2016 Chezy Champs
Anika Asthana ‘20 and Lara Fernandes ‘18
The Janksters recently competed at Chezy Champs on September 24th and 25th! Chezy Champs is a premier robotics competition hosted at Bellarmine during the off-season. 41 teams came together to compete, with out-of-state teams coming from Washington, Oregon and Texas. Some of these teams were Regional and World Champions, which made the matches intense and exciting.
Going into this competition, the Janksters had a few goals: we wanted to be on the field in all of the matches, take advantage of all of the mechanisms on our robot, rank in the top 25, meet new teams, and most importantly, have fun! We were able to accomplish all of these and more; our team ranked 23rd, we were able to play 9 out of our 10 matches and we were able to scale and capture a tower in many of the matches we played. Additionally, we were selected to be a member of the 6th alliance and advanced to the elimination rounds in the quarterfinals. Our Drive Team and Pit Crew worked hard both on and off the field to keep our robot in its best working condition.
While our focus was meeting our goals for the competition, Chezy Champs was a huge learning opportunity for the rookies on the team and great experience for our veteran members. Newer Janksters were able to experience the thrill of competition and receive a first-hand look at what robotics is all about. The entire team bonded and had a lot of fun – whether it was cheering from the stands when our robot scaled or having our own little dance parties. The Janksters learned about the different ways that other teams accomplished the same tasks and gained a broader, more comprehensive insight on robotics concepts as a whole. All in all, the entire team learned about different robots, new strategies, and about each other.
Chezy Champs was a great experience for the the team, both educationally and competitively, and we can’t wait to compete again and show an even better performance. Thank you to everyone in the ND community, from faculty to students, who came and supported our team at Chezy Champs. We are competing again at CalGames the weekend of October 7th at Fremont High School, so make sure to come and support us. We hope to see you there!