CalGames 2023

CalGames 2023 will be held across October 6-8, 2023 at Woodside High School, with Team 100 (The Wildhats, Woodside Robotics & Woodside High School) as host. Thank you to the many teams that submitted survey responses! That helped the BOD make a decision among the teams bidding to host CG23 after reviewing with the Planning Committee.

Many volunteers are still needed! See the Volunteering tab for details.

Overall replicating prior year’s (CG21, CG22) schedule sequence:

  1. Two competition days (Saturday & Sunday) PLUS one evening of practices (Friday).
  2. Setup (Thursday evening + Friday daytime) + Competition (Friday evening, Saturday daytime, Sunday until mid-afternoon) + Teardown (Sunday)

CalGames 2023 will use a double elimination format for the finals.

Key Dates

[Updated September 20, 2023] See Registration tab for current registration status.

  • June 4: Registration details announced
  • June 15, 12:01:00AM: Event Team Registration began for early registration teams. Registrations received before that will all be treated as having the same time & date. The slots will be similar to prior years.
  • July 1: logo submittals were due (see Logo Contest tab)
  • August 1, 12:01:00AM: Open Registration began for teams.
  • August 22: 2nd Robot Registration opened. Registrations received before that were all be treated as having the same time & date.
  • Payment due date: September 15 (end of day; postmarked on/by 9/15). Teams that recently got off the waitlist get a bit more time. Zelle is preferred over check. Check is fine too!
  • September 26: Optional Q&A meeting for participating teams
  • September 30: final changes to registration details: robot name, sponsors, important info.

If you have any questions, contact us at:

Awards Overview

This list is just a quick overview of awards available at CalGames 2023 – see the PDF below it for complete details and deadlines!

Award NameProcessApplication Link (if Applicable)
Rookie Inspiration AwardJudged from among 2023 RookiesN/A
Highest Seeded RookieHighest Qualification Score among Rookies (2 or more rookies registered)N/A
Autonomous Mode Challenge AwardJudged from all teams with working autonomousN/A
Entrepreneurship AwardJudged from interviews:
Teams must register for interviews
Application
Innovation AwardJudged from all teamsN/A
Imagery AwardJudged from all teamsN/A
WRRF Director’s AwardSelected by WRRF BODN/A
Judges AwardJudged from all teamsN/A
Systems Design AwardJudged from all teamsN/A
CalGames 2023 Champions (3)Competition ResultsN/A
CalGames 2023 Finalists (3)Competition ResultsN/A
Founders AwardJudged from interviews:
Teams must register for interviews
Application
Mentor of the YearJudged from team submitted formsApplication
Volunteer of the Year AwardFrom prior winners committeeN/A

Award Descriptions

Congratulations to Jorell S. from Aragon Robotics (840) for creating the CalGames 2023 logo selected by the Planning Leads & BOD!

CalGames 2023 logo

Big thanks as well to the eight artists who submitted creative logos, making this year’s decision quite challenging.

Original Contest Guidelines

The CalGames 2023 Logo Contest, a tradition for 10+ years at WRRF, has closed.
Submissions were due to CalGames@WRRF.org by Monday, July 1.
These guidelines are here for reference only.

Your challenge is to design an original, compelling event logo which also:

  • is not FIRST-derived (i.e., no FIRST logo, no FIRST 2023 game logos)
    • This means NO use of this year’s game graphics either. It is critical the CG23 logo be your creation completely with no borrowed art EXCEPT for WRRF logo.
  • incorporates the WRRF logo
  • has the text “CalGames 2023” (CalGames as one word)
  • utilizes the WRRF colors (Purple #560F6B, Gold #F0AF00, Green #006549) where appropriate

The rest is up to you! The designer of the winning submission (selected by the WRRF Board) will receive public recognition and a free WRRF-branded item (<$75) sporting the winning logo.

Make sure to preview your logo at different sizes to ensure that it can scale up and down without key details being lost, keeping in mind it may be printed on a variety of materials of different sizes ranging from buttons to programs to shirts to banners.

Please submit your final graphic alongside a written statement asserting that your design is indeed original, and your name & team number (if appropriate) so we can properly credit you if you win. Submissions should be sent in SVG format (we also recommend providing a PNG as reference for what the submission is supposed to look like in case the SVG does not render correctly on our end, though the SVG is what will be used for final printing)

By submitting an entry, you grant WRRF permission to use your graphic, if selected, for any and all CalGames 2023 marketing and promotional purposes, and acknowledge that we may make minor edits to the selected logo without consulting you to ensure readability before sending it off for printing.

If you have any questions, please reach out to CalGames@WRRF.org and we will do our best to answer them.

Registration occurs in two tiers, early and open registration. Registrations received prior to the opening of a tier will be treated as if they had been received at the exact opening date and time for that tier.

  • Early Registration began June 15, and cost $300 per team, plus commitment to a volunteer slot (6+ students, 1+ adults – see below for list).
    Not fulfilling this commitment with no notification will disqualify the team from competing in CalGames 2024.
  • Open Registration began on August 1 and costs $400 per team with no commitment to a volunteer slot.
  • 2nd Robot Registration opened August 22 and costs $400 per team with no commitment to a volunteer slot.

Teams are strongly encouraged to step up to help out as much as they can!

Payment must be made by September 15, 2023 (teams who recently got off the waitlist get a little more time). Zelle payments (preferred) or check are acceptable methods of payment. Write Register4CalGames@WRRF.org with any questions.

Current Registration Status

[Last updated September 20, 2023]

Since the Woodside Pit Gym is large enough, the Planning Team decided on August 7, 2023 to move up to 42 teams (from 36 originally). Size, power, and how many matches teams will play (9 vs. 10 + practice match) were all assessed.

42 teams are now registered; 37 teams have paid. 8 teams (including 4 second robots) are now on the waitlist.

Registered Teams

Teams, please ensure your details (robot name, sponsors, what judges should know) are updated in JotForm by noon of October 1! No changes will be accepted after that. Also, remember to upload team member (student & adult) consent & release forms there as well! Your primary and secondary contacts can edit the form using the ‘Edit’ link at the bottom of the form included in the invoice email.  All teams have invoices. Payment is due 9/15 by check or Zelle.

Team NumberTeam Name
8Paly Robotics
100Wildhats
115MVRT
199Deep Blue
253Boba Bots
581 Blazing Bulldogs
668Apes of Wrath
670Homestead Robotics
751Barn2Robotics
766M-A Bears
840Aragon Robotics
841BioMechs
846The Funky Monkeys
852Acropolis Robotics
1072Harker Robotics
1700Gatorbotics
1868Space Cookies
2473 Goldstrikers
2489Insomniacs
2643Dark Matter
2813Gear Heads
3045Gear Gremlins
3256The WarriorBorgs
4186The Alameda Aztechs
4765PWRUP
4904Bot-Provoking
5026Iron Panthers
5419Berkelium
5430Pirate Robolution
6036Peninsula Robotics
6059System Overload Robotics
6418The Missfits
6962RobotX
7245LionBots
7777Septobots
8033Highlander Robotics
8048The East Palo Alto Churrobots
8404Skywalkers
8793The Pumpkinbots
9114Rotationaries
9143Armor Robotics
9400BagelBytes

Wait List (In Order):

4990, 5507, 5700, 4698

Complete List of Early Registration Volunteer Slots (<= 23 slots):

As of July 17, all early registration slots are filled. This list is here for reference only.

  • Rookie team (2023 rookie) up to FOUR teams
  • CalGames 2022 Host (#5430 only)
  • CalGames 2021 Host (#846 only)
  • Inventory – Summer Saturday TBD (TWO teams)
  • Buttons (make drive & event buttons)
  • Radio Management / Coordination
  • TH evening Setup (Flooring) ~6-8:30 (THREE teams)
  • FRI AM Setup (Build field, pit) 9AM-12PM   (ONE team)
  • FRI AM Setup (Build field, pit) 10AM-1PM   (TWO teams)
  • FRI PM Setup (More setup) 12PM – 3PM   (TWO teams)
  • Sun PM Field Cleanup ~4PM – 6PM   (TWO teams)
  • Sun PM Pit Cleanup ~4PM – 6PM   (ONE teams)
  • Sun PM PODs Pack ~5PM7PM   (TWO teams)

The following document outlines the finalized rule changes for CalGames 2023. These were developed from other off-season event published rule changes, modified by the CalGames 2023 Planning Committee.

History of Changes:

  • Revision 3 (released July 10, 2023) – Fixed the wording of CG3 to clarify that we are not changing the value of the COOPERTITION BONUS, but reverting the number of LINKS required with the COOPERTITION BONUS
  • Revision 2 (released July 5, 2023) – finalized version
  • Revision 1 (released June 15, 2023) – draft for input

It’s that time of year again – we are looking for volunteers for CalGames 2023! Right now, we particularly need the following roles filled:

Students or adults: Field Reset
Adults (out of high school): Pit Admin Support, Pit Announcers, Judges, Referees

This year, we are offering a new option – Key Volunteer Interns!
For students looking to challenge themselves and learn more about the MC, Game Announcer, FTAA, or CSA roles, we highly encourage you to sign up for one of these Intern roles to shadow some of the Key Volunteers at CalGames!

Please note that individuals volunteering for an event role does not fulfill the team volunteer requirement for event staffing.

Good luck with your offseason(s), and we hope to hear from you soon!

Please reach out to VolunteerCalGames@WRRF.org if you have questions regarding volunteering in any role.