Summit High’s ‘Chaos Theory’ robotics team wins 10th at FIRST World Championship in Houston
BEND, Ore. (KTVZ) -- "Chaos Theory," Summit High School's FIRST Robotics team from Bend recently reached the semi-finals at the FIRST World Championship in Houston. This achievement caps what may be the most accomplished season in Central Oregon robotics history.
The team also made history by winning the Industrial Design Award at all four competitions they entered this season. No team in the history of the game has ever won this award at every competition in a single season.
The Industrial Design Award recognizes the team whose machine best demonstrates industrial design principles, balancing form, function and aesthetics. An independent panel judges this award at each event.
At the World Championship, judges had no prior knowledge of the robot or the team, evaluating "Chaos Theory" against 600 programs from around the globe, including multi-year world champions. The team consistently received the same positive result.
The FIRST Championship, held in Houston, is the largest youth robotics event globally. It draws more than 50,000 attendees from 66 countries across three programs, ranging from kindergarten through 12th grade.
The FIRST Championship took place from April 29 through May 2 at the George R. Brown Convention Center. "Chaos Theory" competed in the FIRST Robotics Competition, which is the high school flagship program, within the Archimedes Division.
"Chaos Theory" finished its qualification matches ranked 10th out of 75 teams. During Alliance Selection, the team emerged as Alliance Captain #seven. Through the selection process, a top-eight captain chose to join another alliance, moving the captain position down to "Chaos Theory."
The team then selected its partners, built its alliance and competed in the Division Playoffs. They were ultimately defeated by powerful alliances that included teams holding multiple World Championship titles.
This season marked "Chaos Theory's" second consecutive trip to the World Championship. In the previous season, the team also reached the semi-finals.
Before arriving at the World Championship this season, "Chaos Theory" had already achieved a significant milestone. They became the first team from Central Oregon to enter the Pacific Northwest District Championship ranked number one, topping 126 teams across Oregon, Wash. and Alaska. They finished that event ranked second, defeating the reigning 2025 World Champion.
The "Chaos Theory" team consists of approximately 25 students and eight mentors from Summit High School. More than 30 sponsors provide support for the team.
The team returns to Bend today. After a period of rest, they will begin preparations for the next season, which is scheduled to kick off in January 2027.
