This past week Nemesis had an incredible experience hosting our first Unified Robotics event at our town’s local middle school. We began with a brief introduction of our team, the FIRST community, and the robotics opportunities open to the students as they enter high school. 

After pairing small groups of students with a Nemesis team member, the challenge began. The friendly competition we presented was a paper tower building competition, each group was given as much paper and tape necessary to build the tallest tower in forty-five minutes. Each group spent a few minutes planning out ideas for their structure’s bases before getting to action on building. With each group taking on a different architectural strategy, creativity was exemplified by every participant. 

Many laughs were shared throughout the trial and errors, and at the end of the building time every group had a paper structure that independently stood on its own! Each tower was individualized to showcase the crafter’s vibrant personalities: some groups finished their towers with hand-made flags! Ultimately, both Nemesis volunteers and attending students expanded their horizons through expressing their visions in an engaging hands-on activity. It was a blast to work with such a brilliant group of students and introduce them to the excitement that robotics holds. 

        After a preseason of hard work, the FRC Kickoff has arrived, initiating the 2024 season! At the start of kickoff, the whole team watched as this year’s musical themed game, Crescendo, that was announced live on Twitch. The announcement made the team jump to the seventh octave. The game poses an interesting challenge, especially compared to games from previous years. Teams must have their robots be able to score rings called notes into multiple goal stations and hang on a chain in the center of their side of the field, known as the stage. The team members were astonished by this year's event and are more ready than ever to conquer this year’s challenge. The whole team plans to work harder, sleep less, and have as much fun as possible in the upcoming months. 
        Nemesis wasted no time in learning everything about the game. They pored over the game manual, trying to find as much information as possible. To reinforce this information, the team took a quiz made by the strategy subteam which incorporated information from the manual. 
        Next, the team started to strategize on how to maximize point scoring during the game. For the rest of the first day, the team was divided into groups to create an ordered list of tasks for the robot to accomplish. From shooting notes into the amp to climbing up the Stage, each team member had their own opinions on how to prioritize each task. Eventually, each group came to a consensus and reconvened to decide on a final list. Although considering all the varied ideas and opinions took longer than anticipated, the list of the team’s top priorities for scoring options was soon finalized.
      Kickoff wasn’t all work and no play, as the team took multiple breaks to cool off and have fun. Some team members played handball, others played basketball, and some took the opportunity to chill out and hang around. With multiple weeks of long hours in the lab to come, this was a reminder to our team members that hard work means nothing without a little fun.
       The excitement continued into Sunday with the team beginning to create prototype ideas, utilizing the list from the previous day. After a quick lunch break, the members moved on to sketching various possible designs for the robot, all unique to each member and their ideas. These concepts were then presented to the rest of the team to get opinions and constructive criticism. Finally, the team moved on to complete a closing list of which mechanisms to prototype. With that, day two came to an end.
      Overall, Nemesis’ 2024 kickoff was a great success. Despite the difficulties generated by Crescendo’s complicated game, the team managed to prepare effectively to  face the new challenge. The build team is testing their new prototypes, and the business team is preparing for future outreach events, including our upcoming Sponsor Night. Nemesis is ready to come into the spotlight and put on an unforgettable performance! 

          As the year came to a close, Nemesis held its most beloved tradition – the Yankee Swap. An event where all team members bring wrapped gifts to an evening of friendly competition. Each member puts their gift on a table and finds a surrounding seat. Once all players are ready, the exchange begins! Each person is given a random number, which correlates to the order used when members get to choose a gift from the table. After grabbing a gift, members have the option to swap with someone who has already picked a gift, or to sit down with their prize, hoping that nobody steals it later on. Then the next person in line chooses a present and the process starts again.
   The true action begins during swapping. The anticipation was high with every new round! As more gifts were unwrapped, the amount of coveted items grew, ranging from a musical toy shopping cart to a six-cup coffee machine.
After many rounds of swapping and haggling, the teammate who commenced the game takes the last turn at swapping. Finally, all players can put their items down and enjoy their new gifts. This event is never complete without laughs shared over the humorous presents (dancing robots and burrito blanket), unexpected swaps, and the team bonding over treats afterwards. 
    Yankee Swap has always been the perfect conclusion to the pre-season and re-energizes the team’s spirits for the upcoming kickoff weekend! Nemesis is always encouraging team-building in and out of the lab; we can’t wait to continue our cherished team traditions throughout seasons to come.
 

The annual Discovery Day hosted at Robbinsville High School by FRC team Nemesis 2590 was  a grand success as students in our community were introduced to the fascinating world of FIRST. On December 3rd and 4th, the campers completed a plethora of age-appropriate STEM challenges, meant to offer a stimulating, but fun, experience for the students.

This year there were two challenges: one targeted towards younger students (grades 2-4) and one for the older kids (grades 5-6). The first challenge was to build machines that would successfully launch paper airplanes, engaging the students in a fierce and fun competition with each other to see which airplane design would go the farthest! Through this activity, these students were taught basic principles of aerodynamics while having a great time. Meanwhile, older students were tested through a variety of challenges involving the use of NXT robots that engaged in sumo wrestling matches. This prompted them to think outside the box, using only their creativity and tenacity to build unique designs that would work effectively in battle.

Campers also had the opportunity to drive Nemesis’s 2023 competition robot, Jynx, after briefly learning about the driver’s joysticks and controls from team volunteers. The excitement on the young student’s faces was apparent as they guided the robot to place cones on various rungs, making us certain that the future of FIRST is bright!

 Local FLL teams, IDK, Minds of Steel, and Brains of Talent, set up FLL competition tables from the Masterpiece challenge to demonstrate robotics that fit their skill level, ensuring that students could begin or even continue their FIRST journey. At these FLL demonstrations, local team coaches and members motivated campers to try joining or beginning a team of their own! 

In the end, all the students had an amazing time meeting with our team, learning more about STEM principles, and competing against each other in a collaborative environment. It was a delightful experience to see all of them leaving with smiles on their faces, and a newfound passion for robotics and STEM!

On November 19th, Robbinsville High School and Nemesis 2590 hosted the first ever Robbinsville Ruckus FLL Event! This qualifier event was packed to the brim with 24 teams competing to advance to the next stage, the state championship.
    
Beginning bright and early at 7:00 AM, teams arrived at the high school to set up their colorful project displays; this year’s Innovation Challenge, Masterpiece, was to explore ways to spread a specific hobby of theirs using STEM. The rest of the morning flew by, as teams presented their robot designs, core value skills, and innovation projects to the judges. Team ambassadors from Nemesis helped FLL members navigate the building, get concessions, and have a great time! Meanwhile, other teams fine-tuned their robots at the practice matches to prepare for the main event.
    
After a brief lunch break, it was finally time for the opening ceremonies! Emceed by two energetic Nemesis team members, Ayur Munipalli and Tanvi Kasivishwanathan, everyone had a blast following along to their match commentaries, quips, and cheerful banter. As all the teams gathered and settled down, Nemesis referees prepped the tables for the games to kick off. 
 
Filled with excitement, teams lined up to be queued to their matches. The first game started off with a tense atmosphere as the robots completed tasks for the highest points possible. After each round, the referees carefully examined every corner to calculate each team’s score. As the day progressed, different teams made their way up the leaderboard through a fierce yet friendly competition.

Nemesis members and volunteers worked diligently throughout the day to ensure that the competition commenced in a timely manner. To lighten the mood, the emcees played lively music, boosting the enthusiasm amongst teams. Team members started singing and dancing along, brightening the spirit. All the while, judges were working tirelessly to finalize the awards. 

The matches ended with a bang, marking the beginning of the highly-awaited awards ceremony. With every team that won an award, the entire gymnasium erupted in applause, displaying the tremendous gracious professionalism from everyone in attendance.The teams that eventually qualified for the state championship were:

• 30745 - Minds of Steel
• 60755 - Tech Warriors
• 62281 - Left in the Dust
• 16831 - IDK
• 61104 - RoBoBallers
• 52578 - Lightning Phoenix

Nemesis is incredibly grateful for the opportunity to host our first FLL event and we hope to host another in the future. We look forward to finding new and innovative ways of spreading STEM in our community and beyond!
 

Entering the bustling Hatboro Havoc arena, with the hum of robotic contraptions and the buzz of conversations, the atmosphere was electric. It was an awesome Saturday at Hatboro Havoc, the very first event of the off-season for the FIRST Robotics competition. The competition itself was a maze of tricky obstacles and challenges, a fantastic way to get the team's gear up for the season ahead.This event was also a perfect chance for the new drive team to get some practice.
The qualification matches got underway as Nemesis geared up for its own debut. Jynx, our robot, rolled out onto the arena floor as part of the Red alliance. Our rookie drivers quickly got the hang of maneuvering the robot. With drivers at the station racking up points for the Red alliance, the rest of our team was like a passionate crowd, cheering with unrestrained enthusiasm as they closely followed Jynx's every move. The robot darted around, zipping across the arena, aiming to score as many points as possible. Despite the challenges our team had faced, everyone's spirits were high, and we were all hopeful for a strong finish. It was truly amazing to see the teamwork and motivation in action.

As the elimination rounds and brackets kicked off, the arena was brimming with anticipation. Nemesis was the top pick for alliance 5. In the third round, Jynx stumbled in the first bracket, and Alliance 5 found themselves in the loser's bracket for another shot. Amid the celebrations, all the teams demonstrated remarkable respect for each other. In the second round, as Alliance 5 fought to advance in the bracket, an unexpected twist took place. Mid-competition, all the robots lost connection with the control panel. While they worked to reestablish the connection, the stands came to life to keep the excitement going. The speakers blasted tunes like the Cha Cha Slide and Cupid Shuffle, and people from all the teams joined in the fun.

Hatboro Havoc was a seriously eventful and incredible experience for the team. It rekindled our enthusiasm for the rest of the season. Hatboro Havoc was a fantastic experience, and Nemesis 2590 can't wait to come back to Horsham, PA.

On October 14th and 15th, Nemesis hosted Engineering Day, an event where middle school students with an interest in STEM and engineering could participate in an engaging team-building activity that put their building skills to the test. Engineering Day served as an excellent introduction to STEM, fostering an environment that encouraged kids to unleash their creativity while developing collaboration and communication skills.

The day commenced with a presentation that provided the aspiring student engineers with insights and tips for the upcoming challenge. This presentation featured a larger-scale version of the activity, helping students relate it to their own challenge and generate ideas. The challenge itself was to construct a bridge capable of bearing the maximum weight without collapsing, all while adhering to specific material constraints. As they embarked on this task, the students applied the knowledge they had gained. In the final stage, the bridges were placed between two tables, and a bucket was attached to each bridge. Students loaded weights onto the bridge until it eventually gave way. The winner would be determined by the ratio of the bridge's mass to the amount of weight it could support.

The students were divided into teams, with each group paired with two Nemesis members who mentored them throughout the engineering challenge. Initially, many groups encountered difficulties related to communication and brainstorming ideas for their bridges. However, their mentors were always on hand to provide guidance. Rather than giving away all the answers, they gently nudged the students in the right direction, encouraging them to utilize their creativity and innovation to collaborate and build the best possible bridge. Even when their ideas didn't work exactly as planned, the mentors continued to motivate them not to give up.

After each group completed their bridge and collected the necessary data, they had the opportunity to operate Jynx, Nemesis's 2023 competition robot. Many students expressed their excitement, as this was an entirely new experience for them. Allowing the students to control a robot was an engaging, hands-on experience.

In conclusion, Engineering Day proved to be a tremendous success, and hopefully this will inspire many future Nemesis members and budding engineers.
 

Nemesis Navigator is a new section on our team's website that aims to provide a wealth of information and advice to the FIRST community. We plan to create a database encapsulating every corner of FIRST.

One of the sections, Alumni Advice, will feature personal stories and advice from former Nemesis members. These alumni will share what FIRST means to them, what they got out of the program, and how it has helped them in their college and career paths.

Another area of Nemesis Navigator is Team/Community Resources. This will contain informational articles or videos from current Nemesis members on various topics. These resources will include both Build and Business how-to's, such as How to CAD, How to Get Sponsors, and How to Program. The goal of these resources is to help members from other teams learn new skills and techniques. We will gather input from our own team as well as from other teams to create a comprehensive resource for the FIRST community.

By compiling a database of resources and advice from our team, alumni, and the FIRST community, we hope to bring together the FIRST community and assist rookie teams or those considering joining a FIRST team. We plan to reach out to other teams via Chief Delphi and other online means to gather information and make connections.

We are excited to launch this resource and hope that it will serve as a valuable tool for teams of all levels.

Over the weekend, Robbinsville High School hosted its inaugural robotics competition which turned out to be a resounding success and an experience that is sure to be remembered.

Team Nemesis would like to express our gratitude to all the volunteers who helped make this event possible. From the initial planning stages to the final day of the competition, they selflessly gave their time and energy to ensure that everything ran smoothly. Nemesis parents,  alumni, and other students from the FIRST community came together, working at the concession stands and participating in the competition as judges and field resetters to make the weekend memorable and an enjoyable experience for everyone. Without their assistance, this event would not have been possible, and we are grateful for their unwavering support.

Despite some initial worries about the amount of work it would be to set up and disassemble the competition, the process went far more smoothly than we had anticipated. With the help of our volunteers and the cooperation of all the teams involved, we were able to efficiently and effectively get everything arranged for a fantastic weekend of competition. What we initially thought would be a lengthy and tiresome process turned out to be an unforgettable bonding experience.

One of the highlights of the competition was the spirit of FIRST: the embodiment of coopertition and gracious professionalism that permeated throughout the teams bolstered the excitement through the arena . Rather than just focusing on winning at all costs, the teams were genuinely invested in helping each other out and fostering a sense of camaraderie and mutual respect. Whether it was lending spare parts, offering advice, or simply cheering each other on, the teams demonstrated a true commitment to working together for the greater good. One example of this was when three robots failed to meet the inspection requirements. To help them compete, Nemesis mentors worked with the teams to fabricate new pieces in the machine shop and reassemble the robots.

Of course, there were moments of fierce competition, with each team vying for the top spot. However, even in these moments, the teams remained respectful and enthusiastic, never losing sight of the bigger picture. This dedication to gracious professionalism was truly inspiring and a testament to the character of the students involved. We are so proud that Nemesis ended up as a semi-finalist as a part of the number two alliance in the competition. The event culminated with Nemesis winning the Sustainability award, an incredible accomplishment thanks to the collective efforts and dedication of the entirety of the team. 

In conclusion, the inaugural robotics competition at Robbinsville was a shining example of what can be achieved when people come together with a common goal. We look forward to seeing what the future holds for Nemesis and the opportunities that lie ahead for our students to innovate, collaborate, and make a positive impact on the world. We are incredibly grateful for the opportunity to host such an amazing event and we hope to host another in the future.

On March 18th and 19th, Nemesis hosted our inaugural district event competition at our high school in Robbinsville, NJ. The event was an amazing success – not to mention it ran beautifully due to the hard work and dedication of all the volunteers and alumni involved! Additionally, Nemesis was graciously awarded the Team Sustainability Award! (What’s outstanding is that this is the 16th time we have achieved this honor). This award celebrates and recognizes a team which has developed a sustainable program in order to define, manage, and achieve the team’s ongoing objectives.

Nemesis embodies this by dividing our workload into subteams (logistics, media, software, strategy, etc) and inspiring future team members by introducing STEM to our community with Discovery and Engineering days. We strive to keep our contributors engaged through our annual Sponsor Networking Night; a chance to update our patrons on the future goals of Nemesis and how we plan to budget for these objectives.

All that being said; the entire team is grateful for the judges' recognition and extremely happy to have received such a meaningful award at our first home competition. Nemesis is ready to continue showcasing these core values highlighted by the Team Sustainability Award at the fast approaching Mid Atlantic Regionals and beyond!

Nemesis had a very eventful Week 1 competition at Hatboro Horsham High School, a weekend of surprises, crushing defeats, and thrilling victories. The robot, Jynx, arrived on Friday, ready for a new competition season. This year, the robot is centered around a swerve drive, allowing the drive team to implement more diverse strategies in their design. As for business, the team was ready to present every element of Nemesis, ranging from our types of sustainability to various outreach events. 

Qualification matches brought excitement for all of the Nemesis team. The drive team began implementing unique strategies into matches, using their elevator and suction subsystems. However, some complications arose during these qualification matches. There were issues with the robot, especially with the suction not working consistently. In addition to this, the intake had some significant troubles getting the game pieces into the robot's elevator. Despite facing these issues, the build team also had many things go well for them. The driving of the robot was strategically executed, thanks to very efficient work by our pit crew. Not only was the execution of this successful, the scouting app, which analyzes all aspects of each match was exceptionally organized. Ultimately, even with sudden obstacles, the build team rose to the challenge, now planning to come back stronger than ever. They continue to dedicate a lot of time in the lab, embracing innovation and STEM. The build team was selected to join the eighth alliance, along with teams 5181 and 423. The alliance that Nemesis was a part of ultimately lost  in the first round. 

During Day 1, one of our team’s biggest projects was presented to a judging panel. The Impact Award  is given to the team with the most prominent effect on their community. Three members of Nemesis gave a seven minute oral presentation about our impact throughout our community, as well as completing a five minute question and answer session. This presentation delved into how the team as a whole has expanded and assisted the STEM community. After months of hard work, the Impact presentation was successfully executed, with the team excited for the award ceremony.  

In the meantime, the business team had sprung to action. In the pits, judges heard an in-depth presentation about Nemesis. Members gave out flyers and buttons  to other teams from across the region. We were able to present our team and financial sustainability implementations, as well as our multitude of outreach initiatives including Sponsor Night, Discovery and Engineering Day, and our collaboration with the Trenton Urban Promise.

All teams anxiously awaited the end of the second day to hear who would be given the most prestigious award in FRC. Sure enough, when Nemesis heard the winning team being described with the words “pipeline” and “legislative initiative,” the stands with our 68 member team began to shake. Nemesis 2590 had won the Impact award! Unified efforts, months of hard work and overcoming many obstacles was all worth it, and Nemesis looks forward to using this amazing experience to strengthen the team. The team is incredibly grateful for the wonderful Hatboro-Havoc event, and looks forward to a great time at Robbinsville, and at Lehigh University. 

Build

This week, the Build team was hard at work preparing for the soon-approaching competition season ahead! The past three weeks have been filled with intense brainstorming, prototyping, and testing. After careful deliberation and consideration of our various prototypes, we have settled on a finalized robot design to continue developing for the rest of the build season.

The electrical subteam has been hard at work wiring up various subsystems on different prototypes for the robot. Many forms of intake, placing, and even vision systems were wired up, allowing for efficiency in testing. Problems also occurred with the Kitbot’s speed motor connectors, which impaired the ability of the drivetrain to function properly. This issue was dealt with, allowing the Kitbot to continue functioning optimally. The fabrication subteam continued to teach new members about the different machines present in the techlab. Practice was done with the router and bandsaw, allowing new team members to gain valuable hands-on experience. Additionally, the mill was used to mill bars that would become useful for many parts of the final robot design.

On the design subteam, work was done to finalize the CAD of the robot. Members continued to use Onshape to CAD the drivetrain, elevator, and other key aspects of the final design. The software subteam worked hard to fix some common bugs in the drivetrain’s programming. This included using CANCoders to create a workaround for known Falcon encoder issues. Additionally, members worked on using field vision to autoalign the Mk4 drivetrain with field elements, such as the april tags present on the grid. New code was also written to verify the odometry measurements with the new drivetrain. Overall, the build team had a successful week of designing, programming, fabricating, and assembling. With the build season coming to a close, we hope to finish out strong and hit the ground running during competition season!

Business

4 weeks into the build season, the Business team continued working on various tasks in preparation for the rest of the season. As a team, planning continued for our upcoming Sponsor Night, and updates to our team showcases occurred as well. Our various subteams were also hard at work. Specifically, our finance subteam continued to apply for grants and potential sponsorship opportunities, which will allow us access to increased resources for our team. Additionally, the 5-year business plan was completed, and work continued on the overarching business plan. The logistics subteam was hard at work planning for upcoming competitions, including the Hatboro-Horsham District Event, Mid-Atlantic Regional Championships, and even our own Robbinsville District Event. By starting early with preparations, we hope to make our District Event one of the best yet. 

On the Community Outreach subteam, members worked with Trenton Urban Promise to organize a STEM-kit building event, with the goal of spreading interest in STEM and engineering throughout our community. Additionally, the Community Outreach subteam planned and executed a second event with the same organization. The Media subteam worked on organizing and capturing action shots of our team. Updates were also made to our Pit Presentation, which will be utilized at future competitions and our upcoming Sponsor Night. Brainstorming also took place for our Impact video, and production will begin soon. Overall, it was a very productive week for the business team, and we are looking forward to a successful season ahead!

The most recent Nemesis outreach event was a great opportunity for our team to give back to the community and inspire a new generation of innovators. The team visited the Urban Promise organization located in Trenton, NJ on January 31st and February 6th to guide and assemble STEM kits with elementary school children.

The three activities in the kits were interactive and immersive opportunities for the children to understand our team and how robotics work. The first was a Wobble Bot, a robot designed like a toy that, when activated, moves in unpredictable directions. The second project was a rubber band powered helicopter, which would launch into a short flight and then glide to the ground. The third kit was a toy modeled after a wizard’s wand which used popsicle sticks, wires, a watch battery, and an LED to illuminate a “spell” in different colors and was designed to introduce the students to basic electrical circuits. The kits were designed to encourage creativity and problem solving skills.

We also posted accompanying videos to our YouTube channel, demonstrating how to assemble the kits and discussing the engineering principles of each challenge. This allows the students to continue having engineering fun in their own homes!

The Nemesis members and children all had a great time at the event. According to the site director of the event, “The students were amazing and our children had a wonderful time creating the robots!” This opportunity was one of the many outreach programs that Nemesis offers to spread awareness about STEM and promote the FIRST message in our community.
 

Build

3 weeks into build season, our team has experienced its fair share of ups and downs while working towards building a competitive robot in this year’s Charged Up challenge. We’ve made significant progress in our efforts to create a swerve-type drivetrain, as our Electrical Team finished wiring up the CanBUS system; we now hope to test swerve more intensely in weeks to come. Our Build Team focused on testing the “over the bumper” intake, but ran into issues regarding spacing. We are hard at work to resolve the issue, as was our Design Team, which improved geometries in their CAD models to ensure such issues do not reoccur. Design also tested various other geometries/prototypes, giving our build team more data to work with in the future. 

Fabrication stressed the importance of learning by teaching many of our underclassmen how to operate the various machines in the build lab, including the lathe, router, and mill. Under the careful watch of our senior members, our younger members became proficient and interested in our machines, now able to aid the team further. Software made leaps and bounds with swerve drive, coding an operational product that can be tested in the weeks to go. On top of this, software investigated how April Tags could be of use to us during matches, as well as finalizing Scouting Application v1. Through feedback from the rest of our teammates, Scout App received overwhelming positive reviews, and we are excited to use the new and improved version during competitions. 

Business

This week, the Business team diligently prepared for a variety of upcoming events. Our annual Sponsor Night is right around the corner, and the team is hard at work getting ready. First, our newer members continued to work on creating updated team showcases, to represent all of  Nemesis’ efforts last year. These showcases are a window into our team for all members of the community. The logistics team worked on invitations for Sponsor Night and planning for the event. Additionally, we created some exciting new community outreach events. This weekend, we will hold an FLL Meet and Greet, where we will teach local parents about FIRST, and why they should consider starting an FLL team of their own. We also connected all interested parents to work together. This joining together will enable our community to create multiple new FLL teams. This is a new and exciting opportunity for us to continue to spread the FIRST mission throughout Robbinsville. 

This week, our Community Outreach subteam will work with the Trenton Urban Promise organization for an upcoming STEM event. Our team hopes to spread the FIRST message to an underserved community by building STEM kits with kids from the Trenton area. Our logistics team also worked on planning for our competitions, including the week 3 Robbinsville district event. They continued the search for transportation, meals, and hotels for our travel competitions later this season. Overall, this was another highly productive week for the Nemesis Business team and we are looking forward to another exciting season of building and learning.

Nemesis 2590 recently held a meet and greet event for parents interested in creating First Lego League(FLL) teams within the Robbinsville community. The event started off with the prospective FLL parents arriving at the tech lab, and the kids heading to the hallway, where they could learn more about FLL. First, the kids were shown the FLL team IDK’s Lego robot and how it maneuvered on the field. Members of IDK explained the various sensors on the robot, the attachments, and how the robot was coded. Students were then given a chance to ask questions about their robot and FLL as a whole, which members of Nemesis 2590 and IDK answered. Throughout this process, the students developed a passion for FLL, and were excited to get started on a team.

Meanwhile, the parents were shown a presentation which detailed how FLL works, and the commitment it takes for parents to be part of an FLL team. Interest was higher than ever for FLL after the presentation. After the presentation, parents had the opportunity to network and form teams. Coaches were decided for each team, and they took the final steps in settinmg up teams. 

Overall, the FLL meet and greet was a successful event with new teams forming and kids expressing interest in First. The event was a great way for children to have fun while learning, and for parents to learn more about the FLL program, and how to get involved. Nemesis plans on helping these teams through their journey, and hopes they have lots of success, fun, and gain knowledge of STEM. Nemesis plans to continue hosting these types of events and additional workshops to promote STEM education, and inspire young people to pursue careers in these fields. 

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.