PrepaTec’s Lambot team from San Luis Potosi has made history by becoming the first Mexican team to advance to the global finals of the FIRST Robotics Competition Championship.
Tiempo estimado de lectura: 9 mins
Lambot makes history once again! Last year, they became the first Mexicans to advance to a final. This year they went further: they advanced to the world finals of the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) for the first time.
The PrepaTec San Luis Potosí team qualified for the final of this global robotics competition, in which the 24 best teams compete in eight final alliances to determine the world champions.
FIRST is the world’s most famous and influential youth robotics tournament. This year, 3,701 teams from 30 countries participated in the entire process (regional qualifiers and world finals).
Furthermore, for the first time in history, a Mexican, Francisco Guerra, head coach of the Botbusters from PrepaTec Eugenio Garza Sada, received the Woodie Flowers Outstanding Mentor of the Year Award, created to honor those who inspire and empower their teams.
In this edition, 11 teams from Tec de Monterrey participated in the FRC category for large robots, and one more in the FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) for smaller robots, in Houston, Texas.
This year, the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) World Championship was held April 16–19 in Houston, Texas.
According to Crisantos Martínez, Dean of PrepaTec, “It’s a dream come true. There are 11 teams in FRC representing the Tec National Team. They compete and have fun in an environment of cooperation and rivalry”.
“We have young people capable of competing at an international level, and designing and building a robot gives them the perfect excuse to develop key skills such as collaboration, self-management, communication, technical skills, critical thinking, and team spirit”.
Getting closer to the world grand final!
They went even further! Last year, LamBot made history by becoming the first Mexican and Latin American team to advance to a division final in the World Robotics Championship.
In 2025, they broke their record: winning their division! They arrived at the Einstein court for the first time, where only the 24 best teams in the world compete, organized into eight elite alliances.
Their alliance (number 5) advanced to the division finals with a close score of 277 to 263, along with:
- Chop Shop 166 from New England, USA
- ToolCats Robotics 3276 from Minnesota, USA
- North Gwinnett Robotics from Georgia, USA
They advanced to the fourth round of the playoffs, falling just short of the world semifinals.
According to Francisco Guerra, national leader of the PrepaTec Racing Team, “It’s one of those defeats that doesn’t make you sad because we’ve made history by reaching Einstein, something we’d never achieved before. The bracket system doesn’t have rounds of 16 or quarterfinals. Still, they advanced to what could be described as the semifinals”.
Although LamBot didn’t advance to the grand final, the team proudly celebrated reaching match 12 of 14 with a score of 214 vs. 269.
“As our motto says: victory goes beyond winning, this is also a victory. We achieved our goal of reaching Einstein. In the end, it’s all about learning, and it drives us to be better next year,” says Alonso Osuna, a team member.
The Mexican team was fortunate to be accompanied in the final by two Mexican Tec graduate presenters, Marlene Papadopulus and Samantha Muñoz. During each round, they highlighted Mexico’s historic new milestone in the competition and supported the team by speaking in Spanish during their entrance.
The winning team in this world championship was the blue alliance, made up of:
- Jack in the Bot 2910 from Washington, USA
- MadTown Robotics 1323 from California, USA
- Maverick Robotics 4272 from Indiana, USA
Mexico wins its first Woodie Flowers Award
In addition to the historic place in the finals, for the first time ever, a Mexican mentor, Francisco Guerra, was awarded the Woodie Flowers Award, one of FIRST’s highest honors.
This award was established in honor of one of FIRST’s co-founders, former MIT professor Woodie Claude Flowers, who passed away in 2019.
The award is presented to mentors who have demonstrated outstanding commitment to their team, guiding students not only in technical aspects, but also in values such as professionalism and inspiration.
“The Woodie Flowers Award represents much more than individual recognition”, Francisco told CONECTA.
“It’s a symbolic representation of the impact that mentors can have when they dedicate their time, knowledge, and passion to transforming the lives of thousands of students through robotics,” he added.
Very few people have had the privilege of receiving this recognition, but for Francisco, this recognition also comes with great responsibility.
“As some previous winners told me, with more eyes on me, I will now inspire people globally”.
“Being considered a role model within such a passionate and committed community motivates me to continue growing, learning, and supporting those who come after me even more".
Guerra started at FIRST 10 years ago as a coach for BotBusters. Three years ago, he also took on the leadership of Tec’s National Team, which consists of almost 60 teams: 31 in the FRC category and 28 in FTC.
“He has enabled all of us who are part of this team to grow in a similar way and at the same time,” explains Samantha Muñoz, Tec graduate and presenter of the FIRST World Cup matches.
“He has managed to raise the level of competitiveness without the teams losing their original essence, without losing what makes them unique or different from each other,” she added.
In addition, he has provided support to all teams, trained all coaches, and even created a website displaying the schedules and details of each PrepaTec team’s matches during the Championship.
Robots in the ocean, the 2025 challenge
In the REEFSCAPE 2025 edition, teams explored life under the ocean with their robots in two stages: an autonomous stage and a driver-operated stage.
The challenge is between two alliances, each consisting of three robots, which compete for points by:
- Collecting algae (balls)
- Seeding coral (tubes) on the reefs (metal structures with bars)
- Returning to the barge (a central metal platform that marks the end of the challenge).
In addition, alliances can earn extra points by reaching certain performance thresholds and collaborating with opponents.
According to Laura Tapia, the team’s coach, the LamBot robot was designed to move freely: “It can go in any direction without turning first.
“It has a fast lifter thanks to special springs, which allow it to go up and down almost instantly.
“It also has a system that quickly grabs the pieces and places them in exact positions.
“Furthermore, it has a smart camera that helps it align itself with great precision, without anyone having to control it manually”.
To achieve these characteristics, 11 months of training, 6 weeks of construction, and a multidisciplinary team of between 20 and 50 people are required. The team is organized into areas such as mechanics, electrical engineering, programming, design, administration, communication, and social action.
Beyond technical competence, this experience fosters the development of fundamental skills such as collaboration, self-management, communication, critical thinking, and teamwork.
“These skills are for life and are part of the PrepaTec seal,” according to Crisantos Martínez, Dean of PrepaTec.
In this edition, over 31 PrepaTec FRC teams played in different regions, with 11 qualifying for the championship. For Crisantos:
“It’s a dream come true. We have 11 teams in FRC representing PrepaTec’s national team, all of which have qualified for the world championship. They compete and have fun in an atmosphere of cooperation and, at the same time, rivalry.”
The teams participating in the championship were:
- Roult from PrepaTec Laguna - winner of the Engineering Inspiration Award in its division at the 2024 Championship
- LamBot from PrepaTec San Luis Potosí - winner of the Engineering Inspiration Award in its division at the 2024 Championship
- BotBusters from PrepaTec Eugenio Garza Sada - winner of the 2025 Monterrey Regional Competition
- Cyberius from PrepaTec Santa Catarina - qualified by points
- Horus from PrepaTec Colima - qualified by points
- TecDroid from PrepaTec Querétaro – winner of the Impact Award
- Overture from PrepaTec Cumbres - winner in the Heartland Regional, USA
- Voltec from PrepaTec Eugenio Garza Lagüera - qualified by points
- StingBots from PrepaTec Santa Anita - winner of the FIRST Impact Award
- MechRams from PrepaTec Chihuahua - qualified by points
- High Altitude from PrepaTec Toluca - qualified by points
According to Francisco Guerra, the number increases every year. “We’ve grown a lot and will continue to grow. Right now, we have 11 robots in the world championship, last year there were 10, and the year before that there were 9”.
About the world finals of the 2025 FIRST Robotics Competition
The FIRST Robotics Competition (for young people aged 14 to 18) combines the excitement of sport with the rigor of science and technology. Working with adult mentors, students design, build, and program their robots to meet the season’s challenge.
This is one of the world’s largest robotics tournaments, with 600 teams competing in rotating alliances in one of eight divisions over several rounds to earn qualifying points and advance to the playoffs.
The divisions were: Archimedes, Curie, Daly, Galileo, Hopper, Johnson, Milestein, and Newton.
FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) was founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen.
It’s a global organization that prepares young people for the future through inclusive, team-based robotics programs.
The event was held at the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, Texas.
ALSO WATCH THE INSIDE TEC VIDEO ABOUT THE FIRST 2025 WORLD CHAMPIONSHIP:
Seleccionar notas relacionadas automáticamente
1
Category:
Related stories
