Kicking Off Another Great Season
The 2020 build season has officially started! And this time it is more out of this world than ever before. This year’s annual FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) kickoff event took place at Montgomery High School and introduced a game challenge unlike any other.
Nemesis 2590 from Robbinsville High School was one of the many teams that took part in celebrating the start of the new season as well as over 30 local teams. Along with introducing the game challenge, there were also multiple workshops taking place such as, bumper design, safety, and women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) which included an impressive array of presenters from Princeton University and alumnae of Montgomery High School.
As the time for the game reveal came closer, all team members rushed into the auditorium and silenced and as the light lowered a hush came over the crowded room. The MidAtlantic Regional teams that were mentioned in the video that Montgomery High School presented, including Nemesis 2590. As the countdown started the excitement could be seen on all the members’ faces, lost in the midst of crowd Shweta Raman, a sophomore on the Nemesis 2590 marketing team could be heard screaming, “3,2,1!” Slowly, the curtain revealed the new 2020 game challenge, FIRST Robotics Challenge: Infinite Recharge.
In this year’s game challenge, two alliances work together to shield FIRST City from incoming asteroids. This year’s teams were given an unlimited build season, which is different than the previous years where teams had six weeks to design and build a robot. Every Alliance, alongside their trusty droids, race to gather Power Cells to activate their shield generators and use them to score. Robots also need to move a control panel and balance their droids on a hanging steel rod in order to protect FIRST City!
After the game reveal, teams raced back to their schools to create strategies and brainstorm ideas for this year’s season. May the force be with you and we hope to see you at our competition!
Nemesis 2590 would like to extend its gratitude towards the wonderful sponsors who made this season possible: Navair, Robbinsville High School, Picatinny Arsenal, Lockheed Martin, DoDStem, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CCL Label, Investors Foundation, New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists, Robbinsville Education Association, Sharbell Development, RAS, Robbinsville Education Foundation, Princeton Sports and Family Medicine, EAG Laboratories, DesignTree, CCC, Gilbane, Triangle Copy, SkyLink Technology, Inc., Coldwell Banker, and the family and friends of Nemesis.