Team Nemesis “graciously accepted” a generous grant from world-renowned corporation, Siemens USA, located in Princeton. Mr. Morales—the neighbor of team member, Ralph—sent a request to help support Nemesis.

 Siemens Corporate Technology contributes more than $7 million annually to aid educational ventures in the science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) fields on a national scale. Their latest program, The Siemens We Can Change the World Challenge, promotes to create ideas to diminish environmental issues with the help of students from grades K-12. As a technology-based company, Siemens encourages local robotics programs to educate students in STEM Research. Their mission is to “respond to the most challenging questions of our time in the Industry, Energy and Healthcare sectors.” They pioneer in energy efficiency, industrial productivity, affordable healthcare, and intelligent infrastructure solutions—attaining high performance and excellent results.

 This wonderful sponsorship grant will assist with costs for materials for the robot as well as competitions we plan to attend—such as the Montreal Regional and the Mid-Atlantic Regionals. We appreciate this opportunity to achieve greater things with the help of Siemens.

 For more information about Siemens Corporation, please visit http://usa.siemens.com

Indiana. The 19th state admitted to the union and home to the Indiana Robotics Invitational, known to the rest of us as IRI. The Nemesis robotics team traveled all the way from their cozy homes in New Jersey on a 12 hour car ride in mid summer to Indianapolis where this competition was being held. After arriving at 6:30-ish on  Thursday evening, the first thing to do was unpack. The robot and all of the supplies needed to leave the tightly packed U-haul and enter the pit. Everything needed to be set for the competition that started early the next morning. But the robot wasn't completely ready yet. Eric was coding on the way up to the competition and this code needed to be tested. That was enough for day one.  For some, the night ended with a dip in the pool. For others, it was pizza, but everyone was excited for the competition the next day.

In my opinion, Day 2 in Indianapolis began a little too early. The entire team was up and out early in the morning. The team arrived for some practice rounds and not everything was running as smoothly as one would have hoped. Eric's coding was working but the autonomous mode was having issues. The autonomous mode didn't actually work until right before our first match. Thanks to the hard work and dedication of the members of the team, the robot was ready for the first match of the qualifying rounds.

The first day of the competition was full of excitement. IRI was going great. It was win after win after win. Everything was running smoothly. Prince was on a roll. Of course it was apparent that Indianapolis was a little different than New Jersey. It was a good different. There was a corn shack for concessions where anyone could buy grilled corn on the husk, and believe me it was delicious. The price list listed something called "Pop" for $1.50. What is this pop these people speak of? And where can I buy myself a nice can of soda? It was an all around a good time. The drive team was working their magic on the field, those in the pit were keeping the robot in great condition, and those of us in the stands were enjoying the matches and doing a bit of scouting. During the qualifying matches Nemesis triple balanced. Our competition day ended with 5 wins and 1 loss. After the day's matches all of the teams were treated to a dinner provided by the IRI volunteers. That night, the team spent a long while discussing potential alliances because from that day's standings it looked like we might be an alliance captain.

It was Day 3 in Indianapolis and Nemesis had 3 more qualifying matches to compete in. If they kept their standings they would be alliance captains. Out of the three matches Nemesis lost one, giving us a 7-2 record by the time of alliance selection. Team 2590 ended qualifying rounds in 7th. Place.  Eric was given the alliance captain hat and picking began. 2590 teamed up with team 973 and 548 as well as team 1538 as their backup. During the break, the robot needed a bit of fixing after some damage was done in a previous match. Also, the three teams practiced triple balancing.  Elimination rounds started and the first match didn't end in favor of the Nemesis alliance. Almost  immediately one of the robots malfunctioned, resulting in  a dead robot for that round. Nemesis and their alliance lost but not by a lot. With a full alliance, a win was definitely within our reach.  We were all ready for Nemesis and their alliance partners to come back and take the next match for their own, but tragedy struck at the beginning of autonomous mode. Nemesis' shooter jammed. Without Nemesis' shooter, vital points could not be made. To add to that, a robot from the other alliance rammed 548,  sending the robot to its untimely death. We lost that match too. The alliance was no longer in the running for winning IRI.

 Alas, the members of Nemesis still had a great time on their trip to Indianapolis. Despite not winning, they still put up a great fight and came farther than they thought possible. 7th place isn't bad for a team that came to Indiana in the hopes of being a 2rd or 3th round draft choice. The last full day ended with a failed attempt to get seated at Dave and Buster's (2 hour wait: No thank you) and a nice little Chinese Buffet complete with perfect fortunes, funky Fro-Yo, and a ton of fun. Overall, Indianapolis was a great trip. It gave the seniors a last hurrah. The only thing no one really was looking forward to was the 12 hour car ride home...

As I enter the St. Louis Convention Center for the first time on Thursday morning, the magnitude of the event is overwhelming. Teams yelling “Robot! Make way” are heading to the competition field, a few teams are carrying toolboxes to the pits, and a group of students sporting Mohawks are heading to the stands. I head to the pits to meet up with my team and enter a sea of 400 FRC teams and at least as many FTC and FLL teams. The morning is spent in the pits checking all robot systems, deploying new code, and running practice matches. We have our first qualification matches that day.

The next morning every team heads into the stands of the Edward Jones Dome for opening ceremonies. The scale of the competition is enormous with four division fields and a champions’ field occupying the floor of the dome. Bright lights glare down onto the fields and walkways between fields are empty of their usual robot traffic. Dean Kamen, an inventor and the founder of FIRST, steps up onto a stage at one end of the stadium. He speaks about the future of the country, the need for a new generation of engineers and scientists who will create new wealth, and the role of FIRST in doing so. He is not an extraordinary speaker, but the gravity of his speech and the conviction in his eyes are compelling. He ends his speech and the stadium erupts into cheers, then exits to prepare for the upcoming matches.

Competition is intense; between matches the pit crew changes the battery, scouts compile match data of teams, the drive team—which I am part of—talks about strategy with other teams for the upcoming match, and the robot gets tested on the practice field. Then it is time to queue and we roll the robot cart out to the Archimedes division field. Our robot has to endure nine qualification matches and then either be in the top eight teams or be selected by one of the top eight teams to advance to division eliminations. Because the matches consist of alliances of three robots, a total of 24 will make it to eliminations.

The matches are fast-paced, only 2 minutes and 15 seconds long, and our team does well. However, during some matches the robot misses shots and afterwards we take time on the practice field to recalibrate. Meanwhile the scouting team is recording match data and will later compile a list of teams to pick or to try to be picked by. Later in the day, the judges walk by. I tell the technical judges about every aspect of the robot: the drive train, the conveyor, the turret, the camera target tracking, and the dashboard.   They are very interested in our tracking system and targeting display. At the same time, the marketing and finance teams explain to the business judges that our team is run like a high-tech startup and hand out copies of the business plan.

All day long the pits are a sea of multicolored shirts; team members walk around the pits to get a look at the perfectly machined robots of some of the elite teams, underclassmen stop at pits to collect pins that teams hand out, mascots are escorted around by a couple team members, and robot carts roll through aisles on their way to the dome.

By the end of Friday, we are all exhausted, but there is still more work to do at the hotel. The scouts, senior team members, and a couple of mentors file into my room to log the day’s scouting data into a Google Doc. It is clear who the elite teams are, and though we are not one of them we are a consistent scorer and have a chance to go far in the competition. Later, after a fun pillow fight I go to sleep; tomorrow is going to be a long day.

On Saturday morning we have our last two qualification matches. Strong performances—especially in the last match—propel our team to sixth place, not bad for a field of 100 teams. After our team realizes this we scramble to finalize the pick list. Then the announcer calls the top eight teams onto the field and I walk on to represent Nemesis. The top teams pick each other and when it comes my turn to pick our top pick is still available. I select team 1218, our friends from Pennsylvania. They had a couple tough breaks that kept them out of the top eight and they are a steal for the sixth pick. As the draft serpentines around, I talk with 1218’s representative and we decide on 2851, a team with decent autonomous, good defense, and the ability to triple balance.

The draft ends and I look at our quarterfinal opponents; one of them is last year’s world champion. Despite this we think we can win because the rest of the alliance isn’t as strong. I walk off the field and head back to the pits to help the pit crew bring the robot, batteries, and tools to the field. Once the double elimination matches start there will be no time to go back to the pits.

Eventually our match is on and I am finally behind the glass waiting to drive. The announcer introduces our team and our section of the stands erupts into cheers. “Three, two, one, GO!” The match starts and our team pulls ahead by a huge lead. The best robot on the other team is not working and we win handily. For the second match however, the robot is fixed and the other alliance wins by one point; it’s onto a third deciding match. Our team wins by a solid margin, breathes a sigh of relief, and prepares for the semifinals.

Our whole alliance knows how tough these next matches will be. We are against the second-seed alliance, which consists of two of the best robots in the world. Our whole alliance puts in our best effort, and despite triple balancing—a feat not many robots have completed—we cannot overcome the offensive power of these teams. They defeat us and go on to win the division.

Our team is satisfied with a solid performance, making it farther than we ever have before, and heads to the stands to watch the Einstein field of division champions. The matches are exciting, and when they are over confetti fills the air to celebrate the winners. Though we didn’t win, our team feels like winners. And I realize that is what FIRST is about: not winning or losing, but learning and celebrating technology and engineering.

ROBBINSVILLE — The robotics team at Robbinsville High School has scored a slam dunk this year, earning a spot at an international competition later this month with a student-built robot designed to pick up and shoot basketballs.

After taking first place in a field of nearly 40 teams at a regional competition in Montreal last month, the students will travel to St. Louis later this month for the championship round of the U.S. FIRST Robotics Competition, a bout that will draw competitors from across the globe.

“It’s a great team,” said team adviser Joy Wolfe, a technology teacher at the high school. “They design the whole the thing from scratch.”

The team, called Nemesis, also took top honors at another regional competition in Tabernacle, this one featuring schools from throughout eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey, and Delaware, last month. It will compete again in Philadelphia later this week.

The team includes roughly 60 students who are divided into several groups each tasked with different responsibilities. From designing and building the robot to marketing, fundraising, and managing a budget of close to $60,000, the students take the lead in handling it all.

A group of mentors made up of faculty, staff, and parents help guide the team.

“We’re really proud that we gave the students the chance to run their team like a technical business, so people were able to segue their experiences here as they go on to college,” Wolfe said.

The annual competition presents students with a set of challenges their robots can tackle. For each task a robot successfully completes, the team gets a certain amount of points. This year, the team had to design a robot that can pick up and shoot basketballs.

After trapping the balls and picking them up via a conveyor belt, the robot operates much like a pitching machine as a set of wheels push the ball out of the machine and toward the basket.

In addition, the robot is also capable of tipping over a seesaw bridge with a pneumatic arm, another component of the competition.

While the robot can be operated via remote control, part of the competition involves programming the robot to function autonomously, a task team advisers said was entirely driven by the students.

Students said the team was a great way to take skills they’ve learned in the classroom and put them to use.

“I like the fact that you’re actually doing things,” said Eric Principato, a senior on the team who’s enrolled in Princeton University next year. “In schools there’s a lot of theoretical work but you don’t get to do any hands-on application of your knowledge, and FIRST Robotics is all about application.”

To see the article as it originally appeared in the Trenton Times, click here.

THE MESSENGER-PRESS

ROBBINSVLLE — It was a banner weekend for the Robbinsville High School FIRST Robotics Team 2590, Nemesis, which won the Lenape District qualifier and prestigious Chairman's Award, as well as an award for its student-managed website, FRC2590.org.

Team 2590 Nemesis, the Montreal Regional Champion, initially had a rough start at the Lenape District qualifier March 24-25 at Seneca High School in Tabernacle, where 40 teams from New Jersey, Pennsylvania and Delaware were competing. The 4-foot-tall robot built by the Robbinsville students wasn't hitting the basket with the same accuracy it had displayed in Montreal.

The team's Pit Crew scoured the machine, analyzing each component to see what was amiss. Then the Software Team decided to change the white LED to a green LED to simplify vision processing. Soon Nemesis was back in action and once again sinking its shots and scoring points.

Under the rules of FIRST's "Rebound Rumble" competition, robots earn points by shooting basketballs into hoops of varying heights inside an arena. Students need to form alliances with other teams to maximize their total points.

Although Nemesis' problem with its vision processing has been fixed quickly, it was too late to make the top eight teams and Nemesis dropped to the 9th seed, then moved up to No. 8 during the selection process. Fortunately, the 3rd seeded team, the Miracle Workerz, aka MOE FRC 365, had scouted the Montreal videos and asked Nemesis and Anomaly, FRC 816, to join their alliance.

With two shooters and Anomaly playing defense, the alliance won all but one round as it powered its way through the finals, winning the Lenape Regional. The alliance clinched a berth at the Mid Atlantic Regional (MAR) in Philadelphia April 12-14.

In other news, Nemesis won the Website Award thanks to the efforts its webmaster, Alena Principato. The award recognizes excellence in student-designed, built, and managed FIRST team websites.

Nemesis also won the District Chairman's Award, the most prestigious award honoring the team that best represents a model for other teams to emulate and best embodies the purpose and goals of FIRST, the not-for-profit founded in 1989 to inspire students in the engineering and technology fields.

In the wake of the recent victories that have put RHS on the road to St. Louis, Nemesis' Finance team has been contacting local companies to secure donations to cover the $20,000 in registration and travel expenses to the World Championship. Quick to respond were SRI International, McGraw Hill, Robbinsville resident Julie Thomas, and others who have all sent donations to the team.

Anyone wishing to help the team with its expenses, may send a check to FIRST Robotics Team 2590 Nemesis, 155 Robbinsville-Edinburg Road, Robbinsville, NJ, 08691.

As freshman on the build team, when we joined FIRST Robotics we had no idea what to expect. Little did we know how much it would change our lives and what a positive experience it would be. Being productive members of the team has helped us grow as people and as students. From robotics we learned the importance of time management, how to work well with others, and how to take pride in our accomplishments.

These are things that we will use for the rest of our lives. One exciting thing about robotics is that the problems we are given do not necessarily have a right answer. Rather, we are given a problem with an infinite number of answers and it is up to our creativity and determination to make one work for us. This requires a different type of thinking than what we are used to. As a result, the answer is more challenging to find, but it is also much more rewarding once it is found.
One of the highlights of Team 2590 is that we are all drawn together because of our love for the challenge. It is the glue that binds them like a second family. Something that really speaks to me about the family of Nemesis is that these kids are serious when they need to be and are laid back and relaxed the rest of the time. This makes the Tech Lab a very comfortable place to work in, almost like a second home. Spending so many hours together during build season was a brand new experience for us but well worth it. In Montreal, we had the opportunity to see Prince take first place at the Festival de Robotique. Together we scouted nearly 60 matches. We went out to eat, played in the pool, and even managed to get some homework done.

MONTREAL — The Robbinsville High School FIRST Robotics Team 2590, Nemesis, won first place in the Montreal Regional robotics competition last week and is now headed for the international championship in St. Louis next month.

Nemesis was ranked first after 11 qualification matches, conquering the language barrier and other robots and ultimately winning the entire competition.

Becoming the first champions of the new Montreal Regional, Nemesis made history and also achieved a personal best with its first regional win.

”We are so proud of the results of the hours, days, weeks, and months of labor the Build Team and their mentors: Scott Meredith, Peter Wolfe, Peter Borowski, Mark Banziger, Alan Schwartz, Ric Principato, and Tom Young dedicated to prepare, and create this basketball playing robot,” said RHS technology teacher and team founder Joy Wolfe on Tuesday.

”It is the finest robot we’ve built to date and a culmination of four years of experience for our seniors,” Ms. Wolfe said.

The Business Team brought home accolades from Montreal as well, winning its second consecutive entrepreneurship award in this season. Previously, the Business Team brought home the award at the Hatboro-Horsham District Qualifying event.

Nemesis hopes to qualify for the Mid Atlantic Robotics District Competition in Philadelphia from April 12-14 and is now eligible to attend the FIRST Championship Event hosted in St. Louis from April 26-28.

In preparation, the team is seeking donations to cover event registration fees and travel costs. The team needs to raise around $20,000 to adequately cover expenses for the international championship. The team would need to raise $6,000 to compete in Philadelphia.

Anyone wishing to make a donation, may send a check to:

Robbinsville FIRST Robotics Team 2590

Robbinsville High School

155 Robbinsville Edinburg Road

Robbinsville, NJ, 08691

Should there be any questions, please contact advisor Joy Wolfe at wolfe@robbinsville.k12.nj.us.  Any donations would be greatly appreciated. 

To watch a video our final winning match in Montreal, click here.

The team was up with the sun on Wednesday, March 14 and arrived at the high school by 7 AM in preparation to embark on our adventure. Excitement was in the air as we loaded our bags into the LEGOLAND bus and waved “good-bye” to Robbinsville and “hello” to Montréal and the Festivale de Robotique FRC a Montreal Regional.

But we had a lot of time to kill on the eight hour bus ride. In the middle of The Dark Knight, people starting dozing and Karla took this opportunity to snap… entertaining photos of the sleeping team members. Around the three hour mark, we stopped for lunch at Roy Rogers, then continued straight until the border. All team members were quickly “okayed” to cross into Canada (passport and green card holders alike) and it became the first time out of the country for Julia and the Principato family. From there, it was a quick 40 minute drive to the hotel.

Nemesis was ecstatic to arrive at the Le Centre Sheraton around four in the afternoon. After checking out our rooms and basking in the glory of three days off school, some team members met up for a series of intense card games, while our dedicated track team members hit the gym’s treadmills. A few build team members also went to drop Prince off at the Stade Uniprix, the arena where the regional would be held. A few hours later, we headed off to the pool for some games of categories and relaxing in the whirlpool. The day was ended with an interesting pizza meal, and the team was ready for the real fun to start the next day.

Mr. Meredith’s evening full of celebration began with Mrs. Wolfe and the marketing team scouring the classrooms trying to find a lighter for the candles on his cake—from the ovens in the Life Skills room to the Bunsen Burners in the Science labs, while Baljot and Erica desperately tried to hide the secret birthday cake behind a cardboard box. Realizing that fire is a school safety hazard (who knew?), we proceeded to sticking two unlit candles on the cake and warning the Build Team of our entrance.

Finally, the doors were opened and the singing began—quite off-key, I must add, but I believe it’s the thought that counts. Also, since one cake was not going to cut it—no pun intended—for about fifty members, Mrs. Wolfe craftily borrowed the barely eaten RHS Cotillion cake from the teacher’s lounge. Continuing the night, some members agreed to give Mr. Meredith a present, or rather twenty-five of their present. From Eric, he received an engraved twenty-six sided shape (one more side for good luck). From Julia, he received a CD of twenty-five Taylor Swift songs, because he just loves songs to which “he can daydream about boys.” And of course, twenty-five pictures of ponies and horses from our—hush-hush—resident centaur, Jenna. Finally,  Baljot and Karla created a large birthday card signed by each and every single one of our members. A half-eaten cake, a dozen pop country songs, and a rhombicuboctahedron later, dear Mr. Meredith’s birthday bash ends with a bang with a hilarious—including definitely no Googled pictures of Asian babies—montage video created by Baljot.

In an effort to reach out to the community and participate in more charity events as a team, Nemesis has partnered with Enable Inc., a non-profit agency devoted to supporting individuals with disabilities to live full and independent lives within the community. We have formed a team to participate in the Walk n' Roll with Enable event on Saturday, February 25th at Rider University. We plan to fundraise and/or donate pledges as a team to raise money, and then walk at the event on the 25th. The walkers will represent Team Nemesis while supporting a great cause to help individuals within the community.

We are proud to welcome a new sponsor, SRI International, who generously donated to Team Nemesis. Mr. Dimatulac, father of team member Karla, sent a request to SRI for a donation. They enjoyed reading about the dedication and success of the team, and support our mission. Alice Resnick, Vice President of Corporate & Marketing Communications, wrote “Best of luck to the team, and we wish you much continued success with your robotics program.”

SRI’s mission is to commit to the discovery and application of science and technology for knowledge, commerce, prosperity, and peace. Two of the consulting company’s main research focus areas are education and robotics. As a nonprofit research institute, SRI is very supportive of robotics programs which help to educate students in science and technology. The company believes robotics is a wonderful way to introduce and stimulate youth with an interest in engineering.

The contribution pays for the cost of parts and materials for the robot which will compete in Montreal, Quebec, Canada and Mid-Atlantic Region competitions in 2012. Team Nemesis appreciates SRI’s commitment to educate and encourage interest in STEM and is very grateful for their generous donation.

THE MESSENGER-PRESS

"Prince," named after the team’s CEO Eric Principato, will be competing in district and regional FIRST Robotics competitions culminating in what the team hopes will be a strong showing in the 2012 national championship in St. Louis. The FIRST Robotics challenge for this year is called “The Rebound Rumble,” a competition that requires the students’ robot to earn points by shooting basketballs into hoops of varying heights inside an arena. The students need to work with their team and in alliances and “coopertition” with other teams for maximum points.

The robot, which has a shooter, a rotating turret and a conveyor, uses a camera to locate the basketball hoop’s backboard, calculate the distance of the shot, set the appropriate speed and then fire the ball into the hoop at a 50-degree angle.

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a national organization that runs mentor-based programs designed to teach students about science and technology, while giving them experiences that build their interpersonal skills and self-confidence.

The Robbinsville team, known as Nemesis (after the goddess of revenge and retribution) Team 2590, includes 66 students, RHS technology teachers Joy Wolfe and Scott Meredith, and a dedicated group of adult mentors. The group has been at work since the beginning of the school year making the plans needed to meet their robot deadline, but the actual “build season” is compressed into six short weeks. During the build season, students are often working in the RHS technology lab many nights until 11 p.m., as well as Saturdays.

The robot is only one small part of the club’s responsibilities. The entire endeavor is structured like an engineering business would be, including the creation of a business plan. The team is made up of various sub-teams, including Software, Marketing, Finance, Web and Build. Each of these teams is responsible for their part of the model business required for participation in the FIRST competitions.

Last Saturday, the students were working in the lab to prepare for the competition season. Members of the Build Team were busy putting together the robot structure, while members of the Software Team were working on how to control the robot, using a software program called LabVIEW.

In the midst of his work on the robot, Team 2590 CEO Eric Principato, a senior heading to Princeton University in the fall, was explaining the process to state Senator Linda Greenstein and Assemblyman Daniel Benson, both D-Mercer, who were visiting. Members of the Marketing and Finance teams, Jess Friedberg, Chris Karousatos, Ralph Petagna and Michelle Principato, also led a tour and were obviously well-versed in every aspect of the operation.

The Marketing Team works all year contacting sponsors, designing brochures and building community outreach programs. The Finance team is responsible for all donations and expenses. Michelle, a member of the Marketing Team, explained the philosophy of the team members not directly involved in the actual hands-on building of the robot.

”We pride ourselves on being well rounded,” Michelle said. “Even though we don’t build the robot, it is important to know how it works to market it,” she said.

During the competitions, while the Drive Team puts the robot through the required tasks, members of these teams will be in “The Pit” where they will be required to answer questions from the judges about their process. They also craft presentations for the awards that the FIRST competitions offer.

The Web Team runs an award-winning website that is constantly updated with the team’s progress and contains specific information about its many endeavors. Ric Principato, the website mentor among other roles, is the father of four robotics team members, triplets Eric, Michelle, and Alena, and their younger sister Christa.

”I have had the pleasure of seeing this for four years,” Mr. Principato said. “I can’t even measure the value it has had for my four kids.”

Another facet of the team’s work is community service. They recently organized a food drive at Sharon Elementary School and have participated in various fundraising walks for organizations, including Enable. The team also hosts a Discovery Day every year for 2nd to 5th grade students, using robots to encourage an interest in science and technology at an early age.

”Our small club could have such a big impact on the local community,” said Jess Friedberg about the many community endeavors. “We want high school students to reach back,” Mrs. Wolfe.

The robotics team, started in 2007 by Mrs. Wolfe with a NASA rookie grant, consists of students in grades 9 through 12, many of whom learn about it in the school’s technology and Project Lead The Way pre-engineering classes.

There are more freshmen on Nemesis Team 2590 this year than at any time before. The seniors mentor the freshman so that the underclassmen can step in to leadership roles after the upperclassmen graduate.

Some recruitment to the team “family” comes from blood relatives. In addition to the Principato clan, there is a set of twins and many members who are siblings of Nemesis Team 2590 alumni.

The team brings together students of diverse skills whose future plans are also diverse. They have applied and been accepted to many prestigious universities and plan to major in fields ranging from engineering to finance.

The students, who recognize that schoolwork comes first, are also involved in other extracurricular activities, including sports, at Robbinsville High School. They all seem to excel in time management. Zach Brown (Software/Build Teams), CEO Eric Principato, and one of the two CTO’s (chief technological officers) Matt Schwartz will also compete in the Panasonic Challenge, where they will build a robot on a smaller scale with low-cost materials, vying for up to $5,000 in scholarships. Mentor Peter Wolfe, a software engineer by trade, who, alongside his wife, the enthusiastic Mrs. Wolfe, spends many hours after work and on weekends working with the team, summed it up. “It’s not about the robot, the robot is a Trojan horse; just a trick to get kids interested in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics),” he said. “The kids love this; it’s a lot of fun and they learn a lot.”

To find out more about the Robbinsville High School Robotics Team, visit its website: frc2590.org.

The Robbinsville High School robotics team includes: Ben Arenstein, Sid Ayyagari, Christopher Banziger, Vivek Barbhaiya, Brandon Bellero, Julia Borowski, Zach Brown, Shannon Casserly, Nick Cenni, Venkatesh Chinnakonda, Regan Clarke, Kate Coggins, John Coriasco, Karla Dimatulac, Al Drake, Julian Esteban, Erica Falk, Josh Falk, Michael Filipek, Justin Francis, Jessica Friedberg, Kyle Gavalchin, Dan Gavrushenko, Kendrick Grace, Mehaa Gupta, Dylan Hong, Maddison Hughes, Uddhav Joglekar, Ryan Jurek, Alec Karousatos, Chris Karousatos, Stephanie Kovacs, Meghna Kuppuraju, Scott LaRochelle, Bhargav Lingala, Urmila Lingala, Christian Marsala, Christopher May, Austin Mayweather, Taylor Mayweather, Zach Mclaughlin, Anisha Mohan, Jenna Mollica, Karthik Paka, Snigdha Paka, Antonio Papa, Avani Pavuluri, Ralph Petagna, Alena Principato, Christa Principato, Eric Principato, Michelle Principato, Jason Puglisi, Saveetha Raghupathi, Baljot Ranu, JP Ranu, Shravali Reddy, Alec Regulski, Ali Riad, Nick Sanders, Matthew Schwartz, Danielle Stepien, Shashank Sundararaman, Brett Vantassel, Arnav Vast, Harrison Young.

Assemblyman Benson and State Senator Greenstein visited Team Nemesis on Saturday, February 18 in the Tech lab. Michelle Principato, Jessica Friedberg, Chris Karousatous and Ralph Petagna welcomed them. The Website team was introduced to them by Michelle, while Jessica introduced the Marketing team and Ralph and Chris introduced the Finance team.

Michelle explained how the website is developed and introduced Ric Principato, the team website mentor, to them. Jessica discussed how the team’s message and current news are spread to the school, community, and corporate sponsors and about fundraising events such as the Shoprite bagging to the Assemblyman and Senator. Ralph explained in-depth how the Finance team manages the team’s money by taking care of the costs of bus transportation, competitions to how much money the team has left over as of the end of this build season.

After the introductions, Assemblyman Benson and Senator Greenstein went to the back of the Tech lab to observe the students working on the robot. Eric Principato provided them with details of this year’s competition and the logistics of the robot. Assemblyman Benson went to the basketball hoops in the hallway and even took some shots at the three hoops. Later, a team picture was taken with them in front of the basketball hoops with Assemblyman Benson and State Senator Greenstein each holding a basketball. This was a great experience for both the team members and the Assemblyman and Senator to discuss robotics. In the end, Assemblyman Benson and Senator Greenstein gave sound bites about Robotics that will be included in the team video.

Anyone who has made it through an FRC build season knows the truth in this statement. Long hours, a crowded lab and little sleep take their toll, and team members often forget that they need to find time to take in some nutrients in order to press on with the challenge at hand. Enter the generous families of team Nemesis. The team has been treated to many bountiful snacks, lunches and dinners; the latest sampling provided by the Gavrushenko family included salad, pasta with meatballs, garlic bread, cookies and cupcakes. After the dinner bell is rung four or five times, the team retreats to the Student Activity Center and eats family style. It's a much needed refueling / breather and also a great team builder. Many thanks to all the families that generously donate their time and the meals that help keep our small army running.

To relieve the expenses for future trips, Team 2590 members—armed with their very own, handy dandy donation buckets—took part in bagging groceries at the local Hamilton Marketplace ShopRite. The nine-hour long day was divided into slightly less hair-pulling timeslots of three hours, from ten in the morning until closing at seven at night.

As it turns out, ShopRite is actually a zoo on Sundays. Nemesis team members worked hard bagging customers’ groceries—eggs and bread on top, of course. Some helpful customers thought to offer endless constructive criticism about the art of bagging groceries. Fortunately, we all learned something by the end of the day. For instance, when the customer says they would like their groceries in both paper and plastic, Al learned to avoid lectures by placing the paper bags into the plastic ones (word of advice for all readers).

After a long, grueling day of particular “my-meat-cannot-touch-the-veggies” customers, the team satisfyingly went home with a whopping $1600.