Local Octobots Robotics Team Places Second At State Championship, Earning Spot On World Stage

“Team Octobots” Seek Community Support to Compete in World Championships to Represent Santa Barbara County

Santa Barbara County–based, Octobots Robotics Team, a group of more than 30 volunteer high school students, defied the odds as a “dark horse” contender and won second place at the FIRST Robotics Southern California State Championship in Anaheim earlier this month.

The finish qualifies the team for the FIRST Robotics World Championship, to be held April 28–May 2, 2026, in Houston, Texas—marking their second appearance on the global stage after earning a spot as Rookie of the Year in their inaugural 2023 season. The team is now working hard in efforts to raise $50,000 needed to cover travel costs for all students on the team to attend.

Named the “dark horse to watch” by a popular robotics YouTube channel, FRC Forecast (@FunRoboticsNetwork) on a pre-competition episode, Team Octobots earned their title by placing 13 out of 60 teams during the qualifying matches at the competition in Anaheim.

Following the qualifying matches, the Octobots alliance team beat out the higher seated alliance teams and steadily earned their way to the finals. In the final matches, they took second place only to the top-ranking alliance team led by “Team High Tide”, a team ranked #3 globally (out of 3,725 total worldwide teams).

When asked about the moment he realized Team Octobots was going to the World Championships, Team Captain and senior at Dos Pueblos High School, Zeo Pereira shared, “That moment came after we won our semifinals match against a much higher seated alliance, where the score showed that we were going to lose by one out of 500 points, before final points were tallied and our alliance came out on top. We were ready for the heartbreak after missing out on World Championships last year by only two points, and one point the year before. That moment meant a lot to me, especially after a season of early mornings on school nights, up until 3 AM at robotics, and then back to school at 9 AM for several days at a time. It was a big mental battle. I’m proud of the growth our team has shown.”

Uma Vulliez, Team Octobots Vice Captain and a Junior at Dos Pueblos High School shared, “I was so happy the moment I first realized we were going to the World Championships. Getting to the Southern California State Championships is already a difficult battle, so I feel a lot of pride that we are 1 of only 46 teams in all of California to be heading to the World Stage. Making it to this next level feels like we have already succeeded as a team.”

The Octobots will be one of 600 teams (out of 3,725 total teams) from around the world to compete at the FIRST Robotics World Championship Competition later this month. In addition to preparing the robot for Worlds, Team Octobots is now focused on raising funds to cover the cost of registration, travel, and meals to get them to the World Championships in Houston Texas. The team needs to cover an estimated $50,000 in expenses to ensure every student on the team is able to attend.

If you would like to support the local team, please visit https://givebutter.com/help-us-get-to-championships to make a donation or stop by the team’s workshop to drop off a donation and wish them good luck this weekend from 12 Noon to 6 PM at the old Goleta Pier One location in the Camino Real Marketplace.

About Octobots Robotics Team 9084

Established by a small group of high school students and volunteer mentors in 2023 as the only FIRST Robotics team for grades 9 through 12 in the Goleta and Santa Barbara area, Octobots Robotics is an all-volunteer, all-inclusive team of 30 to 40 high school students based out of Dos Pueblos High School. The program is dedicated to inspiring students to become science and technology leaders and innovators by engaging in mentor-based programs and competitions that build engineering and technology skills. The team is further committed to promoting STEM education in the community, volunteering at local science nights, community fairs, and through a summer camp for students entering grades 5 through 9. Octobots is currently ranked in the top 6% (224 out of 3,725) of FIRST Robotics teams in the world, top 6% (187 out of 2,944) in the United States, and top 13% (38 out of 291) in the highly competitive California district.

Octobots Robotics lead sponsors include Arthrex, Bodenhamer Family, Dos Pueblos High School, Karl Storz, Santa Barbara Venture Partners, Teledyne FLIR, Teledyne Lecroy, Toyon, and Waters-Wyatt Technology. Visit www.teamoctobots.org for more information.

About FIRST Robotics

FIRST Robotics is an international nonprofit organization that prepares young people for the future through a suite of life-changing youth robotics programs that build skills, confidence, and resilience. With new challenges each year, high school teams from around the world, compete to solve an engineering design problem in a high energy, intense game. This year’s competition focuses on designing, building, and programming a robot from concept to competition that will pick up kickball-sized game pieces from the ground, drive over an obstacle, launch the game pieces accurately into a 7-foot-tall target, and climb a ladder. Visit www.firstinspires.org/robotics/frc for more information.