THE MESSENGER-PRESS: Amy Batista

ROBBINSVILLE — The Robbinsville High School FIRST Robotics Team 2590 Nemesis received $4,000 in donations during the board of education meeting on Nov. 19.

Debi Bella, President of Robbinsville Education Association, presented a check to the FIRST Robotics Team for $2,000 prior to the start of the meeting.

”We’re so excited to be able to make a donation to such a worthwhile program,” said Ms. Bella after the meeting.

This was the first time the REA has made a donation to the robotics team.

”We’re trying to expand our outreach programs,” Ms. Bella said. “It’s just great to see how far they’ve come and what they’ve been able to accomplish.”
Tom Staab, first vice president of the REA, was happy to support the team. “I’m glad to come back and see where the kids are now,” said Mr. Staab “It’s cool to see the next level of the program.”

Mr. Staab said the seniors coming through never had the opportunity to do robotics in the middle school, which was just started within the past few years.

Team advisors are Joy Wolfe and Scott Meredith, who are both technology teachers at the high school.

Joshua Falk, 17, of Robbinsville is the CEO of the 56-member team, which is broken down into different subsections.

”Our team is split up into half marketing and finance and the other half is build,” said Baljot Ranu, 16, of Robbinsville, CFO of the team.

According to Baljot, the team is set up “like a business.”

”We try to include almost like a Fortune 500 company – we have a build side and a then a working finance team,” Baljot said.

The team is looking to generate more interest in science, technology, engineering and mathematics among kids and have fun while doing it.

”Basically our goal of FIRST is to generate more interest and get more kids involved in science and technology,” said Joshua, who further noted that each year the team is assigned a different game or task and has six weeks to complete the challenge to build the robot.

”We compete over a few months,” Joshua said. “The past two years we’ve been really fortunate. We’ve done really well.”

The team has competed in Region Championships at Lehigh and at World Championships in St. Louis, Missouri.

”Last year we actually we won the Mid-Atlantic region and we were voted twelfth overall in the world,” Joshua said. “We’ve done really well recently and we are hoping to keep that up.”

The game this past year was “ultimate ascent,” which included shooting Frisbees into goals, which varied at different heights and for different point values and also included a metal pyramid the robot could climb for “bonus points.”

Baljot said there is a “strong” connection between the technology curriculum in the classroom and the robotics club that meets after school.

”For a lot of the build team members, we go through project lead the way courses at our school which is pre-engineering series of classes,” Joshua said. “We learn how to design, solve problems, introduction to engineering and things like that and how to use computer-aided design (CAD), which is the 3-D model.
”We are really lucky to have our school support as well as our sponsor support,” Baljot added.

Sponsors who support the team throughout the year include but are not limited to – Robbinsville Board of Education, Robbinsville Education Foundation, CCL Label, New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists, Siemens, Citibank, Elite Dental Care, Carfaro Inc, Gilbane, McGraw-Hill and Guam Incorporated.

We thought none of this was actually possible,” Baljot said. “That’s why we’re really lucky to have all of the support.”

The team is working on organizing a sponsor networking day.

”We love that day,” Baljot said. “Our sponsors get to come in and actually see what we’ve done and the support they’ve given us.

”Overall it has helped me so much,” she added. “I came into this team thinking I was going to build a robot and after the first week I saw a whole other side of it and I got interested in the marketing and finance.”

She said because of her experience with the team when she walked into her college interviews “she feels prepared” and that the interviewers take an interest in her being in an “interactive club.

”I get a real life experience,” Baljot added, as she explained how she is accountable for money and budgeting finances of the team unlike other clubs she is in.

For the students, working with people who work in the field doing it for a living find it “cool.”

”The coolest thing it is all student done and student run and mentor advised in addition to our two technology teachers who at the school but then people’s parents who engineers or programmers or in marketing who come by after school and help us,” Joshua said. “We are actually working with people who do this for a living. That’s really cool.”

In addition, to the REA contribution, Lockheed Martin also donated $2,000.

In an environment where technology’s influence on the world is rapidly growing, progressive companies strategically utilize robotic devices and concepts to optimize supply chain and business efficiency, but ultimately to enhance human lives. Robotics design, construction, and application have endless possibilities. Through software and programming, robots are capable of accurately executing difficult tasks and optimize processes.

FIRST Robotics is a program that annually challenges STEM students to create a problem-solving robot by implementing the Engineering Design Cycle. This process involves brainstorming to capture ideas and generate potential solutions and strategies. Through CAD (Computer Aided Design), innovative 3D designs are created to virtually test how components function together; this is both cost-effective and efficient. The best CAD-modeled prototype is brought to life and fabricated with computer driven machines and techniques. The robot is then assembled and refined through extensive testing and ultimately, a successful product is made.

The use of robotics engineering is globally revolutionizing how organizations compete. Concepts of the design cycle can be applied to many industries including Personal Care & Cosmetics. Rapid prototyping leverages a company’s competitiveness and enhances speed to market. Educational programs worldwide promote the Design Cycle and robotics because they transform ideas into tangible products and solutions. Due to CAD and the latest technologies, the “gizmos and gadgets” of science-fiction dreams are becoming a reality in our everyday lives.

Concepts of Robotics technology will be featured at the 2013 New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists Technology Transfer Conference, Iselin NJ. For more information on our mentoring and sponsorship program please visit our website http://frc2590.org/ . You can also follow us on Twitter at @FRC2590 for information on FIRST Robotics competitions.

For the past year, Nemesis competed with a frisbee-shooting robot named Athena. Over the summer, the team decided to build an additional full-court shooter robot, dubbed Nemesis Beta 2690. With a fresh set of members and a new robot, the team competed at this year’s Brunswick Eruption, an off-season robotics event hosted by North Brunswick High School.

Qualification matches were brutal. Entering its ninth competition, Athena was accustomed to harsh defense—almost 120 matches worth. The conditioned robot was constantly bulldozed into the pyramid, on top of already facing a rough day with unexpected problems.

“I saw it all through my camera and I captured every moment. When Athena went to hang, you could hear the pneumatic arms hiss, but she was not elevated when the buzzer sounded. When it was time to clear her from the field and Josh saw what went wrong, he burst out laughing. The breaking of the piston was inconceivable,” senior Stephanie Kovacs recalled.

“No one thought that this would ever happen. It is extremely unlikely to have a piston fall off,” Christian Gavalchin, a build member, expressed. But the drivers didn’t let this setback get to them. In a stunning turn of events, both robots seeded within the top eight by the end of the qualifying rounds—Nemesis at first seed with Beta following closely behind at fifth seed. An opportunity rose for our main team to choose our very own rookie once again.

In the end, Nemesis and Beta finished the competition as semifinalists. Despite the mishaps, the team was satisfied with the strong conclusion of the 2013 season. Brunswick Eruption brought the era of Athena to a close and marked the beginning of her well-deserved retirement. Along with her battle scars and amputated limbs, Athena will live on.

Robbinsville High School FIRST Robotics Team 2590, Nemesis, presented to the prestigious New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists.

Nemesis arrived first at the Renaissance Woodridge Hotel in Edison, New Jersey with Josh Falk, Baljot Ranu, Uddhav Joglekar, Arnav Vast, Jolia Thadal and Parth Mandrekar representing the team.  We proceeded to erect our booth within our designated area of convention.  Due to greater attendance than expected, the NYSCC lacked nametags respecting Falk and Joglekar. Though inconvenienced, Nemesis performed cleverly and with clear preparation: when asked for business cards, Falk and Joglekar presented them swiftly confidently.

After enjoying a generously-provided breakfast and aweing its audience with Athena and effective multimedia video by Karla Dimatulac, all received an invitation to the conference room where highly-involved and renown individuals provided presentations regarding their fields, totaling four. Provided information proved phenomenal and diverse from the Human Genome Project to the Importance of Innovation lectures. Team 2590 received exposure to professionally-conducted projects and extensive concepts prevalent globally. 

Following the conclusion of presentation three, Nemesis enjoyed a spectacular and appreciated lunch, followed by an extensive period of marketing.  Though launched with sparing attention, the effort eventually received bombardment by a myriad of individuals and organizations interested in the establishment. Team 2590 operated with unquestionable efficiency and deliberacy, highlighting the Design Cycle, enticing listeners from lectures regarding the kickoff to the competition. Vigorously answering questions varying interminably regarding topic complexity, Nemesis members conveyed its overarching messages to their attentive audience:

• Nemesis requires more than technologically-adept individuals to function: this corporation requires both marketing and financials to operate effectively—and at all

• Nemesis comprises itself with diversity regarding gender, interests, sociality and ability

• Nemesis desires no less than to produce the most victorious and effective robots possible

Concluding this incredible event, the NYSCC generously awarded Team 2590 one-thousand dollars toward team funding. The Robbinsville High School FIRST Robotics Team honors the New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists for invitation and truly appreciates their patronage.

Congratulations, Team 2590!

After a summer of working on a new robot, Robbinsville High School’s robotics team entered their first off-season competition.

Team Nemesis built a second competition robot for the game Ultimate Ascent, a challenge in which robots aim to shoot plastic discs through targets of varying heights and then climb a metal pyramid. While the team’s first robot, Athena, scoops up the disks off the field and shoots them straight into the top-scoring goal, the second robot is equipped with a full-court shooter.

On Oct. 12, while many RHS students were preparing for homecoming, the team traveled to St. Joseph’s Catholic School in Flourtown, Pa. for GirlPOWER. This competition required completely female drive teams and pit crews.

Nemesis’ new robot made its competition debut during the qualification matches. With the help of both robots, the team claimed second seed and chose Team 11 MORT from Mount Olive to join their alliance for elimination rounds.

The two teams moved through to the finals undefeated.

In the finals, best two out of three rounds determined the victors of GirlPOWER 2013. With one win already, Nemesis and MORT needed one more to clinch the crown.

With the sound of the buzzer, 11 disks autonomously launched into the highest goal, the robots relying on their pre-programmed instructions for the first 15 seconds of the match. When it came time for the drivers to set up, Athena and MORT dashed off to collect disks. Meanwhile, the full court shooter set up camp at the other end of the field, shooting disks into the highest goal.

Nemesis and MORT scored more than 100 points and were named champions.

However, the day wasn’t over yet. The team rushed back to Robbinsville, exchanged their t-shirts for dresses and celebrated their victory at the homecoming dance.

Nemesis’ next competition is Brunswick Eruption, scheduled to being 8 a.m. Nov. 9 at North Brunswick High School. Admission is free.

More information is online at frc2590.org.

With the first week of school behind us and fall well underway, Nemesis is gearing up for the 2014 Build Season. The team will have a booth set up for the Club Fair on Tuesday, September 17th, where interested students can come learn more about Nemesis.

A mandatory parent and student meeting will be held for all those interested in joining the team on Wednesday, September 18th at 6:30pm in the Technology Lab. Whether your interests are building, programming, or marketing, Nemesis has a niche for you. We hope to have you join us for another season of fun and excitement!

The Indiana Robotics Invitational, IRI ,welcomed 69 world class teams to participate in the 2013 FIRST competition, Ultimate Ascent. IRI’s game however, tweaked rules and regulations to add a measure of excitement. Nemesis, FRC Team 2590, was Robbinsville, NJ’s contribution to the event. The team packed their bags, and headed out at 6:00 am, enduring a 12 hour car ride to Indianapolis. Upon their arrival, members unpacked Athena and organized the 8 square foot pit that would become their home away from home over the next two days. Within that square, team members would operate on the robot, sometimes calmly, while other times scrambling frantically. The long day ended in the hotel with the smell of local pizza and the sound of anxious chatter.

The sun rose and the first day of qualifications was up them. That morning, the lobby of  the hotel, packed with robotics kids from all over the country (and Canada), buzzed with excitement. Everyone eagerly awaited the start of the long day of 104 matches ahead. Despite their tough schedule, Nemesis was confident of victory. IRI was advertised as a competition featuring the “Best of the Best”. It was amazing to see some of the best robots in the world playing on the same field. With the outstanding caliber of the competition, most alliances scored in the triple digits and many scored over 200 points. With their 7 disk autonomous routine and precision scoring, Nemesis showed that it belonged among the august group. To become more versatile, 2590’s software architect, Antonio Papa, wrote a midline autonomous routine, a different spin on the strictly 7 discs under the pyramid routine used all season. This new program was implemented several times throughout the day with great results. Aside from some minor fix ups, the day ran smoothly. Athena suffered no major catastrophes or serious damages. Led by Stephanie Kovacs, Team 2590 participated in a group scouting, run by Team 20. Thanks to FRC Team 20, Nemesis members took short shifts and had the privilege of participating in a large scouting program. In the last match of the day, Nemesis’s alliance scored a competition high of 254 points, winning 254-129. By the end of the first day of qualifications, drive team members Josh Falk and Antonio Papa had guided Nemesis into 12th place with a record of 4-2. Nemesis celebrated the conclusion of the day one with a Mexican dinner, and a long discussion regarding scouting results and strategy.

The third day in Indiana brought the qualification matches to a close. Nemesis ended with a record of 5-4 and a final ranking of 23rd out of the 69 teams. During alliance selection, Nemesis was selected as the third robot to join third seed alliance captains, Team 469, Las Guerrillas, and their first round pick, Team 118, the Robonauts. 3847 - Spectrum was the fourth alliance partner. Due to the opponent's full court shooter, the first elimination round was played by 3847 because of their defensive abilities. The alliance acquired a win but Las Guerrillas, 469, was broken and could not play in the next round. 2590 stepped in and played the second match. Unfortunately, this match did not go well for team Nemesis. Halfway through the match Nemesis collided with Team 1477 and the resulting impact disabled both robots. With Nemesis down, the third alliance lacked sufficient firepower to overcome their adversaries. With one win on both sides the fate of the third alliance rested on the tiebreaker, but with two damaged robots, the outlook was grim. 469 went back on the field in an attempt to recreate their previous victory. Alas, their efforts were in vain. At the conclusion of the tiebreaker, the third seed alliance was no longer in the running to win IRI. Despite the loss, the members of Nemesis watched on, excited to see the winning alliance. The day came to a close. The first seed alliance took the title of IRI champions.

Despite the unending efforts from the team, Nemesis was not able to secure a win at IRI. However, they were not without success. 2590 went home as the only team to represent the Mid-Atlantic Region in the elimination rounds at the Indiana Robotics Invitational. The trip gave the students a chance to work together and improve Athena even when competition season was not in session. Representing Robbinsville, a little town in New Jersey, Nemesis partook in one of the fiercest, most competitive, FIRST Robotics competitions the world had to offer.

With scant minutes between matches, time was of the essence and the alliance partners thought, "Is Nemesis in the game or dead in the water?"  It was the quarterfinals of the Archimedes division of the World Championship when the floor intake of  Nemesis’ Frisbee throwing robot, Athena, died. Switching quickly to defense, the top offensive robot finished the match.  With an adrenalin rush, Jenna Mollica and Julia Borowski raced for the Pit to retrieve the spare Frisbee intake subsystem.  With a gasp of disbelief and impending doom, their teammates, parents, and mentors were on the edge of their seats watching the intense activity below on the field.  The alliance had to decide whether to forsake Nemesis and pick a substitute alliance partner or stay with them, gambling on a working robot for the next match. 

With sure and practiced hands, Jenna, Julia, Josh Falk, Arnav Vast, and mentor Scott Meredith ripped off the bent system and replaced it with the spare in two minutes.  Dan Gavrushenko working in parallel started repairing the original intake roller.  Applause erupted from the other teams in admiration when the Pit Crew, working like a well oiled machine, smiled in satisfaction as the new intake system roared to life.  There was no doubt in anyone’s mind, who built this award winning robot.  On time and competition ready, Nemesis queued to enter the field with their alliance for the next match. 

A seven disc shooter is de rigueur for alliances to gain the momentum needed to win the 2013 Ultimate Ascent game. After winning the Hatboro-Horsham District and Mid-Atlantic Region Championship, this young team competed in one of the top divisions, Archimedes, where high scores were in the 260s.  One of the major reasons for their success is the 7 disc autonomous routine written by Antonio Papa, Lead Programmer, which scores 42 points in the first fifteen seconds of the match.   Under program control, the camera senses the top target, automatically aims and rapidly shoots 3 discs for 18 points then drives forward over 4 addition discs.   Switching to reverse, Nemesis drops the Frisbee intake system and sweeps up the 4 discs then returns to the original shooting position, where it senses the top target and shoots the 4 discs for an additional 24 points.  Cheers erupt as they deliver up to 42 points at the start of each match before the Drive team takes over for the teleop phase of the game. 

With two speeds, low gear with the torque to push most robots and a nimble and fast high gear, Driver Josh Falk takes charge and consistently scores 12 points per round trip cycle as the robot gathers 4 discs, returns to the home pyramid and shoots all 4 discs into the target.  Deftly moving and dodging the defense robots, Nemesis is able to scoop discs from anywhere on the playing field.  Josh’s strategy is to score as many points as possible and not be deflected into a push and shove contest.  But the power is there when needed and Nemesis can bully it’s way with the best of them. 

Finishing the season as the 12th ranked robot in the public poll of mentors, team members and alumni, the team is very happy with their 2013 season results.

Fifty of the best and the brightest from New Jersey, Delaware, and eastern Pennsylvania competed in the FIRST Robotics Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships, but Robbinsville High School and its alliance partners came out on top in a victory that advances RHS to the world championships this week in St. Louis. 

The Stabler Arena at Lehigh University was filled with robot driving, Frisbee-flying, and pyramid-climbing action during the weekend of April 12. “Ultimate Ascent “ was the name of the game, and the goal was to shoot Frisbees into goals of varying heights and point values. For additional points, robots climbed to one of three levels on a pyramid at the end of each match. Each qualification match lasted 2 minutes and 15 seconds and was played between two alliances of three randomly selected robots.

The competition at Lehigh University was quick to heat up, with one of the first matches ending with a score of over 200 points! It soon became clear, however, that victory would be hard-won, with scores sometimes differing by only a couple points. Teams were forced to make every point count, facing the fiercest competition of the 2013 season.

Nemesis quickly rose in the rankings thanks to its superb drive team: students Josh Falk, Antonio Papa, Dan Gavrushenko and mentor Scott Meredith. In one of the closer matches, Nemesis was losing with seconds left on the clock. The crowd began to count down, 3…2…1…, and Nemesis climbed the pyramid at the last second to take the win! In fact, by the end of the second day, Nemesis was the second-ranked team.

Not all of the action was taking place in the arena, however. Back in the pit area, scores of judges visited Nemesis to see the robot and learn more about the team. Students presented the team’s business plan and community outreach events to the awed judges. The safety advisers also stopped by to visit Nemesis’ Safety Captain Parth Mandrekar to ensure the team followed all regulations.

The third and final day of competition kicked off on Saturday. Dance music blasted and teams cheered as the last few qualification matches were played. Alliance selections for the finals were made before lunch, in which the top eight teams picked two others to join them in the finals matches. Working with Storm Robotics from Lenape Regional High School and Sa-BOT-age from Downington High School East in Pennsylvania, Nemesis was part of the first-ranked alliance.

In the quarterfinals, Nemesis faced off against the exact alliance that had triumphed over them in the TCNJ District Event. This time, however, it was Nemesis who emerged victorious. As the quarterfinals advanced into the semifinals, scores were becoming higher and matches were growing closer. One nail-biting match ended with a final score of 191 to 171! Eventually, Nemesis fought their way into the finals. The winner would be determined by best two out of three matches. After winning the first match, Nemesis got ready to face off for the title of MAR Champion. As the match began, robots went flying across the playing field to collect disks, and shot one after another into the goals. There was no doubt it would be a close one, as spectators lost count of all the disks flying into their targets.

Teams cheered and waited in eager anticipation as the final score was tallied by the referees. The announcer called attention to the projection screen where the outcome would be displayed. “With a final score of 140 to 136 … Alliance One takes the crown!”

A triumphant roar erupted from the stands as Nemesis and its alliance celebrated their hard-fought victory. At the awards ceremony, Nemesis was presented with the Excellence in Engineering Award, recognizing the team for its elegant and innovative intake for the swift retrieval of Frisbees.

Nemesis now advances to the World Championships being held this week (April 23-26) in St. Louis.

“Now that we’ve won the MAR Championships, it will be exciting to go to the World Championships and see how we stack up there,” student Josh Falk said.

Originally published in the Robbinsville Sun on April 23, 2013. Click here to read original story

Robbinsville High School’s FIRST Robotics Team 2590 continued its successful 2013 competition season at The College of New Jersey District Competition. Hot on the heels of a district win at Hatboro-Horsham, Team Nemesis clinched second place at TCNJ on March 16 and won the prestigious Chairman’s Award, presented by Anisha Mohan (Marketing), Julia Borowski (Build Team) and Baljot Ranu (Finance).

RHS students designed the team’s competition robot “Athena” using CAD mechanical engineering software and constructed it in the high school’s technology lab in just six short weeks. Local Robbinsville businesses and sponsors custom manufactured Athena’s parts as per the students’ design specifications.

Excitement ran high as Team 2590 arrived at TCNJ for their second two-day district level competition of the 2013 season. As 38 other teams rolled in from New Jersey, eastern Pennsylvania, and Delaware, Nemesis prepared for a day of Frisbee-flying, robot-climbing fun.

Dance music blasted and teams cheered as the games of Ultimate Ascent began, in which robots aim to shoot plastic discs through targets of varying heights and then climb a metal pyramid. The first day of qualification matches were played between two teams of three randomly selected alliances. Athena quickly shot ahead of the competition, accurately shooting one disc per second into the highest scoring goal.

Throughout the day, supporters stopped by to cheer Nemesis on including Schools Superintendent Steve Mayer, RHS Principal Molly Avery, RHS teachers Sandy Overton and Lisa Peters. Frederick Egenolf and Diane Delandro from Nemesis’ sponsors Bristol-Myers Squibb and Citibank, respectively, also joined Team 2590 in the stands, to root for Athena. State Sen. Linda Greenstein, D-Mercer, an avid team supporter, dropped by as well to see Nemesis perform firsthand.

Team 2590 finished the day as the second seeded team, thanks to the excellent remote-controlled driving by student team members Josh Falk, Antonio Papa, and Dan Gavrushenko, under the guidance of RHS teacher and mentor Scott Meredith.

Nemesis saw even more success on Day Two of the competition. The team became the highest scoring alliance of the day, accumulating a whopping 168 points in a single match while partnered with Team 103 Cybersonics from Kintnersville, Pennsylvania. When the qualification matches came to a close, Nemesis clinched second seed with a record of 10-2, one win behind Team 103, the first seeded team. Without hesitation, the Cybersonics invited Nemesis to join their alliance for elimination matches, rounding out the alliance with Team 1881 Gamma Elite from Paterson, New Jersey.

The alliance sliced through the eliminations, quickly securing their place in the finals. After a couple hard-fought matches, Nemesis emerged the finalists of the competitions, taking home second place. The biggest success, however, was yet to come.

Team members sat perched on the edge of their seats throughout the awards ceremony, waiting restlessly as more and more awards were called. Finally, it came time to announce the Chairman’s Award winner. The Chairman’s Award is the most prestigious award given, honoring the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and inspires appreciation of science, technology, and real-life rewards and opportunities in these fields. It also recognizes a team for an outstanding commitment to their community.

Nemesis waited with bated breath until, finally, “The winner of the 2013 TCNJ District Chairman’s Award is. .. Team 2590!” The stands erupted into applause as team members ran to receive their medals and the team’s Chairman’s Video was played on a large screen. The team eagerly lined up to take a photo with their newest addition to their growing collection of banners.

“The Chairman’s Award Video was definitely a labor of sleepless nights and hours of editing. So when I saw the video up on the big screen, I’m not ashamed to say there were a few tears of joy,” gushed Karla Dimatulac, the main Chairman’s Video editor.

Following the TCNJ competition, Nemesis ranked 8th out of 1,400 teams in an unofficial international Offensive Power Ranking (OPR) of FIRST robots.

“It’s an amazing achievement, to be internationally recognized as a powerful force within the world of FIRST Robotics,” said mentor Karen Young.

Team Nemesis is now preparing for the Mid Atlantic Region Championships. It will be held April 11-13 at Lehigh University’s Stabler Arena. The team hopes to qualify for the World Championships in St. Louis set for April 24-27.

“We had proved to be a top team at the district events, so it will be interesting to see how we do at the MAR and World Championships,” said member Jenna Mollica.

Visit the team’s interactive website, frc2590.org, at any time for updates on the 2013 season.

Sponsors of Team 2590 Nemesis, whose donations help pay for the equipment needed to build the robot and the entry fees for the various competitions, include: Bristol-Myers Squibb, Lockheed Martin, BAPS Charities, CCL Label, NASA, Siemens Corp., Robbinsville Education Foundation, SRI International, Citibank, Skylink Technology, NJ Chamber of Commerce, Elite Dental, McGraw Hill, McGraw Hill Federal Credit Union, APCO, Gaum Incorporated, Evans Analytical Group, Gilbane, DesignTree, Carfaro Fencing, ShopRite, Mannino’s Three, R.A.S. Process Equipment, T-Slot and the Robbinsville Board of Education.

Robinsville High School FIRST Robotics Team, Nemesis, won first place at the Hatboro-Horsham district competition March 2, 2013.

Nemesis competed against 36 teams from New Jersey, Eastern Pennsylvania and Delaware with their robot, Athena.

In the qualifying matches, team members Josh Falk, Antonio Papa, Dan Gavrushenko with advisor Scott Meredith steered Athena in a disc throwing competition. The robot launched one disc per second into the highest goal helping Nemesis land on top of the leader board.

On the second day, the team continued their success and ended the qualification rounds with an undefeated 11-0-1 record. They were ranked in the first place seed and chose to ally with teams from Ambler and Pottstwon, Pa. for the final matches.

The Nemesis alliance faced off against a team from Wilmington, Del. and their alliance, called MOE, in the semifinals. The final score was Nemesis 150 and MOE 120.

Robbinsville robotics earned the Quality Award for excellent execution of the robot design and an overall outstanding robot.

Their next competition is March 15 and 16 at The College of New Jersey Student Recreation Center in Ewing. Doors open at 9 a.m. Admission is free.

Originally posted at mercerspace.com

The business donors who help make Robbinsville High School’s FIRST Robotics program possible came to Team 2590’s recent networking event where they drove the 2012 basketball-shooting robot and saw the almost-finished 2013 model, which will toss Frisbees and climb metal pyramids when the next competitions begin March 1.

“It’s amazing that they can do this level of work in just five or six weeks,” said Peter Mavroudakis, of Lockheed Martin, as he surveyed the activity in the high school’s expansive technology lab.

Steve Morales, of Siemens Industry, said what he found equally impressive was the program’s comprehensiveness. The 66 members of Team 2590 Nemesis work in sub-teams devoted to all aspects of a successful robotics program, including the creation of a business plan, finance, fundraising, marketing and running a website – not just designing, programming and assembling a robot.

“It’s impressive,” Morales said. “There’s so much more that goes into this besides the building of robots.”

The Feb. 6 Sponsor Networking Event at the high school drew about a dozen representatives from a range of global and local companies in the fields of technology, automation, software development, custom-machinery manufacturing, finance, pharmaceuticals, and the aerospace industry.

Students, dressed in black business attire, gave a polished presentation that highlighted the benefits of corporate sponsorship as well as Team 2590’s achievements in last year’s FIRST Robotics “Rebound Rumble” competitions. RHS advanced all the way to the semifinals at the FIRST World Championships in St. Louis where it finished among the top 4 percent of the more than 400 teams there.

The 2012 season also included district entrepreneurship awards for the finance and marketing team, the prestigious chairman’s award for overall excellence, the regional best website award at the Mid-Atlantic Regional Championship, and a regional entrepreneurship award at the Festival de Robotique in Montreal.

Donations from corporate and community sponsors are key to the team’s success because the grants pay for the equipment, competition fees and team travel expenses, said RHS technology teacher Joy Wolfe, the advisor to Team 2590. Last year the team’s operating expenses totaled $60,000 because the team advanced all the way to the world championship, Wolfe said.

After the students’ presentation, the veteran of last year’s competitions, a 4-foot, 120-pound basketball-shooting robot dubbed “Prince,” was whirring about and sinking baskets on an oversized wooden backboard affixed with four hoops of varying heights. But the main attraction was the unfinished machine on a lab table that will soon be competing in FIRST Robotics’ new 2013 challenge, a game called “Ultimate Ascent.”

FIRST challenged high school students on Jan. 5 to build robots that can shoot Frisbees through targets of varying heights and then climb a metal pyramid. The robots will earn points based on how many targets of varying degrees of difficulty they make and how high they can climb on the pyramid before time runs out. The students were given six weeks to design and build their robots.

“This year’s game is nothing like we have ever seen before, pretty much the hardest challenge that FIRST has ever issued,” said Team 2590 CEO Josh Falk. “It’s going to be interesting to see how different teams tackle the challenge.”

Uddhav Joglekar, an executive on the build team, said the team’s strategy for amassing points is not to waste too much time on the pyramid.

“As a team, we decided that climbing the pyramid to the top row is not what we want to do,” Uddhav said “So we have a robot that is designed to right now shoot our Frisbees and get that quick bottom low hang at the end of the match.”

Build Team Executive Julia Borowski said a Robbinsville-based custom machinery manufacturer, Gaum Inc., has been instrumental in providing a lot of the parts for the 2013 robot.

“This year, our students who have taken Project Lead the Way (pre-engineering) classes, where they learned to use CAD (mechanical engineering) software to design many of the parts, and we were able to send that to our sponsor Gaum to manufacture these parts,” Julia said. “They fit excellently on our robot.”

The Robbinsville robot will roll out for the first district-level competition of the 2013 season on March 2-3 at Hatboro-Horsham Regional High School in Horsham, Pennsylvania.

- See more at: http://robbinsvillesun.com/2013/02/14/investing-in-students-2/#sthash.P9oG7pnB.dpuf

As gratitude for all the support our sponsors have given us, Nemesis grabbed their black dresses and red ties last night when the team hosted our sponsorship networking event. Our sponsors were invited to the high school to attend a brief presentation, led by CEO Josh Falk and CFO Baljot Ranu, about our team's recent success, a tour of the technology lab, and a demonstration of last year's robot, Prince.  Everyone enjoyed seeing our sponsors using their body language to control the robot via the Kinect.  Jenna Mollica and Dan Gavrushenko described the new challenge Ultimate Ascent and our strategies for the 2013 robot, Athena.

Additionally, we presented each sponsors with a customized plaque, designed by Michael Filipek, thanking them for everything they've done. Finally, we treated our guests to some humble hors d'oeurves--from chicken fingers to mini pasties (yum)--ordered and donated by our parent volunteers. Once all the sponsors left, heels were taken off in celebration of a successful evening. Needless to say, by the end of the night, the team was so hungry, even the celery sticks were completely devoured.

But no special Nemesis event is completely over until we take a couple hundred photos--here are just a few of the exec board, donned in such dapper businesswear. 

On January 5th, the sun had barely risen when members of Team 2590 woke up bright and early just hours before the much-awaited disclosure of the 2013 season game challenge. Along on our kickoff adventures were our fresh rookies—still unaware of this wild-but-in-a-good-way lifestyle that is the FIRST Robotics Build Season. Shortly after the whole team arrived at the local Montgomery High School Kickoff at around 0800 hours, members dispersed into the available workshops. Topics such as pneumatics, LabVIEW, and the Chairman’s Award were discussed in each of these seminars.

Fast forward to a couple hours and a T-shirt cannon later, one could hear the sound of every robotics kid in the auditorium having heart palpitations once Dean Kamen’s lovely face appeared on the large screen—always a popular time to start hyperventilating.

“Good luck and we’ll see you at this year’s competition!” the video concluded, leaving its audience quite stunned. Blobs of people charged to the game pieces as soon as they were revealed. Armed with a video camera, Karla and Anisha recorded a few people’s thoughts concerning this rather…perplexing challenge.

“So…we have to build a robot…that throws Frisbees…and climbs a pyramid,” many expressed skeptically. “I wish the FIRST rookies much luck this season.”

“No problem. We’ll have this done by what, Week Three?” Mr. Young assured confidently. This statement was accompanied with Samantha’s nervous laughter.

“Wait, are you recording this?”

And so, here ended the tale of this fateful day when Ultimate Ascent was at long last exposed. Though this wondrous account of events is coming to a close, this is merely a brief prologue in this team’s story. Another epic saga of optimistically fantastic journeys awaits 2590. Who knows, maybe in a few months, the website shall headline, “Nemesis Ascends To Ultimate Victory.”