Written by Sam Lauser ’24, Olivia Monroy ’24 and Riya Fernando ’25
This past weekend, Notre Dame’s Robotics Team, the Janksters, traveled to Pittsburg High School in Pittsburg, California to compete in CalGames, an annual off-season robotics competition. This year marks the team’s 13th year of attending CalGames, which has continued to be a valuable training ground for both new and returning Janksters.
Fourteen students and the necessary supplies were transported to the venue in school vans. There, the team unpacked their supplies into a general pit area, where the robot was stored and fixed between matches.
Also transported from the school was the team’s competition robot, Josh! Like all robots at the event, Josh had to be inspected. Inspection, a series of multiple regulatory tests to make sure the robot fits game requirements and is safe to compete, is performed by several students and an inspector. For the second consecutive year, Josh was the first robot to be inspected at the event, a streak that the team hopes to continue at future events.
The speedy inspection allowed the team to participate in multiple practice matches on Friday evening. Practice matches allowed our drive team, composed of primarily new members, to learn the nuances of how Josh behaves on the competition field and the intricacies of pre-match set up. That experience proved highly important in qualifying matches. During one of those practice matches, the robot encountered residual problems from last year, when a climbing mechanism failed. Thankfully, the failure occured in a low stakes practice match environment, rather than an actual match. The pit team, a group of students that services the robot when necessary, was able to quickly repair the mechanism before the event wrapped up for the night.
With that newly repaired climbing mechanism, Josh entered his first real qualifying match of Calgames on Saturday morning. Drive team proved their quick thinking and problem solving capabilities as they combatted several robot breaks during the 10 qualifying matches. Pit crew completely repaired these robot breaks in record time, employing innovative solutions and technical knowledge. Everyone worked hard to make sure that they played to the best of their abilities throughout each match of the event.
On Sunday afternoon, the Janksters watched the final matches of the event and celebrated the successes of their fellow teams during the award ceremony. Throughout the competition, veterans and new members alike were able to network with other teams, learning about unique robot designs, team branding, outreach efforts, team culture and much more. Overall, the team gained competition experience, and the new members were introduced to the world of competitive robotics.
“I was able to learn a lot more about the role I fulfill during competitions,” says Dening Sun ’25, a sophomore thriving in her new leadership position. “It was nice to attend an actual competition before the robotics season. I really enjoyed the experience!” The Janksters are looking forward to their next competition!
