> ROBO SAPIENS OS v14.503
> loading subsystems ... OK
> calibrating spindexer ... OK
> odometry lock ... ACQUIRED
RS ROBO SAPIENSTEAM #14503
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FIRST TECH CHALLENGE · SUGAR LAND, TX

ROBO SAPIENS

TEAM #14503 · WORLDS DIVISION AWARD WINNERS
Robo Sapiens at the Sugar Land City Council
SUGAR LAND CITY COUNCIL · AUGUST 2026 DECODE SEASON
1ST PLACE INSPIRE · LEAGUESWINNING ALLIANCE CAPTAIN1ST PLACE INSPIRE · REGIONALS1ST PLACE THINK · WORLDS DIVISION2ND PLACE ROBOT GAME · WORLDS DIVISION57-PT SORTED AUTONOMOUS110+ AVG MATCH SCORE10,500+ IMPACTED
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Years Committed
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Total Impacted
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Outreach Events
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Personnel File

ELEVEN STUDENTS.
ONE ROBOT.

Hardware, software, outreach and media - run by students, with one very patient coach.

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Students
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Mentors
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Working Groups
The Roster

Click any card to open a profile

How We Work

Four groups, one robot

Hardware

Build & Design

Drivetrain, intake, shooter and spindexer - from CAD through machining and assembly.

Software

Autonomous & TeleOp

Path following, vision, sorting logic and the driver controls behind a 110+ average.

Outreach

Camps & Community

Fifty-one events and 10,500+ people reached across technical and non-technical work.

Media

Documentation

The engineering portfolio, content and relationships that carry the team off the field.

How A Season Runs

Kickoff to Houston

01

Kickoff

Game reveal and strategy

02

Design

CAD, prototypes, review

03

Build & Code

Machining, wiring, autonomous

04

Compete

Leagues, Regionals, Worlds

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Years Committed
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Total Impacted
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Sharing What We Build

A THOUSAND STUDENTS.
HANDS ON THE ROBOT.

Camps and workshops where we hand students the tools, not just the demo.

0 Students and parents, hands on the hardware
Mechanical DesignCodingRobot DrivingTen-plus Events
Event Log

Where we have taken it

Camps and workshops where we hand students the tools, not just the demo. Every event runs the way our season does — design it, code it, drive it — so nobody leaves having only watched.

1,000+
Students & Parents
10+
Technical Events
3
Core Workshop Tracks

People reached per event

Technical outreach
Summer Youth Camp40
Jain Society Camp32
Summer Youth Engineering Enrichment Program
Camp workshop
Summer Camp01

Summer Youth Engineering Enrichment Program

Forty-plus students, three workshop tracks, built around the three things our team does every season: design it, code it, drive it. Splitting the camp meant everyone got hands-on time instead of watching a demonstration.

Mechanical Design Coding Robot Driving
40+
Students
3
Tracks

This camp brought together 40+ students across a run of workshops built around the three things our team does every season: design it, code it, drive it. The mechanical design sessions introduced how a robot's parts are planned and fitted together before anything actually gets built. The coding workshops covered programming fundamentals, giving students their first look at how written instructions turn into robot movement. The driving portion then handed them the controls so they could put those ideas into practice on a real robot. Splitting the camp into three tracks meant every student got hands-on time instead of sitting through a demonstration. Our goal was to send them home having actually built, written, and driven something themselves.

Jain Society of Houston Summer Engineering Camp
Engineering Camp02

Jain Society of Houston Summer Engineering Camp

Thirty-odd students moving through three stations rather than sitting in one long session, with interactive challenges and games built into every rotation to keep the pace up.

Mechanical Design Coding Robot Driving Challenges & Games
30–35
Students
3
Stations

We ran this camp for a group of 30–35 students, organized as a rotation rather than one long session. Each group moved through three stations — mechanical design, coding, and robot driving — so nobody spent the entire camp on the same activity. The design station focused on how individual components come together into a mechanism that actually works. The coding station introduced the basics of programming a robot to follow instructions. At the driving station, students took direct control of a robot and tested what they had just learned. We built interactive challenges and games into every rotation to keep the pace up and give the students something to compete over.

Every Camp Runs the Same Way

Design it, code it, drive it

01

Design

Parts, fits and mechanisms

02

Code

Instructions into movement

03

Drive

Controls in their hands

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Years Committed
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Beyond the Robot

A HUNDRED HOURS.
WELL OUTSIDE THE FIELD.

Scouts, families and the people who fund the pipeline - less about our robot, more about why programs like ours exist.

0 Hours logged well outside the competition field
ScoutsBusiness LeadersFamiliesPublic Libraries
Event Log

Who we have reached

Getting FIRST in front of scouts, families, and the people who fund the pipeline. These events are less about our robot and more about why programs like ours need to exist at all.

100+
Hours Logged
10+
Non-Technical Events
175+
People Reached Directly

People reached per event

Non-technical outreach
Houston Public Library100
Troop 549 Merit Badge50
Seth Brothers25
Boy Scout Troop 549 Robotics Merit Badge Event
Scouting01

Troop 549 Robotics Merit Badge

Fifty-plus scouts and parents in one session, opening with foundational engineering before moving into hands-on Arduino work — aimed squarely at what scouts need for the merit badge.

Engineering Concepts Arduino Mechanical Design
50+
Scouts
Arduino
Hands-On

This event reached 50+ scouts and parents in a single session. We opened with foundational engineering concepts — the ideas that sit underneath any robot long before a part gets cut. From there we moved into Arduino programming, giving scouts hands-on time with microcontrollers and simple circuits. We also covered basic robotics and mechanical design so they could see how the electronics and the physical build depend on one another. Running the session with parents in the room meant the adults came away understanding what their scouts were working toward. The material was aimed squarely at what scouts need for the robotics merit badge.

Seth Brothers Investment Outreach Event
Business Community02

Seth Brothers Investment Outreach

A room of Houston business leaders, framed around workforce development rather than competition results — robotics explained in the terms they already work in.

FIRST Overview Workforce Development Team Operations
25+
Leaders
FIRST
Pipeline

We presented to 25+ Houston business leaders on FIRST and what the program actually does. The focus was workforce development — the link between competitive robotics and the technical talent pipeline those programs feed. We walked through how an FTC team operates day to day, from the engineering work to the outreach and business side of running a team. Speaking to a business audience meant framing robotics in terms they deal with already, rather than in competition language. Events like this build the local support that keeps teams like ours running season after season. It also puts FIRST in front of people in a position to sponsor a team or help start one.

Houston Public Library STEM Event
Public Library03

Houston Public Library STEM Event

A hundred-plus community members, live robot demos running next to hands-on STEM activities — and a venue that reached families who were never looking for a robotics event.

Robot Demos Hands-On STEM Family Outreach
100+
Reached
Live
Demos

This event put us in front of 100+ community members, including both students and parents. We ran interactive robot demonstrations so people could watch a competition robot drive and score up close instead of on a screen. Alongside the demos we set up hands-on STEM activities, so visitors could try something themselves rather than only watching. Holding it at a public library meant we reached families who had not gone looking for a robotics event in the first place. Parents left with a clearer picture of what FIRST involves and what it asks of a student. For the younger visitors it was a low-pressure first look at what a robotics team actually does.

Who We Talk To

Three very different rooms

01

Scouts

Merit badge engineering

02

Business

Workforce development

03

Families

Live demos and STEM

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Years Committed
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DECODE · Build Report

DECODE.
BUILT TO CYCLE.

Vectored intake, real-time colour sorting, and a turret that shoots independent of heading.

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Point Sorted Auto
0
Avg Match Score
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Artifact Capacity
±10
Flywheel Ticks
Interactive

Explore the robot

Pick a marker to open that subsystem.

DECODE robot assembly
Performance

What it does on the field

Match performance

DECODE season
57Sorted Auto (pts)
110+Avg Match Score
12Artifact Capacity
±10Flywheel Ticks
Control Stack

What runs underneath

Navigation

Pedro Pathing

Path following for the autonomous routine, tuned across the season.

Localization

goBILDA Pinpoint

Odometry keeps the drivetrain's position honest through contact.

Vision

Limelight

Target acquisition feeding the turret's heading-independent shots.

Control

Custom Sensor Logic

Colour detection and encoder feedback drive real-time sorting.

The Cycle

Where an artifact goes

01

Intake

2-stage vectored + gecko

02

Spindexer

Colour read, reordered

03

Transfer

Belted dual gecko feed

04

Shooter

Servo hood, PID flywheel

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Years Committed
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Mission Log

SEVEN YEARS.
THREE TRIPS TO WORLDS.

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Awards Won
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Inspire Awards
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Alliance Captaincies
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World Championships
Trajectory

Every season beats the last

Awards won per season

Leagues · Regionals · Worlds
22023–24
32024–25
WORLDS52025–26
2025–26 · The Run

Leagues to Houston

01

Leagues

1st Inspire · Alliance Captain

02

Regionals

1st Inspire · Qualified

03

Worlds

Division Play

04

Division Awards

1st Think · 2nd Robot Game

The Trophy Shelf

Ten awards, three seasons

26
1ST

1st Place Inspire Award

Leagues · 2025-26
26
1ST

1st Place Inspire Award

Regionals · 2025-26
26
1ST

1st Place Think Award

Worlds · Division · 2025-26
26
2ND

2nd Place Robot Game

Worlds · Division · 2025-26
26
WIN

Winning Alliance Captain

Leagues · 2025-26
25
1ST

1st Place Inspire Award

Leagues · 2024-25
25
3RD

3rd Place Inspire Award

Regionals · 2024-25
25
WIN

Winning Alliance Captain

Leagues · 2024-25
24
1ST

1st Place Inspire Award

Leagues · 2023-24
24
WIN

Winning Alliance Captain

Leagues · 2023-24
Season Logs

How each year went

'26
SEASON LOG · 2025–2026

The Worlds Run

Our journey to the FTC World Championships was built on a season of hard work, growth, and consistent success. At Leagues, we earned the 1st Place Inspire Award and became Winning Alliance Captain, showing our strength both on and off the field. We then carried that momentum into Regionals, where we won the 1st Place Inspire Award, qualifying us for the World Championships. At Worlds, we continued to represent our team at the highest level, earning 1st Place Think Award in our division and finishing 2nd Place for Robot Game in our division. This path reflects our team's dedication to engineering, outreach, teamwork, and innovation throughout the entire season.

'25
SEASON LOG · 2024–2025

Building the Foundation

Our team built a strong foundation through dedication, teamwork, and continuous improvement. At Leagues, we earned the 1st Place Inspire Award and became Winning Alliance Captain, showing our strength in robot performance, engineering, outreach, and team culture. We advanced to Regionals, where we made it to the playoffs and earned 3rd Place Inspire Award, a major achievement that reflected the impact of our season. Although our journey ended at Regionals, that season pushed us to grow as a team and helped prepare us for even greater success in the future.

'24
SEASON LOG · 2023–2024

Proving Consistency

Our team continued to prove our strength and consistency by earning 1st Place Inspire Award and becoming Winning Alliance Captain at Leagues. This success advanced us to Regionals, where we competed hard and made it into the playoffs. Although we were eliminated during the Regional playoffs, the season was still an important step in our team's growth. It helped us gain more experience, strengthen our engineering process, and build the foundation for the success we achieved in the seasons that followed.

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SUPPORT
Mission Support

BUILT WITH HELP.
FROM PEOPLE WHO MAKE THINGS.

The organizations and individuals who keep the robot rolling and the outreach running.

Partners

Who backs this team

Where It Goes

What support pays for

01

The Robot

Motors, servos, machined parts

02

Competition

Leagues to the World Championship

03

Outreach

Materials for 51 events

04

The Next Team

Kits for teams we mentor

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MENTORS
The Support Crew

SIX MENTORS.
ONE VERY PATIENT COACH.

Engineers, machinists and developers who lend us their expertise, their evenings and occasionally their garages.

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Mentors
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Disciplines
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Seasons
The Crew

Our mentors

Adam Graebner

Adam Graebner

CNC Mentor
Ricky Wiafe

Ricky Wiafe

CAD Design Mentor
Witold Bielcki

Witold Bielcki

Mechanical Debugging
Rohan Dharia

Rohan Dharia

Coding Mentor
Videet Mehta

Videet Mehta

Technical Design Mentor
Vidya Sagar

Vidya Sagar

Industry Projects Mentor
Specialties

What our mentors cover

Fabrication

CNC & Manufacturing

Turning CAD into machined parts, and teaching us to do it ourselves.

Design

CAD & Design Process

Modelling discipline, tolerances, and the review habits that catch problems early.

Software

Coding

Code structure, debugging practice, and control theory beyond what we would find alone.

Industry

Projects & Debugging

Engineering judgement from people who do this professionally every day.

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Teams Mentored
ROBO SAPIENS  ·  FTC TEAM #14503  ·  SUGAR LAND, TEXAS