2023 Week 2: Build Journal

After a successful first week of planning and prototyping, the build team continued to test different intakes, cycling options, and game piece indexing mechanisms. Among the indexing designs we considered were the V-Intake, which used two bands in the shape of a V to pull cones to the middle of the robot, and the Bar Indexer, which uses a simple horizontal bar to right fallen cones.

However, after testing and evaluating these designs, the team ultimately scrapped the V-Intake and moved on to other ideas such as a claw-like intake, which used flexible arms with wheels to grab game elements, and the Suction intake, which used suction cups to stick onto cones. We also worked on an "Over the Bumper" intake, which used a shaft with wheels at cone height in front of the robot's bumper to pull cones in and over the bumper into the robot.

In addition to these intake designs, the team also focused on building and refining other aspects of the robot, such as the Spindexer, a mechanism to index the cone into a finite number of fixed locations inside the bot's frame perimete We also made progress on field elements and field set up. We hope to have prototyping done by the end of this week, so that we can break in Week 3 with a discussion of what our final design should be. Overall, it was a successful and productive week for the build team.

Nemesis 2590 Takes Center Stage at Robbinsville State of Schools!

Robbinsville High School saw a very successful, informative night on Thursday, January 19th, as it held the annual State of the Schools event. There were a multitude of clubs, organizations and school administration showcasing their accomplishments over the past few years. The common area was buzzing with people from all over Robbinsville, especially around the back corner, where Nemesis 2590 had their own booth. 

This had many aspects, with the center of attention being Nemesis’ 2022 robot, Iris. The drive team was able to show off their skills, allowing attendees to experience the robot's shooter through audience interaction, while catching cargo from the robot. While this occurred, other team members presented the ins and outs of Nemesis 2590. They educated the crowd about Nemesis’ operations, the team's various community outreach events, and more. The team gave out tattoos and tri-folds to those attending, while also showcasing posters detailing all aspects of our team. 

At the superintendent’s debrief on the current events of Robbinsville, Nemesis was honored to be mentioned many times. The dedication of Nemesis team members, the new 2023 game, and the team hosting its first district competition were all spoken about during the speech. Overall, it was a very successful night for Nemesis. The team was incredibly excited to share a year of accomplishments with the Robbinsville community.

Nemesis hits the books with a successful library robot demonstration

On the morning of January 21st, members of Nemesis 2590 were up and ready to showcase their award-winning robot, Iris. Held at the local Robbinsville library and open to elementary and middle schoolers, the demonstration was meant to show the community what Nemesis is all about. After a brief explanation of our team and what we do, students were able to have hands-on interactions with Iris.

Firstly, lead members of Nemesis gave a presentation to the students and their parents. They described what FIRST is, how the FIRST Robotics Competition works, and different ways students could get involved in FIRST. Brief introductions were given about the FIRST Lego League, and a quarter-final match, with Nemesis 2590 playing, from the FRC Championship of 2022 was aired for the students. Described as “a chaotic mix of the NBA and BattleBots”, students were glued to their seats by the sight of six 120 pound robots racing around the arena. The match got students ready and excited to learn about Iris and see how the systems of the robot function.

After the presentation was finished, students were able to witness Iris’s use of its Limelight, a tool which can find the reflexive tape on a hoop in order for the robot to be able to aim itself, first hand. They were given a necklace with a strip of reflective tape on it, and the robot used its Limelight to track the tape on the students as they walked around the robot. Students were able to see the green light shined on them, and the precision of the Limelight’s tracking ability.

After demonstrating the Limelight, the turret was showcased to the students. Some students stood in front of the robot, and a ball was shot from Iris’s turret for the students to catch. This was the same turret and auto locking system used during the 2022 competition season, but the power was turned down so that the ball was catchable for students. While this was happening, other students were able to drive the robot and experience how the control system for Iris works.

Finally, students were given a chance to take a look at Iris, while being guided through the various systems by Nemesis team members. They were walked through the intake, cycling, and shooting systems on the robot, so that they could have a rudimentary understanding of how the different aspects of Iris works. This wrapped up the hands-on interaction for the students, and they were able to go home with an increased understanding of FIRST, with many now preparing to be on FLL teams for the next season.

Another Eggcellent Engineering Day

Stomp rockets were flying everywhere outside the Tech Lab on December 4th, during Engineering Day. The 6th through 8th graders experienced a hugely successful half-day experience thanks to the members of Nemesis 2590. The team helped kids to cultivate their passion for STEM through multiple creative challenges. 

The day started off with an interactive presentation detailing the STEM challenge that the kids would complete. Team members of Nemesis 2590 presented them with the STEM challenge that they would complete -- creating rockets out of paper which would then be launched up into the air by stomping on a bottle.  The kids asked many questions about the task and could not wait to start making their own stomp rockets.

Then, students worked in small teams of 2-3 members led by a student on the team. They then used critical thinking, creativity, and assistance from Nemesis 2590 team members to create a rocket that would launch high into the air. After stomping the rocket and being amazed by how high they went, the kids moved on to the real challenge: finding a way to launch an egg with the rocket without breaking it. 

Guided by their student mentors, the campers, the group of students, were provided with a wide selection of materials that could possibly protect the egg which they put in the bag, along with the egg. After doing this, they attached the bags to the rockets and stomped on the bottles to test run their rocket. After successful test runs, the kids and their student mentors would face the pinnacle of their Engineering Day journey: The Big Bertha cannon, a compressor-based stomp rocket launcher. Big Bertha would launch the bottles to a height of 30-40 feet, which meant that it would be difficult to prevent the egg from breaking. Some teams managed to prevent fracturing the egg, but other groups needed to improve their designs. These groups went back to the tech lab to adjust their rocket, and by the end of Engineering Day, all groups were able to prevent the egg from cracking, successfully completing the challenge.

However, this STEM challenge was not the only opportunity offered to the 6th to 8th graders that attended Engineering Day. The kids were given the special opportunity to drive Iris, the 2022 competition robot that we used in the FIRST Worlds Championship. They had lots of fun launching giant tennis ball-like game pieces 8+ feet into the air to score in giant four foot wide cones. These kids were also given the opportunity to converse with members of Nemesis 2590 in order to gather information about the team. The kids were fascinated with how smoothly Nemesis 2590 ran, and we look forward to seeing these campers at next year’s Engineering day. 

Overall, Engineering Day was an astounding success, that left kids in our community desiring to engage in more STEM related activities. We thank all the campers who showed up to Engineering Day as we had a wonderful experience spreading knowledge of STEM to the community. It was a win-win for everyone involved, and we can't wait to see what next year's Engineering Day has in store!