Welcome to the REDESIGNED MorTorq website!               We won the BEST WEBSITE AWARD at the Arizona and Los Angeles Regional Competitions!               Check out the photos from the Arizona Regional or the Los Angeles Regional!              
Welcome to the REDESIGNED MorTorq website!               We won the BEST WEBSITE AWARD at the Arizona and Los Angeles Regional Competitions!               Check out the photos from the Arizona Regional or the Los Angeles Regional!              

History


Official FIRST Information

https://my.usfirst.org/myarea/index.lasso?page=teaminfo&team=1515

2007-2008: Overdrive into Action

In its fourth year, MorTorq continued its steady expansion, gaining two new teachers and forging new relationships with mentors. The team attended workshops with mentors from Walt Disney Imagineering and the LAPD Bomb Squad. They took tours of the facilities of Service Machines Inc. as well as the LAPD Bomb Squad. The team's membership increased so much that it now encompasses three R.O.P. classes. The team also created VEX Team #161 this year to participate in the FIRST Tech Challenge. In its rookie season, Team #161, together with Team Spyder and the RoboTroopers, won the Los Angeles Regional. To get elementary and middle school students excited about robotics and engineering, the team held a robot and roller coaster design competition, with the winners getting a chance to work with the team. MorTorq expanded its outreach by planning two fundraisers to benefit the Muscular Dystrophy Association, starting a Muscular Dystrophy support group on Facebook, and presenting on the Jerry Lewis MDA Telethon. In accordance with Dean Kamen's homework of contacting the media, MorTorq contacted and invited several news organizations and networks to the Los Angeles Regional event. To compete in the 2008 game "Overdrive", the team built a new robot, nicknamed Orange Fever. The robot has a fast 6-wheel drive train and uses a rotating arm and claw mechanism patterned after MorTorq's 2005 robot. A pneumatic actuator pulls the claw open and closed on the trackball and then a separate pneumatic actuator punches the ball out of the closed claw with the aid of passive rollers to shoot the ball over the overpass.

2006-2007: Spreading the Word

Team 1515 lost a majority of its experienced members and switched teachers again. The team recruited over 120 new members and became an R.O.P. class for its business sub team. The team acquired Los Angeles County ROP and the Beverly Hilton Hotel as corporate sponsors. MorTorq also sought to spread the word about the program and the FIRST organization. The team started MorTorq TV as a means of communication within the Beverly Hills community and technological world. The show broadcasts on a local television station, viewable on youtube.com, and can be downloaded on iTunes for free. The team also started sending out professional weekly newsletters to the team, Beverly Hills High School PTSA, and anyone who subscribed. The 2007 FIRST game "Rack and Roll" gave MorTorq many design challenges. The team went with a six wheel drive robot with a telescoping arm mounted on a pivot point in the middle of the robot. The arm can pivot about 250 degrees.

2005-2006: Setting up Shop

The 2nd year of the team started out with new leaders, a new teacher, and a new attitude. We recruited 100 new members and got down to business. We organized a fundraiser at Cold Stone and started bringing in new sponsors such as Moog Aircraft Group and Mercedes Benz of Beverly Hills. We started to use Quickbooks for our finances, Microsoft Project for management, and we sent out weekly updates via email. 2006 started with the FIRST game "Aim High." This year, the team created a robot with four wheel drive, a front roller to pick up game piece balls, a neoprene conveyor belt, and a pivoting turret that could fire balls at 12 feet per second. Before MorTorq sent the robot off to the competition, Team 1515 held another fundraiser dinner at Spark Woodfire Grill. The team competed in the Las Vegas Regional and won the Kleiner, Perkins, Caufield & Byers Entrepreneurship Award. The team also won the award in Los Angeles in addition to the Autodesk Visualisation Award for its 3D Animation. After the main robotics competition was over, the team planned a middle school Vex robotics competition amongst the four Beverly Hills Unified School District middle schools. All the schools came together on Engineering Day to compete with their robot and to celebrate their engineering accomplishments. The team also helped to plan the Beverly Hills Education Foundation's annual Car Show with Mercedes-Benz of Beverly Hills. The event raised $50,000 for the school district and Team 1515 got a chance to speak with California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger.

2004-2005: Building a Foundation

In 2004, three students, a board member, a high school principal, and a chemistry teacher founded the Beverly Hills High School FIRST Team 1515. The newly formed team was founded as a sub team under the current science team. Team 1515 contacted Team 207 for mentoring help. Along with experienced machining, guidance through the FIRST program, and a role model to follow, Team 207 also provided Team 1515 with their first corporate sponsor, Walt Disney Imagineering. WDI graciously paid for a regional competition, provided Imagineers to mentor the team, and donated WDI polo shirts. The Imagineers helped with programming, building, animation, and business. The sub team had 40+ members and became so large that they broke off and formed the Robotics Club. The club decided on "MorTorq" for a team name and selected which regional events the team would compete in. For weeks, the team presidents trained the members in different disciplines such as electronics, business, and 3D animation. Beverly Hills High School PTSA became an official sponsor of the team. MorTorq also held a fundraiser at a local restaurant, Spark Woodfire Grill. The 2005 game "Triple Play" was announced and the team was ready. The team built Norman I, also known as Zip Tie for it's excessive use of colorful cable ties. Norman I had four wheel drive, a super structure supported by guild wires, a telescoping arm that pivoted on a Ford Aerostar window regulator, and a claw with a pneumatic solenoid. The team traveled to Denver, Colorado for its first regional event. Team 1515 came in 3rd place and won the Rookie Inspiration Award. MorTorq then came home and participated in the Southern California regional event in Los Angeles. Team 1515 came in 3rd place again and won the Rookie Allstar Award. By winning the Rookie Allstar Award, the team qualified for the international competition in Atlanta, Georgia. The team did not win anything but walked away with a great experience.