The BreakerBots (Team 5104) have officially kicked off the 2026 REBUILT™ season with a massive statement, securing a win with their alliance at the Week 0 scrimmage! This pre-season success has ignited a strong will to continue to improve prior to our upcoming regional competitions and is a testament to the quality of our eight outstanding mentors and 35 member-student team. Following weeks of intense prototyping—moving from the early “fluffy bot” concept, to test driving with BrickBot, to programming with Alpha Bot, and finally to the fully functional Bravo Bot (also known as Tempest)—the team traveled to the Week 0 event to test our cool engineering skills against live friendly competition! Our 2026 Bravo robot (Tempest) demonstrated the functionality of our swerve drive modules and an extremely rapid shooter capable of hurling this year’s fuel to (Yellow round hard foam) into the dynamic hub to score points. Our heavily developed “snow-blower” style intake system successfully vacuumed up fuel with just occasional minor jamming, and stayed intact even through heavy defensive pressure. The programming team’s fantastic work with Limelight and AprilTag tracking proved its worth, allowing for near-instant target locks on the dynamic hubs, which were made of wood for this Week 0.
TEAM UPDATE:
While the win was a boost to team morale, the Week 0 event provided valuable data that is helping us learn how to improve our approach for the next competition in San Francisco.
The Major Takeaway
We observed that climbing—while a flashy mechanic—was not as prominent or efficient as we initially anticipated, at least for our robot this Week 0 scrimmage event. Data from the matches showed that high-volume fuel scoring and intaking is by far one of the most consistent path to victory.
Lastly, A Special Thanks to Our Supporters!
Winning at Week 0 was a team effort, but it wouldn’t have been possible without the generous support of our sponsors and amazing mentors. Your investment in us and our lab allows the BreakerBots to continue pushing the boundaries of STEM education! Thank you!
And thank you for reading!
