This off-season, Woodside’s Team 100 has been putting in lots of hard work, and they will showcase it this weekend by hosting the annual CalGames Robotics Competition.
The CalGames Robotics competition is an annual off-season event to help robotics students get back on track before the season begins in January. It’s also particularly helpful for the incoming robotics members.
“Our goals are mostly to engage people who are new to the program,” technical captain Om Harbury said. “To get people, for example, who are driving or who are working in the pits and fixing the robot prepared for the season, [to be] more experienced in their roles.”
The competition will provide new members with important practice and experience, ensuring they are well-prepared for the season. Although it isn’t a main season event, it’s definitely not something to be glossed over.
“It is a big deal, though, because we are hosting it,” Harbury said. “There’s going to be about 40 teams there … all across California, primarily in the Bay Area.”
Schools from all over California will be competing against each other, and Team 100 says that by the looks of it, they have a strong chance at placing highly.
“We expect to do well,” Team 100 member Peter Clandinin said. “We are generally a pretty good team. In your average competition, we always rank … in the top eight out of 40 teams.”
The team is confident that they will succeed in this competition, and their attitude going in reflects nothing less.
“[We’re] excited to be able to compete again,” outreach captain Arya Yarlagadda said. “We ended up rebuilding parts of our robot … so being able to test it and learn from one of the games … is a good opportunity.”
Team 100 can’t wait to compete this weekend. However, it’s not just about the competition. To the team, robotics is about something more than just winning.
“We want to inspire students to consider a STEM education,” Team 100 mentor Chip Krauskopf said. “And I think that’s really the essence of what the robotics program is, working together as a team to solve problems.”
