From March 15 to 17, Purdue University will host its annual FIRST Robotics Regional Competition that attracts teams from all of Indiana, including Team 868, the TechHOUNDS. According to club sponsor George Giltner, a group of about 10 TechHOUNDS members will travel to Purdue to compete.

As the team prepares for competition, members of the TechHOUNDS have been scouting teams at other Regional competitions via live broadcasts on the Internet. Through this scouting process, Giltner said the team has discovered a potentially worthwhile strategy.

“One thing that we found out that seems like it’s going to be a very valuable strategy is to make sure that we get ourselves on the ramp at the end of the competition, which is something that we really didn’t focus too much attention on (before),” he said.

Both Giltner and Ryan Wilmes, student team lead and senior, said their main concern is that the robot will tip over as the team tries to balance it and earn additional points.

“We’re just slightly concerned because the robot has a pretty high center of gravity, and from watching Regionals on the webcast, a lot of teams have been tipping,” Wilmes said. “So we’re worried slightly about damaging our turret or our shooter while we’re balancing.”

In addition, Giltner said the team might face a communication challenge at the Regional competition as it has occurred “at least one time every year.”

“We’ve had communication errors in the past, which are kind of hard to both predict and prevent. Sometimes it just happens,” he said. “That’s something I definitely fear. I hate just sitting there and not being able to do anything.”

After scouting other teams, Wilmes said the TechHOUNDS are “a solid top eight team.” Gitlner said Team 868 is one of the top scoring teams in regards to shooting and making baskets.

When asked what he was anticipating the most, Giltner said, “Winning Purdue. I want to bring home a first-place trophy.”

Wilmes, who will be traveling with the team on Thursday, said, “I’m just ready to get qualification matches started and to see what we can do.”