked team in our division as their first pick, which none of us had planned for. This was the earliest we had ever been picked for an alliance at Worlds, and we were completely unprepared. Forced to accept due to our low ranking, the drive team and I rushed to meet with the strategists from the team that had chosen us. 

Based on both their data quality and our own, it was clear that this team was likely overranked. We were hoping to be the second pick of a better team down the line, which would have made sense according to what we expected, but instead, because of their poor information, the team chose us.

Torch 5804’s 2025 season robot, “Nessie.” Photo credit: Chase Gill.

Because of the lack of synergy between the teams in our alliance, we fell out of the bracket quickly. This was heartbreaking for our entire team, as we saw this year as our most significant opportunity to go far at the Worlds competition. But instead, various unfortunate events occurred one after another, shattering our spirit and sending us home feeling unfulfilled.

This past spring, we didn’t even think we were going to make it back to Houston. At our regional competition, we had not performed as well as we hoped and barely scraped together a spot in the Worlds roster. Our season had been a struggle, without some of the accomplishments we had the year prior, ranked a generous 12th in our region. As I flew to Worlds for the second time, I had zero expectations about doing well. Placed now in the Curie Division, breaking our previous streak of three Newtons in a row, I felt far calmer. 

Now, instead of focusing completely on my own team, I took the time to take advantage of the opportunities around me. Without the burden of worry, I was able to explore more of the event. I explored not only the pits of the FRC teams on the first floor, but also the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) teams, with their smaller robots, and FIRST LEGO League (FLL) teams on the third floor.

Houston’s Discovery Green. Photo credit: Hunt Brabrand.

I talked with teams from across the globe, from Lithuania to Israel to Brazil. I went to many more conferences, hearing from experts about all kinds of innovation. I explored the park outside of the convention center, Discovery Green, where I would walk and play games between matches. We would all still cheer Torch 5804 whenever we would compete; however, there was less pressure.

This year, I decided to stay to watch the Einstein Competition, which I missed the previous year. This was by far the craziest set of matches I had ever seen. We all took this trip less seriously, finding time to amuse ourselves together, even when the matches weren’t happening. As Alex Yu (‘26) puts it, “The most memorable experiences to me probably aren’t even watching the robotics matches, but just getting to hang out with the team at the mall, on the lawn, or at the mini-golf course.” Sometimes it is not about winning, but rather being able to enjoy yourself while losing.