2020 Week One Article

A new Build Season has started, and it’s time to get this show on the road! On January 4, 55 of the Janksters gathered together for kickoff for this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition: Infinite Recharge. Everyone on the team is extremely excited to create a fully-functioning robot through collaboration and the engineering design process, and have a team that is prepared to represent Notre Dame San Jose at a Star Wars-themed competition.

While the rest of the team gathered at school, five Janksters headed to Pioneer High School to pick up the kit of parts. When asked about her experience at Pioneer, Connie ’22, a sophomore from the electronics committee said, “I enjoyed the environment and it was fun to see all the other teams there because everyone was so excited for Build Season.” 

The rest of the kickoff weekend was spent breaking down the game manual, determining goals for the robot, and brainstorming potential robot designs. The team built small-scale prototypes of various mechanisms, including the ground intake, scoring the power cell (a 7-inch diameter ball), spinning the control panel, and hanging. The strategy team successfully evaluated the costs and benefits of different scoring strategies and eventually finalized goals for the team and the robot design. Ushoshi ‘22, a sophomore from the programming committee, explains, “It was fun to analyze many possible outcomes for the game and figure out what works best for our team.”

Currently, the team has split up into their respective committees (business, mechanical, electronics, and programming), each of which is working with mentors and actively involving rookies in their work. There has been effective cross-committee communication as students decide the spacing and design of the robot as well as branding designs.

There is a lot in store for the build season, and the Janksters will pull through with their enthusiasm and motivation for robotics. Team 1967 looks forward to creating new friendships, tackling obstacles, and ultimately creating a robot that will excel at competition!