Silicon Valley Regional (SVR)
Friday was a really exciting day for everyone. The real matches were actually starting and we had a working robot. Grace moved in all of our matches and we even got to stack four totes. This was an improvement and got the team pumped up for more matches. Friday wasn’t just fun seeing our robot improve but it was also cool to see the other robots. We saw most of the robots before at the Central Valley Regional, but almost all of the robots had gotten better and it was nice to see different robots as well. It was great that the event was in the area as well because other people from outside of robotics came to see our work. Even our principal and vice-principal came to see Grace in the competition. It was a great experience and I know the whole team felt proud of what Grace did and what we did.
Gabby DavilaClass of 2018
Central Valley Regional
Friday was the first actual day of competition where the team made a lot of changes and improvements to Grace. We were able to finish building our sub-system mechanisms, which include the reorientation, singulation, forklift, and the boxlift. Drive team was even able to briefly test out all of Grace’s functions before the actual matches started. But Friday wasn’t all work and no play. A lot of our members had a lot of fun pit scouting the other teams and getting information about their robots. The safety glasses table was especially fun for the team because it gave everyone a chance to unwind and relax from the busy competition. We ended our chaotic day with a dinner at Sweet Tomatoes, where everyone especially enjoyed the unlimited ice cream sundaes available at our liking.
Paulina RoblesClass of 2017
The first few matches on Saturday went perfectly, and most of the pit crew’s work was tidying up the pit. However, at lunchtime, one of Grace’s ropes snapped during drive practice, and we had approximately 15 minutes to replace it before the next match. I was put in charge of that, and we replaced the rope in time. It was stressful to be working with a clock ticking, but at the same time, it was an exhilarating experience that helped me learn a lot about the weak points on the robot and how to counteract them. Unfortunately, all of the ropes decided that they had had enough, and they snapped one by one. Even though we played a match with our main mechanism inoperable because we had not had enough time to fix broken part, the drive team was still able to score points by pulling totes from the center field. At the end of the day, we were ranked 33rd. To me, our ranking didn’t matter much because we were able to get a robot onto the field that could play the game in some way for every match.
Julia HuntClass of 2018
Sunday was the last day of our competition and while we may not have won we had gained a lot. From the start we knew we were at a disadvantage because our team simply did not have the resources that other teams had. However, what we did have was spirit and determination. Even though we consisted of a team where most of its members had two or less years of experience, we still managed to build a robot that functioned. The robot made it out to every match and could participate in every match. To top that off we had enormous support for the drive team. Both of these showed that we are a team that is capable and still growing. I can’t wait for the next competition so that we can show off our Jankster spirit!
Natasha PalamuttamClass of 2015
Food and Fun
February 20, 2015
Phew. Finally done with Build Season, though there’s still a lot of work left to do. These last 6 weeks have been really tiring and busy, with students working long hours to finish building our robot. But I think it was all worth it when we got most of our robot working. I’m pretty sure most of us thought that we wouldn’t have a working robot, no matter how hard we pushed ourselves, so it was awesome to see everything slowly coming together and then finally working.
Yashna BansalClass of 2017
Food and Fun? In only one entry? This should be two different entries. Where do I even start? Food is great with the Janksters. Mentors and parents bring in the best food. We’ve gotten milk tea and CREAM for the whole team. We get bagels in the mornings sometimes and don’t get me started on the snicker-doodles one of the moms bring in. I don’t know what I would do without all of the great food that comes in from the parents. Building and thinking is hard when you’re running on an empty stomach after all. But we don’t just build and think. We have fun too. Now that build season’s over we’ll be having our annual trip to Ben and Jerry’s to name the robot. I love staying late at robotics because even though I come home with no motive or time to do homework, it’s just so much fun. Not many people stay late so you get to bond a whole lot more and just have a great time while working hard. Spending so much time with the girls means that everyone knows each other a whole lot better, be it through belting songs while building or struggling through CAD while telling corny pick-up lines. (Or maybe that’s just for mechanical and electronics.)
Minh-Chau DoanClass of 2017
Robot Reveal Night
Robot reveal night is the day the team is able to show off what we worked on during the 6 weeks of build season. Because I am the Electronics Committee Lead, I explained to the audience what my committee members did during the 6 weeks. It was the first time I talked in front of a huge audience and it was very nerve wracking. This opportunity helped me get over my fear of public speaking.The most memorable moment that night was seeing the robot stack totes for the first time. Because was not working on the robot the last couple of days, I had not seen the new mechanisms that had been added onto the robot. I was surprised at how well our robot could stack the totes and am so excited for the regional!
Rikako ShimizuClass of 2017
Fifth Week
Robotics has been a really fun experience for me. Our entire team has been getting to know each other and we treat one another as our own family. As a rookie, I did not know what to expect, but being a part of Marketing has helped me learn many things like editing a website and learning about Photoshop. This week will be an intense week as Mechanical started to build the robot. I am so excited and can’t wait to see how our robot will turn out!
– Amritha SankarappanClass of 2018
This week was pretty crazy as we all started to feel the pressure of finishing our robot for Robot Reveal Night. I could tell that the mechanical and electronics committee were picking up their pace, setting priorities, and working very diligently. I’m on the programming and committee, and we were hard at work on our code. Even with our intense focus that allowed us to progress a lot throughout this week, we still managed to find time to have fun. I remember one day I stayed late with Natasha, another member on the programming committee, and we had lots of fun alternating from debugging our code to laughing at High School Musical videos.
– Kimberly ZhangClass of 2016
Fourth Week
During these past couple of weeks, our team has been really busy, but we found time to connect and strengthen our bond as a team. On Tuesday, we sat in a circle and shared our funny experiences we had as a Jankster. As a rookie, I am brand new to everything and did not really know what to expect, but I already feel like I am part of the team. I feel like what I benefited from this team are that I developed new skills, expanded my knowledge, as well as built new friend relationships. Going into our 4th week, we know that we are already halfway and these next few weeks are going to be more intense and nerve racking. However, I believe that together, my team, is capable of building an awesome robot and it will be an exhilarating and fun experience to see our robot come together.
Kathy HoangClass of 2017
Week 4 of build season has come to a close, and the Janksters are still steadily working their way towards a working robot. Hitting the halfway point of build season added a greater sense of urgency to our work; we are all definitely feeling the time crunch now. This past week, however, I have been excited to see this increased urgency translate into progress. Several mechanical subgroups–specifically our chassis group and “boxlift”/lifting mechanism group–have started manufacturing parts and building the physical structure of our robot.I have also been very impressed with how all of the Janksters, both rookies and veterans, have risen to the challenges of build season. After only 4 weeks, I have seen incredible growth in technical knowledge, leadership, and communication skills. There is still a lot of work to be done before we have this year’s robot, and there’s always more to be learned, so I am looking forward to seeing how much we progress in the next 2 weeks.
Regina WalkerClass of 2015
Third Week
Third WeekJanuary 30, 2015
Being a rookie and a junior has been quite stressful this build season, however I have had learned so much over the course of the season. For the past two weeks I have been working with one of the most energetic and experienced mentors, Tamara. She has been guiding me through this journey of Robotics and patiently taking me step-by-step with our CAD design. At first, I thought that I would hate CADing, but once I understood the process I started to resent it less. With CADing I was able to create a visual representation of what our mechanism would look like and to work to accomplish any kinks that came with our mechanism.
Ysabel ZagalaClass of 2016
Second Week
January 24, 2015
A lot of prototyping of many different ideas happened in the second week of build season. In each group, we worked on making prototypes and finding solutions to potential problems with them. We also started figuring out which prototypes we would be putting on the robot and how we would do that. There were five whole work days to make great progress because of the semester break. The two weeks were very exciting, and I am looking forward to continuing work on the robot.
Elaine DuhClass of 2018
Robotics is more than a club, to me, it is a family. This years game is Recycle Rush and it has been both exciting and nerve racking. The game itself is really cool because I am in APES and it connects both environmental science and technology together. Although it is exciting, Recycle Rush is also a bit nerve racking because of how complicated and sophisticated it is. Lucky for me, my student run team is very optimistic and hardworking that there was no way I could be nervous for long. This team has allowed me to improve my communicating skills and become more patient and understanding. Overall, I am extremely excited and I cannot wait until I see how our robot turns out!
Megha MallyaClass of 2016
First Week
When build season started, I wasn’t sure what to expect. I knew that there were going to be longer days, but that was about all I knew. When it started, I quickly found that it was more than just longer days. We were split into groups to work on things from experimenting to strategy. But what I soon realized was that the days didn’t feel as long as I thought they would. Over the next few days, we all made a lot of progress. I’m looking forward to be able to keep working on everything.
–Hannah PatrignaniClass of 2018
As soon as the 2015 FRC game, Recycle Rush, was revealed the first week of build season had begun! The brainstorming began, we brainstormed many strategies for stacking and scoring. We also went to the gym and played the game as if we were the robots. That was a fun way for us to understand the game. We then started using legos to make basic prototypes for mechanisms. I am looking forward to an exciting build season!
– Ishika NarainClass of 2017
Kickoff
On the last Saturday of winter break tired Janksters piled into a cold classroom. The enthusiasm wasn’t really evident at first but as time came closer to the release of 2015’s challenge the anticipation rose. I cannot express the excitement in my teammates eyes as the video began. Immediately after the release of Recycle Rush the chatter intensified as students joined into groups to brainstorm. This period of brainstorming always reminds of how our imagination becomes reality through robots. Simple and complex ideas can be made and applied in real life. It’s safe to say that though brainstorming is tedious and long it’s where the magic happens.
Parisa DeokuleClass of 2017
I didn’t know what to expect going into kickoff since this year is my first season in robotics. But I could feel the tension in the room as the video started and everyone in the theater at San Jose State eagerly awaited the announcement. After watching the founders of FIRST discuss their inspirations and various messages of encouragement from sponsors, they finally got down to business. The new game is Recycle Rush, where teams will compete to stack totes and recycling bins and dispose of “litter”. I heard the gasps as it was announced that bumpers were no longer necessary. This year’s game will be different. There is more strategy involved and there are three different playing pieces on the field. However, after reading the game manual and discussing with teammates, I understand the game more and am very excited to see how our team and other teams solve this unique problem.
–Emma RyanClass of 2018
2015 marks my third year as a Jankster, and my second year as a veteran. That being said, I didn’t really know what to expect for this year’s task — it seems as though FIRST has covered every sport imaginable, from basketball to frisbee! However, arriving at school on January 3 to experience Kickoff with my fellow Janksters, I knew that if there was anything that could be expected, it was that FIRST’s challenge would be nothing short of stimulating. And I was right; the moment I heard the title “Recycle Rush”, I knew that our team — and other teams participating in the FRC– would be in for another great year filled with learning, collaboration, and epiphanies. This time, not only would we be challenged to produce a capable robot, we would have to keep large scale ideas such as environmental friendliness in mind as well. As a Notre Dame student, I love the idea of incorporating environmental stewardship into the FRC program. It just goes to show that the technology we are creating can be used not only to improve our own lives, but to prolong the life of our Earth as well, an idea that resonates well with ND’s virtues of advocacy and social justice.Here’s to a great 2015 season!
Ilumin GacayanClass of 2016
Toys for Tots
Recently, many Janksters went to the Toys for Tots event on December 21 to help out with giving out toys to families. I worked as a table organizer but served as a toy runner when the other members took a break. I was surprised by the sea of toys in the area that had and had not been sorted. I also never knew that figuring out the proper places for toys required so much thinking until after participating in this event. It was very fun and exhilarating to rush around trying to find the toys the families wanted while I was a toy runner. Even though I went home with dusty hands from the toys and sore feet from rushing around, I was happy to have contributed to such a good cause. Overall, I think the event was a success, and I will definitely volunteer at this event next year!
Jasmine LeeClass of 2018
This past Sunday, a couple of us Janksters went to the Santa Clara Fairgrounds to participate in Toys for Tots. Let me say this, I have never seen so many gifts or happy kids in my life before. Take Target times 3 and ringing ears of joy, that is what this experience felt like. Some of us were choosing gifts in the background and the rest of us were delivering gifts on the other side of the curtain. I think it’s safe to say that for the people behind the curtain, we loved hearing the kids squeal with joy. For the people handing the gifts, I bet they loved watching kids’ faces stretch as they smile. I definitely look forward to doing this again. It only makes the holidays happier.
Anisha PatelClass of 2016
FLL Tournament
I had so much fun and an overall amazing time at FLL. I loved all the team work that the Janksters showed, and I enjoyed seeing how involved the kids wanted to be. When I saw how excited the kids were to drive our robot or catch the ball, I had on the biggest smile. Some of the shifts that I worked included our concession stand, and our demo area. By the time that I went home each day, I was so happy, and felt accomplished. Even though FLL can be tiring because of the long shifts or focusing all your energy on the kids, I look forward to participating in FLL next year.
Stephanie BoyerClass of 2017
Recently, the Janksters went to the FLL Tournament at Intel where we sold concessions, demonstrated our robots, and assisted with the matches. I worked at the coffee station (which was very popular for the adults) at first, then went on to be the time keeper for the competition. It was interesting to meet so many people at the coffee stand, and be able to see the competition up close as a timer. I also noticed that the children in the groups were overall very accepting with their score. For instance, I heard a young girl say something along the lines of, “It’s okay; we can fix it and do better next time!” My shift ended after a pizza lunch, but the competition took up the rest of the day and the next day as well. I believe that the FLL Tournament was a huge success, and it was fascinating to learn more about how the younger generation is getting involved in the STEM field with something we all know and love: Legos!
Gillian McGinnisClass of 2018
Thursday Workshop
This was our first meeting where we met in the afternoon instead of right after school. It was fun to eat dinner with the team and get taught by the mentors in the different workshops. In my workshop, I went with Mr. Miller to Lowe’s to look at the different supplies and resources we can use while building the robot. One thing we looked at were rivets, which would be an alternative way to put something together like the chassis. I had so much fun wandering around the store with my friends and singing songs in the car on the way there and back. Looking at the things we could possibly use to make our robot with and goofing off with friends from our team really got me pumped for the build season coming up!
Lauren SchirleClass of 2017
VEX Robotics
VEX RoboticsNov. 24, 2014
The VEX robots brought together many friends and ideas. I think that I learned about what some of the commities my group members are good at. I was a good experience because we got to learn what we were good at and we got to learn about how others think. I would have liked to see the course instead of programming without know what the course would look like. I learned that a lot of the screws could come unfastend really easily. This is one of the reasons it took a long time to make the robots. Our robot was supposed go through a maze pushing or some how getting PVC pipes to the other end of the maze. Overall, I had a lot of fun making this robot.
Amber KesapradistClass of 2018
Using VEX was kind of intimidating at first. When we got all of the materiels we needed, the first thing that I saw was the huge binder filled with information ranging from how to assemble the actual robot, to how to programm it. The robot itself was just a jumble of parts that somehow had to come together to make a functioning robot that could pick up PVC pipes. I later discovered that it was not as hard as it seemed. We all worked together, and soon enough, we had a functioning robot that could drive around (sometimes into the occasional chair) All in all, it gave me a pretty good idea of what building the actual robot could be like.
Hannah PatrignaniClass of 2018
Cancer Walk
While driving to the cancer walk last Saturday, I had no idea what I was about to experience. Before this, I’d never been to any kind of fundraising walk, so I wasn’t expecting too many people to show up. However, once I reached Discovery Meadow, where the walk would begin, I was so surprised that there were many people of various ages there to support the event. The park was filled with people holding red, white, and yellow lanterns, and they set up several booths, representing the teams for the walk. People with white lanterns were the survivors, yellow lanterns were held in the memory of family and friends, and red lanterns marked all the supporters. It was so inspiring to see everyone come together for the Light the Night Walk under one goal, to fight Leukemia and Lymphoma. The highlight of the whole experience was listening to Mimi’s incredible speech. All of the Janksters gathered in front of the stage during her speech, chanting “Mimi! Mimi!” It was such a memorable moment that motivated me to have an active role in my community throughout my life. The walk itself, which began after opening speeches, was so much fun. The Janksters all walked together, occasionally singing songs along the way. Holding lanterns in the night created a very beautiful image, and some drivers even began to press their horns in support of our walk. The amount of energy people brought to the event was truly amazing. Overall, the night was extremely enjoyable, and I will definitely participate in this event again next year.
Mahima ChillakantiClass of 2018
Light the Night Walk
While driving to the cancer walk last Saturday, I had no idea what I was about to experience. Before this, I’d never been to any kind of fundraising walk, so I wasn’t expecting too many people to show up. However, once I reached Discovery Meadow, where the walk would begin, I became so surprised. With so many people of various ages there to support the event, finding parking itself was difficult. The park was filled with people holding red, white, and yellow lanterns, and they set up several booths, representing the teams for the walk. People with white lanterns were the survivors, yellow lanterns were held in the memory of family and friends, and red lanterns marked all the supporters. It was so inspiring to see everyone come together for the Light the Night Walk under one goal, to fight Leukemia and Lymphoma. The highlight of the whole experience was listening to Mimi’s incredible speech. All of the Janksters gathered in front of the stage during her speech, chanting “Mimi! Mimi!” It was such a memorable moment that motivated me to have an active role in my community throughout my life. The walk itself, which began after opening speeches, was so much fun. The Janksters all walked together, occasionally singing songs along the way. Holding lanterns in the night created a very beautiful image, and some drivers even began to press their horns in support of our walk. The amount of energy people brought to the event was truly amazing. Overall, the night was extremely enjoyable, and I will definitely participate in this event again next year.
–Mahima ChillakantiClass of 2018
Open House
Honestly, when I first came to the open house, I didn’t really know what I was talking about or what to expect, and I figured I would just improvise as I went along. I was surprised by the amount of people that came interested in robotics, and I found it become much easier to answer their questions and concerns as more people came and I gained experience. At the open house, we mostly aimed to expand awareness about our team and hopefully gain interest from others as well as future members. I’d say that it was a complete success, and we definitely managed to talk to a lot of people and raise interest and awareness regarding our team.
– Tiffany TaClass of 2017
Workshop on Scratch
Learning Scratch from Ms. Duffin, Notre Dame’s technology, engineering, and design program head, was quite the experience. I entered the workshop, not really knowing what to expect. In fact, I thought Scratch was pretty sketch. I also wasn’t sure how dragging differently colored rectangles had anything to do with programming. As I experimented more on Scratch (using the tutorial), I saw that it had extreme relevance to programming, especially the logic aspect of it. We had some technology problems at first as one should expect from Notre Dame’s brilliant technology but I learned a lot and greatly enjoyed the workshop. I feel confident in my ability to help others on Notre Dame’s Hour of Code Day and look forward to it.
Minh-Chau DoanClass of 2017
I had a blast learning how to use the program Scratch. Everyone played around on Scratch to figure out the basics themselves, and everyone enjoyed looking at what other people had done in the end. We all had a laugh putting together backgrounds and sprites and strange noises to form images and stories. At the end of the session, everyone put together a pirate story. Using the images that were given to us, we individually made a story or interactive game with Scratch. Although everyone was at first somewhat uneasy about learning a new form of programming, especially those of us who had no experience whatsoever, we all had a great time playing around with it. I am sure we are all more eager to learn about programming by the end of this year.
Miyo ImaiClass of 2018
Workshop on Scratch
Learning Scratch from Ms. Duffin, Notre Dame’s technology, engineering, and design program head, was quite the experience. I entered the workshop, not really knowing what to expect. In fact, I thought Scratch was pretty sketch. I also wasn’t sure how dragging differently colored rectangles had anything to do with programming. As I experimented more on Scratch (using the tutorial), I saw that it had extreme relevance to programming, especially the logic aspect of it. We had some technology problems at first as one should expect from Notre Dame’s brilliant technology but I learned a lot and greatly enjoyed the workshop. I feel confident in my ability to help others on Notre Dame’s Hour of Code Day and look forward to it.
Minh-Chau DoanClass of 2017
I had a blast learning how to use the program Scratch. Everyone played around on Scratch to figure out the basics themselves, and everyone enjoyed looking at what other people had done in the end. We all had a laugh putting together backgrounds and sprites and strange noises to form images and stories. At the end of the session, everyone put together a pirate story. Using the images that were given to us, we individually made a story or interactive game with Scratch. Although everyone was at first somewhat uneasy about learning a new form of programming, especially those of us who had no experience whatsoever, we all had a great time playing around with it. I am sure we are all more eager to learn about programming by the end of this year.
Miyo ImaiClass of 2018
Scratch Workshop
Learning Scratch from Ms. Duffin, Notre Dame’s technology, engineering, and design program head, was quite the experience. I entered the workshop, not really knowing what to expect. In fact, I thought Scratch was pretty sketch. I also wasn’t sure how dragging differently colored rectangles had anything to do with programming. As I experimented more on Scratch (using the tutorial), I saw that it had extreme relevance to programming, especially the logic aspect of it. We had some technology problems at first as one should expect from Notre Dame’s brilliant technology but I learned a lot and greatly enjoyed the workshop. I feel confident in my ability to help others on Notre Dame’s Hour of Code Day and look forward to it.
– Minh-Chau DoanClass of 2017
I had a blast learning how to use the program Scratch. Everyone played around on Scratch to figure out the basics themselves, and everyone enjoyed looking at what other people had done in the end. We all had a laugh putting together backgrounds and sprites and strange noises to form images and stories. At the end of the session, everyone put together a pirate story. Using the images that were given to us, we individually made a story or interactive game with Scratch. Although everyone was at first somewhat uneasy about learning a new form of programming, especially those of us who had no experience whatsoever, we all had a great time playing around with it. I am sure we are all more eager to learn about programming by the end of this year.
– Miyo ImaiClass of 2018