From March 15 to 17, TechHOUNDS will travel to Purdue University to compete in the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Regional competition against 45 other high school teams in Indiana.

A week later, the same group, Team 868, will go to Milwaukee to compete in another Regional competition against 40 other teams.

According to club sponsor George Giltner, the  competitions will evaluate the team’s success in this year’s  challenge, “Rebound Rumble.”

“You have to win a Regional competition in order to qualify for (the National competition). The more Regionals you sign up for, the more opportunities you have to win,” Giltner said.

(To view the video revealing this year’s robot that will compete in the 2012 FIRST Robotics Competition “Rebound Rumble”, click here.)

In 2009 and 2010, the TechHOUNDS team earned two consecutive competition victories at Purdue but was unable to repeat the same success last year.

Ryan Wilmes, two-year student team leader and senior, said the team hopes to combat a repeat of last year’s performance.

“Last year, we had some problems out of the gate, where we had to work on some stuff that held us back during the first couple qualification matches at both Wisconsin and at Purdue,” he said. “This year, we hope to go into the competition at 100 percent readiness so we can hit the practice field multiple times.”

According to Wilmes, he and other veteran members learned valuable lessons from past disappointing experiences. He said one key aspect the team has improved on is the design of the robot and ensuring that its different systems work together mechanically before parts are manufactured.

Though the six-week build season in January and early February was the peak of TechHOUNDS activity, with approximately 15 hours of  practice a week, Wilmes said he has strived to include and teach new members from the beginning of the pre-season in August.

“We learned from last year that we needed to train our new members better,” Wilmes said. “In nearly every division, you can see a new member working alongside a veteran member.”

According to Giltner, the team’s preparation efforts during pre-season paved the path for rapid progress during the time-sensitive building season.

Both Giltner and Wilmes said they are confident about the team’s success in competitions this year. According to Giltner, Team 868 is one of the top five teams in the state.

Regarding the specifics of that success, Giltner said the team’s goal this year is to win a Regional competition and qualify for Nationals.

“I want to win a Regional and then be very competitive at Nationals to show others what we can do,” he said. “If we can be competitive at Nationals, I’d think that’d be a great success.”

For Wilmes, he said his personal motto and motivating phrase for others is “be ready.”

Depending on where he is needed, Wilmes scouts teams and collects data about their performances, works in the pit to maintain the robot and completes  tasks that will help the team earn the coveted first place title.