Viperbots officially kicked off the competition season last Saturday with their third annual scrimmage. About 26 teams from the Austin area showed up to compete and test their skills before the first qualifier on Dec. 6.

The scrimmage was held in the cafeteria and lasted from early morning until about 5 PM. The teams were pit against each other in several different rounds to see who could come out on top.

“It’s kind of one big family,” engineering teacher Martin Weidenmeier said. “It’s a fun event. People can come out and see the robots—they’re not quite finished yet, but you get that first taste of competition.”

The results of the scrimmage were just for practice and had no consequences like the scores at a qualifier, though team 6209 from Vandegrift made it to the final round.

“It was good to see other teams out there doing really well,” Weidenmeier said. “It does give you an idea of what’s going to happen in competition.”

Now the Viperbots are working on improving things that they struggled with at the scrimmage so that they can be fully prepared for the next competition.

“We really care about how everyone else is doing,” sophomore and Quad X team member Linnea May said. “I think my favorite part is seeing all the crazy ideas that people come up with.”