2019 Build Season Week 1 Update

After a year of waiting, the Janksters gathered on Saturday, January 5, to watch the announcement of the theme of this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition: Deep Space. The announcement and kick-off events that followed were an exciting start to this year’s Build Season, where the team has been busy strategizing, researching, and prototyping.

When asked about her experience with her first kick-off, a mechanical rookie said, “I was the only rookie who went to SJSU for kick-off and I enjoyed it a lot. I liked it when the T-Minus timer reached 10 seconds because all the teams at SJSU counted down together.” (Faye Neighbors’ 22) However, rookies weren’t the only ones who were excited for kick-off. A sophmore from programming said, “The most interesting part of the new game was the choice of either using vision or an autonomous code during the first 15 seconds of a match; I was excited to see how we would tackle this challenge.” (Yiyun Wei’ 21)

During kick-off, the Janksters analyzed the game video and strategized. Once they had a simple list of tasks the robot needed to accomplish, the team split into groups and began to brainstorm ideas for the robot. Then rookies and veterans worked together to prototype possible intake mechanisms and climbing capabilities.

A huge part of kick-off weekend is prototyping different mechanisms that could work with the challenge. Prototyping helps the Janksters to eliminate ideas and finalize a strategy. A junior in business expresses her enthusiasm by saying, “Prototyping various ideas for mechanisms has always been my favorite part of kick-off. Being in a supportive environment where no idea is a bad one encourages everyone to participate in group discussions.” (Elizabeth Fernandes’ 20)

During this build season journey, the Janksters look forward to bonding with their teammates, working together to overcome obstacles, and having a robot ready to excel in competitions. Check back in next week to see what the Janksters do next!