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!              

Workshops


CSUN Workshop

This past November, MorTorq Team 1515 participated in the CSUN event workshop. The team took a busload of students from Beverly Hills High School to the CSUN campus where they all attended four workshops. Everybody could choose from many different robotics-related workshops ranging from "3D Studio Max" to its very own "Communication Skills" workshop. That's right, MorTorq's building captains, Zach Kahn and Jesse Carmona, led their very own workshop based on how to communicate with other teams, judges, or just people in general, meanwhile being graciously professional. The turnout was amazing, as the team got to meet with people from many different schools and ethnicities. MorTorq was thrilled to not only teach them about communication skills but also receive input back and learn from others' experiences. Zach and Jesse were very excited when FIRST's Jim Beck sat in on the workshop and paid them a very pleasing compliment. It was amazing how this event brought the team together and sparked MorTorq Team 1515's interest in robotics.

Bomb Squad Workshop

On January 21, 6 members of Team 1515 were invited by mentor Roy McKee to the headquarters of the LAPD Bomb Squad headquarters. Roy showed the team around its center of operations. We toured the offices, the on-site training center, and the display of explosive devices that the squad has seized over the years. It was extremely disconcerting, but also kind of cool, to see all the different household items that can be made into bombs. Later, Roy and Officer Karnishi took us to a different site so we could see the two types of robots in the bomb squad: the Andros and its little brother, the Talon. The main reason for the visit was to see these robots and apply the principles of functionality we learned from them to our own robot. However, it was difficult not to be distracted by all the incredible features of the robots. Overall, we had a great time getting an in-depth tour and are very thankful to Roy McKee, Officer Karnishi and all the members of the LAPD Bomb Squad who were gracious enough to let us visit their facilities.