2017 End-of-Season Newsletter
Sacramento Recap!
This weekend we competed at the Sacramento Regional and completed one of our most successful seasons ever! We ranked 13th during qualification matches and reached quarter finals as the first pick of the fifth seeded alliance. Throughout the competition, we established ourselves as a competitive gear robot. In one match, we placed a gear in auto and six more in tele-op! Our quick and consistent climb also stuck out throughout the competition.
This is the first year in our team’s history that we have reached eliminations in both of our regionals! From the scouters, to the pit crew, to the drive team, to the cheerleaders in the stands and at home, we were a well-oiled machine from start to finish. Thank you to our sponsors, mentors, and parents for your support this year!
Season Recap!
The Castilleja Robotics team concluded the season with strong performances at the Sacramento and San Francisco Regional competitions. Members have thoughtfully reflected on their experiences of participating in Robotics, reviewing their hard work and many shared memories over these past few months.
When asked about her favorite memory of Gatorbotics, sophomore and first-year member Sophia Nesamoney (‘19) says,“It was definitely at the competition getting to watch our robot compete. The whole team was involved and people were scouting and some people were driving the robot while others were fixing the gears into the robot.” Rashi Bose (‘18), says, “ My favorite memory of Robotics for this year was going to In-N-Out after the robot was bagged. The whole team was arguing over what to name the robot, and it was really funny to hear some of the arguments. I was really glad to be a part of such a great team, and I was really proud of the robot we had made at the end of season.”
The Sacramento competition was held from March 22 to March 25, 2017 where fifty-six teams around California gathered together. Nesamoney describes her experience; “I think [the competition] was a really fresh experience for me because I’ve never seen anything like it. So many teams were doing so many incredible things and when we heard all the awards they talked about teams that held after school classes and partnered with schools around the world and did really amazing things to maximize their impact on their greater community.”
Smiling, Nesamoney proudly explained the results of the Robotics Team’s tireless work; “We were able to compete with some of the top teams and getting chosen for the playoffs was amazing.” Bose adds, “ I also enjoyed cheering for the team and just being able to participate in team spirit activities because we didn't do that in previous years.”
Nesamoney offered valuable advice for next year’s members. She says, “My biggest piece of advice is to always ask questions. It can be kind of confusing at first at the competition, a little chaotic, but team members are always there to explain things to you. Knowing that no matter what you do you have an impact on how the robot turns out in the end. It’s really incredible — even if you have a minor role as a new member — you’ll be able to know that you helped the robot succeed.”
While Nesamoney and Bose are sad that the season is coming to a close, they are proud of all their hard work they have completed these past few months.
Leads' Reflections
Christine Cho ‘17, Programming Lead, said: “Overall, I am extremely happy with this season's code and electronics for the robot. One of my goals for the season was to get vision working, and even though it wasn't functioning perfectly in the end, I'm still satisfied that we were able to program autonomous modes that could place the gear at any peg and that the team can continue to build on the vision code we wrote this year. Our team encountered a few hurdles during the competitions, but we worked together to solve the issues quickly. One of my other goals was that every member of the programming and electronics team felt included, and I think we were able to achieve that goal because every member had the opportunity to contribute to the code and wire the electronics. I'm excited to see how the team continues to build on our progress next year!”
Arushi Gupta ‘18, Build Lead, spoke on her own experiences:“I think this season was a success! I never imagined we would make it to eliminations at both our regionals, let alone reach the semifinals at the championships. We built a strong robot, and I'm extremely proud of everyone on the team for their hard work and dedication. I've learned so much and I truly enjoyed the season.”
Aditi Satyavrath ‘17, Entrepreneurship Lead, reviewed the team’s accomplishments: “I would say that establishing the newsletter program helped us accomplish our goal of creating stronger connections to our community. We've been able to reach a lot more people more consistently this season thanks to the newsletters.”
New Initiatives this Season
Gatorbotics led the field this year, and made it to quarterfinals in Houston! What are some of the innovations distinguishing the team from the crowd?
The build team integrated more workshops into the season, and placed more emphasis on practicing building robots. Arushi Gupta, one of the build leads, said that the workshops got everyone “used to working in the bourn lab, with each other, with tools and with designing a robot.” The build team also built a drive train and held driving practice in the fall, for prototyping and to find a driver before the season began. Gupta said that having a driver before the season began “was a big part of the success over the season.” Additionally, another initiative implemented was the new CAD requirement. Gupta said that in seasons past, one person did all the CAD but during this past season, more people could use CAD and design themselves, making the design process more efficient.
The outreach team also innovated, adding shadow days for 8th graders to see what the season is like, the big gator - little gator program, to integrate more mentorship into Gatorbotics, and started a First Lego League team for the girls from Building Futures Now, a non-profit helping high achieving students in underserved schools. Gatorbotics used last year’s FLL challenge to teach programming to the BFN girls and will start a competitive team next year - according to Ria Sonecha, Outreach Lead, the FLL team went really well and the girls are really interested. Sonecha said that the Big Gator - Little Gator program allowed “people to get to know someone on the team before build season started, so they were more comfortable and already part of the team. This helped their ability to contribute in the build season and made the experience more enjoyable. It was nice for older members to get to know other people on the team.” In terms of the shadow days, the feedback was good, but as Sonecha remarked, “we will find out how well that went next year.” The Entrepreneurship team added the newsletter you are reading right now. Aditi Satyavrath, Entrepreneurship Lead, said “there was a noticeable change this season in the way that our community -- mentors, parents, sponsors, and everyone in between -- connected to our team, and I attribute it to the newsletter initiative. I think that conveying the importance of the different aspects of Gatorbotics, from our outreach programs to our integration of new members, truly relayed the well-roundedness and thoroughness of our team in a way that we haven't been able to communicate before. I believe that readers of the newsletter become close to our team, which is mutually valuable, and this program has definitely become a sustainable and exciting part of Gatorbotics!”
