Week 3-5 Build POVS
Through weeks 3-5, we pretty much made the whole robot. It was super fun watching the robot come to life from drawings in a notebook to a real-life robot. In these past couple weeks, I have learned so much about CAD and everything else in mechanical.
Ella Hedman
Class of 2021
Build season has been a mix of fun and intense. I am a co-lead of the In n' Out group and for the past few weeks we've been focusing on the finishing up our CAD and manufacturing and assembling our mechanism. It's been really great teaching Leela, the rookie in my group, new things, especially in CAD. I've grown really close to the other members of my group too.
Lily Johnson
Class of 2019
These past few weeks, the programming committee has made a lot of progress with vision tracking, autonomous, and game component code. Each group is working on something new for this year, and it's really exciting to be involved in the technical growth of our committee. I'm in the vision tracking group and we just finished finding the distance from the camera to the reflective tape. We hope to find the angle from the camera to the tape and connect the Jetson to the roboRIO in the next few weeks, and I can't wait to see our code run on the robot.
Elaine Duh Class of 2018
Week 2 Build POVS
Janksters from Electronics and Programming share their personal experiences with Week 2!
Electronics has been quite busy this week. We've made great progress on our CAD for our boards, though the design has ended up being changed, and on our CAD for several other components we had to work on. I personally have been working on the horizontal electronics board and, from time to time, fixing up the programming robot for Programming to be able to test their code. Build Season is definitely getting more intense now, but I'm still really excited to see how it all turns out in the remaining upcoming weeks.
Srija Ponna Class of 2020
For the past week in the programming committee, we've been working on a couple of different projects. There's one group working on programming the different game components on the robot, another autonomous focused group, and a vision tracking group that's working on integrating the Jetson TX1 with our robot. I'm in the autonomous focused group and we've just started working on a PID controller with the gyro to accomplish some of the various turns in our autonomous routes. This is around the time of the season in which I've begrudgingly adapted to school being my primary home, and so far, it's been a fun couple of weeks.
Anisha Kabir
Class of 2019
Week 1 Build POVs
Janksters share their take on Kickoff and the start of Build Season!
This year's Kickoff was the first I'd attended, yet it wasn't difficult to feel closely involved with the process - we all had the opportunity to brainstorm prototypes for this year's robot, and doing so really helped me think critically about the game and the potential mechanisms that could be used. During the week, my prototyping groups came up with a mechanism resembling a hug, a system using rollers to move the power cube, and others; after that, my committee (programming) set to work getting all of our devices up to speed for this year's game, and considering potential sensors to implement and how to code them. Many people envision robotics as the frantic rush of physically constructing a robot, but this week allowed us to experience the careful planning and diversity of ideas that go into creating a viable design, which is just as critical.
Sandhya Ganesan Class of 2021
Week one was extremely fun because my group (intake-- output) got to prototype and test different ideas. We made a list of requirements of what we want our mechanism to do. We also built prototypes and had a lot of mentors to help us out!
Shivani Vazirani Class of 2020
The first week of build season has gone by really fast. Electronics has been doing research about sensors that we might be using for this year’s game while mechanical finishes prototyping. We’ve also been working on small projects that branch out from electronics which has been engaging and fun. This year’s game is really interesting and I’m looking forward to our strategy and seeing how other teams plan theirs.
Emily Duh Class of 2019
Workshop POV
The Janksters have been busy holding workshops to train members in different skills! Read about Zainah's experience with these workshops.
As a freshmen, this is my first time doing Robotics and the workshops would really help introduce me to what they do and how they do it. I liked the fact that I got to experience a workshop and what a normal day in Robotics would look like. It provides you with the basic knowledge you need to join any of the committees. In electronics, I learned more about how they play a role in how a robot works and what it does. I hope to learn more about Robotics and the committees in future workshops. Go Janksters!
Zainah Masood Class of 2021
Boot Camp POVs
Grace and Leela share about their experiences attending Robotics Boot Camp and all of the cool things they learned!
Bootcamp was such a fun, informative, and enriching experience! Throughout it, I attended various workshops related to committees in the robotics team. In Arduino, I was able to program and wire an LED while Janky 101 taught me about team outreach. In CAD I was able to design a 3D doughnut and in tool use, I used power tools. Overall, bootcamp really made me excited and happy to join robotics.
Grace Boulos Class of 2021
Robotics Boot Camp definitely prepared me for robotics, but also introduced me to Notre Dame. I loved how even though I was a freshman, upperclassmen started conversations with me and made sure I never felt left out. There were a lot of things I hadn't tried before, like working with power tools and using CAD software, but I had fun learning about them and felt comfortable using them by the end of the camp. Overall, the part of the boot camp I liked the most was making new friends who shared the same enthusiasm for robotics!
Leela Mukherjee Class of 2021
Week 6 Build POVs
Janksters from different grades share their experiences with this Build Season, from it being their first to their last.
It's crazy thinking that this is my last build season! Week 6 means crunch time so we're all scrambling to make last minute decisions and putting the finishing touch on our robot. It's really different this year for me since I'm on Business now instead of Mechanical so the stress of putting actual items on the robot isn't as big for me. However, there's still a lot of planning and details that need to be worked out for my assignments. I can't believe my last Build Season is coming to a close. It's been an interesting one definitely but I'm glad I got to know my teammates better and gain new skills.
Minh-Chau DoanClass of 2017
This week, we have mostly worked on manufacturing parts for our second robot and making some final decisions and changes. It has been really stressful, but all the chaos is exciting at the same time. It’s strange that I'm already about to end my third build season and I can tell that I have grown so much since freshman year.
Nikita JagdishClass of 2018
Plagued with a mixture of nerves and excitement, I remember heading to kickoff at San Jose State, just six weeks ago. Now, after countless hours of trudging to school, I can't believe I'm saying this, but I want more time! After finishing driving and manual two speed transmissions code, our chassis programming group’s latest challenge is working on programming automatic two speed transmissions. We've been working on mapping the correlation between joystick values and encoder rates for driving our test robot. I’ve also been working on combining all of this season’s code into one comprehensive project, a task that has been tedious but rewarding to complete. Though it’s exhausting, the moments of success, growth, and joy that pop up during the rigor and intensity of build season are what constantly reinforce my love for robotics.
Anisha KabirClass of 2019
On week 6 of Build Season, I mainly focused on CADing the front and back camera mounts and had help from Ayusha, Becky, and our mentors. Because there was some last-minute updates about the mounting place of the camera, each of the camera mount had to be modified several times. Although we had to build several versions of each of the two different camera mounts, my skills in CADing had improved a lot, my critical thinking in designing a mount has improved, and my confidence in CADing has grown. Now that Build Season is coming to an end, I feel that the excitement is starting to lower down, but I am looking forward towards the Steamworks competition.
Michelle VanuyClass of 2020
Week 5 Build POVs
Elizabeth and Srija share about the work they did in their committees during Week 5 of Build Season.
It has been a really fun and productive week. I worked on the Robot Reveal Night agendas and invitations, which improved my skills in InDesign.
Elizabeth FernandesClass of 2020
This week we mostly worked on the Janky bot. We finished the two electronics boards and mounted them onto Janky bot so that Mechanical could test out their mechanisms. We also worked on pneumatics and encoders on the programming chassis so Programming could test out their code for those on the programming chassis.
Srija PonnaClass of 2020
Week 3 Build POVs
Week 3 is over and Janksters have shared about the progress they've made and the things they've learned.
Week 3 was really busy because we did a lot of decision-making about designs and mounting but it was fun because I also learned more about CADing and mating parts.
Maya KesapradistClass of 2020
This week, I learned how to CAD and 3D printed the robot's battery mount. Miranda and I designed a structure on CAD that held and strapped the battery in place. This was my first experience designing and creating something that would go on the robot.
Emily DuhClass of 2019
I helped teach rookies how to code and work on different projects with accelerometers. Lately, I’ve used resources a lot to look at different accelerometers and do more research to learn about them.
Tani PhamClass of 2018
Week 2 Build POVs
Week 2 has been full of new opportunities to learn and explore for Janksters.
Working on photography and videography this build season is exciting because I get to see how the team progresses with the robot through photos and videos while doing what I love. I could never have imagined a better way to showcase my editing skills and creating weekly recap videos has allowed me to express my enthusiasm for build season.
Clare TanClass of 2017
I've been learning a lot about encoders and it's been fun working with magnetic encoders and gearboxes. Week 2 has been pretty busy but I've been getting used to Build Season.
Srija PonnaClass of 2020
Week 1 Build POVs
A few of our rookies share their excitement and thoughts about Build Season Week 1!
It was fun to be involved in the idea process and know that the ideas you came up with would be incorporated into the robot at the end of the 6 week build period. I liked talking to people and bouncing ideas off each other and getting guidance because it was a new experience for me. I’m excited for the design process and coming up with ideas to boost morale and team energy.
Sakshi ShrivastavaClass of 2020
Build season was really good. We came up with a bunch of different ideas for prototypes, but there were some pros and cons for each, so now we’re deciding what we’re gonna go with. We’re making a prototype that actually works and we’re going to see if we can pull this together. I’m excited to see if this gear-picking-up mechanism works.
KK KumarClass of 2020
It was interesting because I haven’t really done anything like this before, so it was interesting to see how everyone broke up into different groups, and everyone had different ideas, and at the end, we would have wrap-up, and we would all share each other’s ideas and we could give each other advice. Even though I’m not in chassis, I’m excited to see the main chassis. It’s harder to envision it when there’s nothing there now, but when everything’s put together, we can see how everything’s going to work.
Bella PadgetClass of 2020
2016 Scavenger Hunt POV
Amber and Shivani talk about the Jankster's recent downtown Scavenger Hunt.
As a leader for the Scavenger Hunt, I had many responsibilities. I wanted to win and run a lot, but making people run was not a good plan. I was proud of myself for finding a person wearing black and red and getting a picture with them, even though they only spoke Chinese. I got to practice some Chinese with this lady. This Scavenger Hunt was really fun because I got to know some of my groupmates better than I had before.
Amber KesapradistClass of 2018
The Scavenger Hunt was a nice experience. I got to bond with the people in my group, and had a great time running around downtown. I had a fun time solving the clues with everyone and rushing to our next stops. The activities at the places were entertaining.
Shivani VaziraniClass of 2020
YWES 2016
Minh-Chau and Rabab share their experiences, respectively, of planning and attending this year's YWES.
I co-directed the Young Women Engineering Symposium with another senior, Rikako, this year. Seeing all my work for the past six months finally come to life was extremely rewarding. Rikako and I worked hard to get all the speakers and spread awareness about the event so to have 10 women engineers present and close to 90 attendees was amazing. The workshops I took a glimpse at were very interesting. I attended the previous two YWES and always emerged inspired so I hope the attendees this year did too. I really wanted to provide resources and let these girls know that there is so much opportunity and potential for them in STEM and I hope they felt empowered.
Minh-Chau DoanClass of 2017
I had a fantastic time at this year's Young Women's Engineering Symposium. I took three workshops (Biomedical, Industrial, and Systems Engineering), which all were so knowledgeable, because I knew so little about these fields beforehand. I particularly liked Systems Engineering, in which I had the opportunity to hear from an employee at Intuitive Surgical who is working on the da Vinci robot. As a senior on the team, it was great to see so many girls who are interested in STEM attending. All of the engineers really inspired me to pursue engineering as I enter college, and they gave unforgettable advice.
Rabab KarimjeeClass of 2017
Helping out at FLL
Volunteering at the First Lego League competition was an amazing experience in which I was able to bond with the other rookies and some veterans. The kids were positive and full of energy throughout the event. I was able to help in several parts, including taking photos, selling concessions, and helping with inspections. I went out of my comfort zone by talking to new people about their robots, all while having a fun time. Even though I was there for a long shift, the time flew by and I look forward to helping at FLL next year.
Elizabeth FernandesClass of 2020
As a new veteran my experience was different and interesting, and some of the roles I took on were things I never even realized had to be done. The new task that I had at the Intel FLL Tournament was being a field-resetter. At first when I saw that I was going to be doing an important job like this, I was honestly kind of worried. From experience in FRC I knew that this was a really important job and I was afraid I might mess something up by accident. When it was time for my shift to began, I went over to the competition field table, and seeing so many various lego constructions on that table, moving and being shuffled around every two minutes... did not reassure me. However like everything in FIRST and robotics in general, it seems scary but you honestly need to get used to it– and I did. After a few games of the referees showing me what to reset and look out for on the field, I got used to what I was doing and immediately began loving field reset. Ridding myself of those worries also gave me the chance to look at the brilliant FLL robots that each of the teams built and programmed, and it was very fascinating to see how the game challenge worked! (Also as field reset, I got to watch the games up close and in perfect view) In the end this year's FLL tournament went great for all the teams competing, for the Janksters, and especially for me as I got to take on a new role and enjoy the tournament.
Shreya BasireddyClass of 2019
At this year’s FLL competition, I was mentoring and coaching the Neon Nargals, an FLL team that Yashna and I started for our senior project. Since this was their very first competition, they were all excited to present their themed project, compete with their robot, and show off their core values. The team learned a lot from competing, and they are very eager to implement new changes to the robot and to their themed project presentation. One of the best parts of the day was during the awards ceremony when the team won the Core Values award and a ticket to advance to regionals.
Paulina RoblesClass of 2017
Space Systems Loral POV
Anika shares about the Janksters' field trip to Space Systems Loral.
Going on the Space Systems Loral field trip was a very interactive andeye-opening experience, in the sense that I was able to understand alot more about how satellites were made. The main thing I learned washow similar building a satellite- an object that goes up into space -was to building a robot, which really blew my mind.
Anika AsthanaClass of 2020
Competing at CalGames
KK and Miyo share about their experiences while at CalGames and the excitement of winning the competition and some awards.
This past weekend, I was fortunate to attend CalGames on Saturday. Although most of the rookies attending were completely exhausted from our overnight on Friday, it was a great experience that woke me up from the start. The team spirit in and out of the stands was enormous, and everyone showed up to work and have a great time. Even though rookies had a light load of stuff to do, I was engaged and in team spirit throughout the entirety of the competition. While sitting in the stands, I was impressed with how efficient and composed the drive team and pit crew were during the semi-finals and finals. Winning the System Design Award as well as the Mentor Award for Marta, and being the Champions of CalGames was a great way to end a wonderful competition. I am so proud of the Janksters, or rather, the JankSTARS!!!!
KK KumarClass of 2020
On October 7th and 8th, we attended the off-season competition Calgames, hosted by the Western Regional Robotics Forum. After the success from Chezy Champs, everyone was super excited and ready to see the robot perform well. Although I spent most of the competition in the pits as I was on drive team, I could see the happiness and enthusiasm from our team in the stands. I was also glad to see that the rookies were beginning to feel more included and more a part of the team than they were when they first joined. The level of excitement only increased as the competition progressed, with the team continuing on to eliminations with Team 1868 the Space Cookies and Team 3045 The Gear Gremlins. Several matches later, our alliance were declared the champions of the 2016 Calgames! To top it off, we also won the Systems Design Award for our scaling mechanism, and our coach, Marta Carrillo, won the Mentor Award. This was by far the most exciting competition that I have attended, and through all the dancing, anticipation, and success we experienced, the team was brought closer together. It truly was the best way to end our busy and successful Stronghold season and begin our 2016 to 2017 robotics year.
Miyo ImaiClass of 2018
Intuitive Surgical Open House
Madeleine talks about the workshops and tour she attended at the Intuitive Surgical Open House.
On Saturday, October 1, I had the opportunity to attend an open house at Intuitive Surgical, a local corporation that creates robots for surgical use. It was fascinating to see how robots are used in the health care field. I was able to test out several robots, and experience their ability to make very small, precise movements, based on my own hand movements. I also participated in a team building activity, building a house out of cards, tape, and string. The structure had to support a family of gummy bears, while withstanding the wind of a hairdryer. This activity gave me a chance to interact with other teams and work on my collaboration, engineering, and problem-solving skills. I really enjoyed this open house, and would like to thank Intuitive Surgical for providing such an amazing opportunity to robotics teams in the area.
Madeleine WaldieClass of 2020
Competing at Chezy Champs
Maddie and Julia share their experiences from competing at Chezy Champs.
On September 24 and 25, I had the opportunity to attend my very first robotics competition, Chezy Champs, at Bellarmine. I had no idea what to expect, but from the moment I entered the room, I found the excitement electrifying. I spent my day doing so many different things, such as scouting, interacting with other teams, cheering in the stands, watching our robot compete, and pitching in and unloading the van at NDSJ after the competition was over. From rookies to veterans, we worked together as a team to accomplish our goals. It was rewarding to see that everyone’s contributions played a part in our placement in the quarter-finals.
Chezy Champs went really well for the Janksters. We didn’t lose robot communications once during the competition, and our robot scaled seven times. I spent the entirety of Chezy Champs in the pits, repairing the robot between matches and resetting the scaling mechanism. I really enjoyed getting to compete with “The Best of the West,” and I’m really proud that we held our own. I can’t wait to go again next year.
Julia Hunt
Class of 2018
Robotics Boot Camp/ New Year
Jayel reflects on the beginning of a new year and the transition from rookie to veteran.
Joining the Janksters was the best decision I made in my freshman year. Since the first year of high school is normally just a taste test of all the different options, I sampled more than one extracurricular activity. Trying Performance Choir, Filipino Cultural Dance, and Robotics at the same time is not an easy task, but thankfully, the team helped me cope with sanity and assured me that everything was going to be fine. During the summer before my rookie year, I attended the Robotics Boot Camp, where I learned some engineering skills and met some people who would eventually be my closest friends. With them, I embarked on adventures during build season and competition season, where I was introduced to button hunting, one of my now favorite things to do at a competition. I've decided that this year, as a veteran, Robotics would be my main course, with still some flavors of my performing arts background because the social and technical skills I've gained by meeting other teams and building the robot itself are characteristics that will eventually help me in the future. Although many say that sophomore year is no longer like the bright and easy path of the freshmen, I am really looking forward to the challenges and successes that we will accomplish this year. Let's go Janksters!
Jayel AmbatClass of 2019
Boot camp was an amazing experience for me! We learned many essentials in each robotics category. The freshmen were taught how to CAD, how to safely use power tools, what the marketing team did, and about Arduino. My favorite parts were learning to CAD and to use power tools. We also did many bonding activities like "never have I ever". These were great ways to connect with other Janksters. Towards the end, we worked in groups to create a Rube Goldberg project promoting teamwork and creativity. It was a fun and educational week!
Maya KesapradistClass of 2020
Recognition Luncheon
Gillian McGinnis reflects on our end of the year Recognition Luncheon to recognize the teams' seniors, parents, and mentors.
The event started with food—including a delicious make-your-own taco bar—and student leaders giving overviews on how the build season went and why we appreciate all the help we receive. We also watched videos that were full of hilarity and sincerity. My mother even received a special recognition for all her help with coordinating food and meals throughout the build and competition season. Overall, the event went very smoothly and I appreciate how it is a final transition for the graduating seniors to be recognized one more time for all their hard work in robotics.
Gillian McGinnisClass of 2018
Silicon Valley Regional (SVR)
Anisha Kabir and Paulina Robles talk about this year's SVR and how Cierra did at competition!
From the cheering in the stands, to all the incredible robots, to even the avid button collecting, the excitement at SVR was contagious. I spent my time at SVR rotating between scouting, data entry, and programming, however I also fun going to the “FIRST Day” Nvidia hosted at their tech conference. It was really rewarding to be able to see our robot compete, especially seeing it scale the tower. And at the end of the competition, winning the Spirit Award and getting to high five the long line of judges was definitely a great note to end the regional on!
Anisha KabirClass of 2019
I had a great time at SVR, seeing all of the other robots and competing with all of the other teams. Although we did have some communication problems in the beginning of the competition, thanks to the help of a countless number of teams and individuals, we were able to figure out our problems and perform well out on the field. The entire team was so excited to see Cierra breach, scale, and defend in our last matches, and our energy definitely skyrocketed. When we won the spirit award at the end of SVR, it was great to see all of the team members’ excitement as they rushed to high five the judges. SVR was a great experience and I was so happy to see all of the growth Cierra and the team members went through.
Paulina RoblesClass of 2017