2017 Robot Reveal
Written by Rabab Karimjee ’17
Thousands of teams have been designing and building a robot for the past 6 weeks to participate in the annual FRC (FIRST Robotics Competition) competitions. Among them is Team 1967, the Janksters, who have created a robot for this year’s challenge, Steamworks, after a rigorous Build Season that has tested their technical and creative abilities.
In their twelfth year, the Janksters have grown to sixty members and embarked on the six week journey from January to the end of February with an enthusiastic dedication and a wonderful team of 24 mentors. Due to the increasing amount of rookies, the Janksters saw many changes that allowed for more timely work with the challenge of organizing and communicating within such a large group. With each week came many obstacles, forcing the team to occasionally completely redesign and shift their priorities. Some parts of the robot were being built faster than others, but the final product prevailed in time for Robot Reveal Night.
With over 150 members in the audience, including family, friends, and faculty, the Janksters were able to display their hard work, collectively more than 8,000 hours The robot drove through the gym and successively climbed, one of the Janksters’ originals goals when brainstorming in early January.
Many of the mechanisms were not fully completed or tested, but fortunately, they only required a few minor adjustments! After the various committees and leaders were able to discuss their contributions and hardships, the audience was free to learn more about FRC and the team’s accomplishments. The Janksters were happy to answer any questions and showcase their individual projects.
With the end of the Build Season and a functioning robot that cannot be touched until competition, the Janksters are proud of how far they have come and look forward to getting ready for competition. This year, they will be participating in the following:
Ventura Regional: March 15-18 (Wed-Sat)
Silicon Valley Regional: March 29- April 1 (Wed-Sat)
We hope to see you there!