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A Harmonious Day At Hatboro Horsham!

Hatboro Horsham High School hosted the start of an exciting competition season for Nemesis, with wins from an outstanding performance by Kronos, the 2024 robot of Nemesis, and winning the Impact award, the most prestigious in all of FIRST. At the start of the 3 day competition, the drive team along with the pit crew set up the robot and the pits, getting the team ready to succeed. Businesses continued to prepare for Impact through their focused practice sessions and a review of the outreach and sustainability practices Nemesis follows.

An early start to the competition led to great excitement, and as soon as the practice matches started, the entire team rose to their feet, watching our robot in action for the first time. By noon, Nemesis started their first match, and the team was hyped. The chanting was so loud that the entire arena could hear it, including the drive team at the field. In the end, the first match was a tough loss for the team by one point, but a great start to the whole competition. Our pit crew was easily able to repair the robot in no time and even went out of our way to help other teams in need. Quickly moving to the second match, Nemesis had a huge win over the blue alliance, which was the first of many. After an enjoyable lunch break where team members chatted with other teams, Nemesis got excited for their third match, which was another success. By the end of the day Nemesis was in a great spot, ranked 2nd out of 33 teams and 8 wins for 9 matches. Day one was a win for the team and raised spirits for day two.

Business kicked off the day by presenting Impact to the judges, which informs them on the outreach initiatives Nemesis and the overall impact of the team locally and globally. Three members worked hard with countless hours of practice to present. With hours and hours of preparation, they delivered their engaging presentation. The rest of the business team worked on cheering the drive team and presenting to judges in the pits about team sustainability. While in the pits, the business team answered questions about our team finances, outreach, and sustainability to the judges On day 2 of the competition, Nemesis faced a few technical issues with the robot in our first match falling to 6th place, but it set a path for a great alliance. With a productive strategy meeting the night before, the strategy team was prepared with options for alliance selection. Nemesis was selected by team 1403, along with being partnered with team 6808. The alliance quickly moved through the ranks, progressing to the Semifinals. Unfortunately, Nemesis lost in the semi-finals but had an amazing run throughout the whole competition. 

By the end of the competition, it was time for awards. In the end, Nemesis won the Impact award and we were happy to win the award. Coming home with the Impact award, a blue banner, and a great performance by the robot, Nemesis considers Hatboro a successful competition.

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Nemesis Spreads STEM At Local Library Demo

 

On the morning of February 24th, Nemesis team members demonstrated a prototype robot to young children at the Robbinsville local library. Kids of varying ages were able to witness the intriguing elements of the robot, such as its swerve modules and their swiveling movements.

Team members from the build and business subteams gave a presentation to the kids and their parents about the First Robotics Competition. In this informative talk, they learned what FIRST is, what last year's challenge was, and Nemesis’ accomplishments this past season. They were also introduced to First Lego League (FLL), alongside highlights of the recent FLL competition, Robbinsville Ruckus, which took place at our high school. The students were also given a demonstration by IDK, an FLL team. They showed off their robot, explaining the basics of Lego robotics and how their robot functioned.

After the FLL demonstration, the kids were able to gain an understanding of the Nemesis prototype robot. They were given a presentation on how the swerve drivetrain moved, and were given a high level overview of the programming behind the swerve modules. This  intrigued the minds of these young students. After an introduction to the prototyping process, the students were incredibly curious and they asked questions, such as; “How was this robot able to move in all directions?”, and “Why doesn’t the robot turn like a car?”. Nemesis team members quickly answered the curious students with robotics knowledge, increasing their Robotics skills.

After this, the students were able to drive the robot and learned about how the control panel functioned. The students played around with the robot, which was capable of moving in all directions. Students also played ‘Simon Says’ against the robot, and were amazed by the robot’s quickness and its functionality. After the end of the games, the students went home excited, having learned about FLL and were ready to participate in future FIRST events.

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Nemesis Networks At Sponsor Night

On Wednesday, February 21st, Nemesis hosted our annual Sponsor Night! This event is a long standing Nemesis tradition, and the 2024’s iteration was as successful as ever! Each year, we invite representatives from our current and prospective sponsors, as well as parents of team members, to Robbinsville High School. Those who attend Sponsor Night are able to learn about our team, season, robot, and outreach initiatives. This helps strengthen our relationship with our sponsors, in which they provide us with valuable financial aid, and we provide them with information about our team’s recent activities.


This year, we had three stations at Sponsor Night. One of these stations was a robot demonstration. Nemesis team members showcased our 2024 competition robot, named “Kronos”. The robot brandished its swerve-drive capabilities, as well as its intake and shooter. Sponsors and parents were amazed by Kronos’ driving speed and shooting accuracy, and this served as a great transition into the next event planned for the night.


Our next station was a build team presentation. As a part of this, Nemesis’ design lead and strategy lead spoke about Jynx, our 2023 competition robot. They gave a high-level overview of Jynx and its subsystems, giving sponsors and parents further insight into Nemesis. The presentation also included our strategy for tackling the build season, with the goal of clarifying the process of building a robot from scratch. 


Our final station was a business team presentation. Differing from the previous stations, this presentation was centered around some of the less technical aspects of our team. First, information about FRC and Nemesis’ season was covered. We explained the 2024 game, Crescendo, as well as the competition structure of FRC. Next, we went over our recent community outreach initiatives, including Trenton Urban Promise, Discovery Day and Engineering Day, Robotics Funding Bill, Library Demo, and Robbinsville FLL events.


Overall, Sponsor Night was an exciting, informative, and  a fulfilling experience for sponsors, parents, and team members. As we proudly showcased our team and our activities, we looked forward to continuing the tradition next year!
 

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2024 Week 6: Team Journal

During the last week of the 2024 build season, Nemesis has been working hard to get our robot ready for competitions and upcoming events. This week, the build team finalized the intake and has been fabricating more pieces for the robot. Additionally, the Electrical subteam has wired the belly pan and put a diverter on the robot, while the Software team continued making progress coding different elements, such as the intake. 

On the business side, we participated in Robbinsville High School’s annual 8th grade academic planning night. We showcased our previous competition robots and answered various questions from parents and incoming freshmen, allowing them to learn more about our team and gain interest in joining us next year. We have also continued preparing for Sponsor Night, including our presentation for potential and existing sponsors, which highlights our achievements throughout the years. Specifically, the media subteam has been taking action shots, utilized photoshop to create covers and flyers, and updated Nemesis’ social media and website. Community Outreach continued working on the impact presentation and is planning for future events.This includes our partnership with local organizations to spread STEM throughout our community. Logistics worked on our travel team presentation and planning for upcoming competitions, and Finance has been working on more grants. The team has also been making more buttons to provide to other teams during competitions. 

Overall, this week was extremely productive for Nemesis as we were able to accomplish various tasks relating to our robot’s completion and outreach events. We are looking forward to a competitive and successful competition season ahead!

Archive

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Against all Odds: Nemesis at World Championships


Robbinsville High School FIRST Robotics Team 2590 Nemesis has a long history of overcoming adversity, one way or another. As elimination matches begin on day two of the FIRST World Championship, this big time team from the small time town of Robbinsville, NJ, faced a challenge they had been versed in many times before. A long night of strategic analysis-- and some lengthy debate-- had paid off.The team was prepared to enter the final chapter of another wildly successful season. The mood was mixed; some team members felt goosebumps rise as the thrill of competition seemed to surround them. Others, an ecstatic excitement. But everyone shared a feeling of accomplishment and gratitude just to compete in St. Louis.

Alliance selection. Team 973, in first place, chose team 610, in twelfth place. No one could believe their eyes. Had team 973 just taken themselves and their alliance out of the running for division champions? Surely, there was some clever strategy at play. Team 2590 was up to choose, and invited team 225, as according to plan. The rest of the Alliance selection went mostly as expected, leaving Nemesis as captains of the second seed alliance, their highest-ever elimination round ranking at worlds, with teams 2590, 225, 2067, and team 11, MORT, as the backup player.

In competition, they say, if something can go wrong, it probably will. On Carson field, some of the world’s most resilient robots were succumbing to the constant stress of battle and breaching obstacle after obstacle. There were casualties every match. It wasn’t long before alliance two suffered its own loss, and Nemesis’ best shooting alliance partner, 225, was incapacitated. Nevertheless, the team fought on. Two matches later, team 2067’s robot also took some serious damage. For the first time that day, team 2590 faced a loss. A feeling of dread began to filter through the sea of red Nemesis shirts as deja vu spread over them. Everyone remembered what had happened earlier in the season at the South Florida Regional, when both of Nemesis’ alliance partners broke down, causing the trio to fall in the finals.

But alas, as fate would have it, history did repeat itself. The alliance won one match in the quarterfinals, then lost one, and lost another. All but alone on the field, there was little team 2590 could do to stop it. They finished their season as quarterfinalists at World Championships. Perhaps not quite what they were expecting, but a performance to be proud of all the same.

After the competition, the team went out to eat and spent the following day at the City Museum of St. Louis, a whimsical establishment where people of all ages can climb through huge, interactive exhibits and sculptures. For these budding engineers, it was quite an enjoyable experience. That night, Nemesis packed their bags and boarded a plane for Newark, NJ, arriving home in the wee hours of the morning. It was an incredible end to an incredible experience. See you next year, FRC!

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Nemesis: Otherworldly Robotics


In a dimly lit conference room tucked away in the corner of a Hyatt situated near the St. Louis Arch, a tight-knit group of dedicated team members convened and heatedly debated their next move in the FIRST Robotics World Championship.

From the start, the World Championship, held in St. Louis, MO distinguishes itself from every other competition in the FRC circuit. Besides the obvious notion of its finality, World Championship holds up to its namesake by featuring a plethora of teams from the international community. Teams originate from every region of the United States, not to mention Russia, China, Turkey, Brazil, Australia, France and others.

Drive team leaders Parth Mandrekar and Christian Gavalchin, along with mentors and fellow members of Nemesis sit around a conference table, sifting through data accrued over the qualification matches. With the guidance of a mentor on call from home, the meeting goes late into the night.

Today is Friday, the second of two days comprised of near constant work and difficult challenges. With only a single day remaining, the Robbinsville Robotics Team FRC 2590 Nemesis is selecting its alliance partners for tomorrow’s finalist matches. While the sheer amount of data poses its own host of difficulties, Nemesis also grapples with electing just three teams to its alliance.  

Nemesis kicked off World Championships with a rocky start, tying its first match and losing its second. Despite this and in true Nemesis fashion, the team held fast and maintained a positive outlook, as demonstrated by Parth Mandrekar, “...it’s going to be a battle but I’m confident we can come out on top...we’re pumped for the next few matches.” The optimism paid off, with the team sitting comfortably in second place out of all teams at the end of qualification matches for the Carson Division after a considerably extensive winning spree. This series of successes can also be attributed to skilled alliance partners such as fellow MAR team FRC 41 Robo Warriors. Another MAR team, 1089 Mercury, hailing from Hightstown, NJ, also performed exceedingly well.

With qualification matches over, Nemesis faces a greater challenge in the coming days upon entering the elimination rounds. As with yesterday and today, the team will no doubt continue to maintain a thriving optimistic spirit and excitement for each new challenge the FIRST Robotics World Championship offers

Let the games end!

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Finalists In Florida


West Palm Beach: seventy-eight degree weather, an ocean view, and robots galore! On Wednesday, March 30th, Robbinsville High School FIRST Robotics Team Nemesis 2590 hopped on a plane and headed to the Sunshine State for the South Florida Regional.  

Proudly representing Central Jersey, Nemesis was one of sixty teams to arrive at the Palm Beach County Convention Center early Friday morning. There, an international showing of talent included teams from Turkey, the Dominican Republic, and Columbia. Team 2590 was lucky enough to play in the opening match of the competition. Their alliance scored an impressive 120 points, setting the bar high. The robot's success continued throughout the day, going undefeated throughout qualification matches and holding a strong grasp on the crucial number one ranking. Meanwhile, the Entrepreneurship Team and Pit Crew were busy in the pits conversing with judges about this year’s robot, the team’s award winning business plan, and community outreach.

Friday night, after a long, but successful day of qualification matches, Nemesis returned to the hotel to hold a crucial scouting meeting in which a list of teams was identified as potential alliance partners. Continuing their dominant performance into the final day of competition, Team 2590 held the first seed for the elimination rounds and chose to ally with Team 179, The Children of the Swamp and Team 5472, the Stallions, who had both made names for themselves in the qualification rounds.

Following alliance selection, Finance Team member Jared Glassband represented Nemesis 2590 in a friendly team mascot dodgeball game in the spirit of friendly competition. Clad in a toga to represent the Greek origins of Nemesis, he was supported not only by members of Team 2590, but by many others as well. A cheerful chant of, “Neme-sis! Neme-sis!” rang through the crowd. Of the game, Jared said, “I was impressed by the positive energy and friendly competition that I experienced not only in dodgeball, but all over the South Florida Regional. This place really has a great atmosphere.”

Returning to actual competition, as the matches wore on, Nemesis’ alliance faced some capable competitors, but was able to battle their way to the finals against the third seeded alliance: Team 1065, The Moose, Team 180, S.P.A.M, and Team 3932, The Dirty Mechanics.

The last three matches were among the most intense of the weekend. Vigorous play led to the field being damaged, which required the gameplay to stop, and the match to be discarded and reset-- not once, but twice! The third repeated match spelled disaster for our heroes. Team 5472’s robot, who played defense for the red alliance, took too many hits to its frame, and became so bent out of shape it was crippled for the remainder of the competition. Worse still, the Children of the Swamp’s robot succumbed to the increased stress of playing without a full alliance, and the sensory system fried itself completely. The game was paused while Nemesis and Swamp team members worked feverishly to repair the smoking robot. In the end, power was restored to the systems, but the dead sensors rendered the Swamp Machine blind during autonomous mode, and practically eliminated its shooting ability. As the match began, the Swamp Machine rolled to a dead stop on the field, and it didn’t move again. Battered and alone, Daedalus stood against the third seeded alliance, and were only able to score 94 points against their opponents’ combined score of 159. While Nemesis’ alliance managed to overcome adversity to take the second finals match, further technical difficulties in the deciding third finals match meant a disappointing end to Nemesis’ time in Florida.  

Nevertheless, Robbinsville was ecstatic to receive a wild card slot at World Championships, as the finalists. The team also took home the Industrial Design Award recognizing a team with an efficiently designed machine that addresses the challenge of the game effectively.

Drive Coach Parth Mandrekar reflected, “All else aside, our performance here in South Florida has been our best by far. Our high goal shooting has improved drastically, as has our autonomous mode. We will certainly be a force to be reckoned with at FIRST Mid-Atlantic Regionals and at the World Championships!”

From the opportunity to meet and compete with teams from all over the world to the chance to escape the bitter cold of the Northeast for a few days, All members of Nemesis thoroughly enjoyed the competition in Florida. Despite losing the finals, everyone is incredibly excited to compete at the World Championship in St. Louis on April 28th-30th, 2016!

Nemesis would like to thank its generous sponsors for their continued support: Robbinsville Board of Education, NAVAIR, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CCL Label, NY Society of Cosmetic Chemists, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Investors Bank, RAS, Robbinsville Education Association, EAG, Princeton Sports & Family Medicine, McGraw-Hill Financials, Robbinsville Education Foundation, Gilbane, Coldwell Banker, Carfaro Fencing, DesignTree, Triangle Copy, & GrabCad. For additional information, please contact FRC 2590 at frc2590@gmail.com.

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Nemesis Sweeps the Seneca District


After another exciting two days of competition, Robbinsville High School FIRST Robotics Team 2590 Nemesis emerged as victors at the Seneca District Event, and as proud recipients of the Engineering Inspiration Award… for the “FIRST” time in Nemesis’ eight year history! The Seneca District Event is an annual competition hosted by Team 1647, the Iron Devils, at Seneca High School. After a tough win at Hatboro-Horsham two weeks prior, the team was anxious to see if their repairs to the robot’s battered frame and intake would hold out. And they certainly did, as Nemesis’ robot, Daedalus, maintained a number one ranking throughout the Qualifying Rounds.

Meanwhile, back in the pits, the Business and Build Team members fielded questions in numerous interviews with their respective judges, seeking to win awards for their creative engineering, world-class marketing and finance strategies, and extensive community outreach efforts. The judges, who returned to speak to the team multiple times, showed a great deal of interest in Nemesis.

Of the experience, first-time Marketing Team member Sophie Billings said, “It’s not every day that you get to be a part of a team like this. Being able to say that I helped win a prestigious award like the Engineering Inspiration Award is incredible.”

During Alliance Selection, Nemesis had their pick of teams, being ranked first during qualifications. They chose FRC teams 365 and 1626, the Miracle Workerz (MOE Robotics) and Falcon Robotics, who had both demonstrated innovative designs and clever gameplay strategies earlier in the event. MOE’s robot had a remarkable high goal shooting ability, even in autonomous mode, while Falcon Robotics’ robot was capable of scaling the tower and earning a major bonus at the end of the match.

Skillfully overcoming the two alliances faced in the quarterfinals and semifinals, Nemesis’ alliance looked ahead to a tough matchup in the finals where they stood against FRC 1640 SaBOTage and their alliance partners the Titanium Knights (FRC 6203) and SRNJ Rambotics (FRC 4573). SaBOTage and their allies made a formidable trio, twice setting a new high score in the semifinal rounds. It looked to be a nail-biting finale! In the finals, which are best of three, Nemesis and the red alliance rose to the challenge and won the first round, but the blue alliance came back in round two with a win of their own. Neck and neck, the teams prepared for the tiebreaker as the spectators watched with bated breath. The red alliance triumphed! Nemesis and their partners set a new high score of 179 points in the final match of the day to take the win.

“When the final match score was displayed and finalized, I was overflowing with emotions from the excitement and anticipation of our victory to the joy of our success, and finally the pride of knowing I was involved with such a wonderful team,” enthused junior Build Team member Charlie D’Amico.

In the awards ceremony, the team was honored with the prestigious Engineering Inspiration Award by the judges that had interviewed them in the pits, to commend their success and outreach efforts in spreading engineering throughout the community. Furthermore, Team Advisor Joy Wolfe, who has been the backbone of Team 2590 since its inception, was awarded the Woodie Flowers Nomination in recognition of her work with the team and the FIRST Community. Nemesis enjoyed a joyous team dinner after the event, and looks forward to competing at their next competition, the South Florida Regional in West Palm Beach, Florida, on March 31st-April 2nd. Wish them luck!

Nemesis would like to thank their sponsors: Robbinsville Board of Education, NAVAIR, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CCL Label, NY Society of Cosmetic Chemists, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Investors Bank, RAS, Robbinsville Education Association, EAG, Princeton Sports & Family Medicine, McGraw-Hill Financials, Robbinsville Education Foundation, Gilbane, Coldwell Banker, Carfaro Fencing, DesignTree, Triangle Copy, & GrabCad. For additional information, please contact FRC 2590 at frc2590@gmail.com.

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Murphy’s Law Debunked: Nemesis Wins Hatboro-Horsham Again!


A swift pass through the portcullis. A goal scored. The screeching of the drive train. The roar of the crowd. Robbinsville’s champion, Daedalus, scores a goal and starts to breach another defense when suddenly, it stops in its tracks. Team members in the stands are shocked. This is the final match of the Hatboro-Horsham District event, after two days of perseverance over countless challenges for the Robbinsville High School FIRST Robotics Team 2590 Nemesis. Narrowly surviving into the quarter-finals, fiercely overcoming the first seeded alliance in the semi-finals, and splitting the first two final matches until this ultimate battle for the crown, the team isn’t prepared to surrender easily. 10 seconds left. Still no activity. The Drive Team is pursuing all options to revitalize the robot. Refreshing the code, resetting the encoders, healing potions, nothing works. 5 seconds. Just as suddenly as its stagnation, Daedalus springs back to life and smoothly drifts onto the batter, earning last-minute points, shaking the gymnasium with applause. Nemesis, along with its alliance partners Captain FRC Team 1218 Vulcan Robotics and FRC Team 5407 Wolfpack, has won the Hatboro-Horsham District Event for the 4th consecutive year. Inconceivable!

FIRST’s game for the 2016 season, Stronghold, basing itself on heavy medieval influences, splits a field in half for each alliance of three teams and features motif-fitting game pieces. Teams breach portcullises, gates, and moats to enter their opponent’s courtyard and launch 10-inch diameter foam balls into either low or high goals to capture the enemy tower and win the match. Alliances earn increased points when scoring a high goal due to its heightened difficulty. Each match starts with a 15-second autonomous period, wherein robots are solely controlled by pre-programmed code rather than remote human operation.

Daedalus, Nemesis’s latest robot, was designed to address as many aspects of Stronghold as possible while retaining a focused plan. Build Team members opted to construct this year’s robot with an offensive strategy in mind.

Grappling with Daedalus’s main feature- its articulating shooter and intake- falling apart after nearly every match, it appeared that everything that could go wrong, went wrong. In an attempt to repair the multitude of small yet collectively destructive problems, the Build Team completely dismantled and reassembled Daedalus in under two hours.

With time running low, Nemesis put Humpty Daedalus back together and out on the field, hoping to recover from the previous losses. The impromptu repair session yielded positive results almost immediately, increasing the point output and number of high goals scored, yet not enough to pick up the distance between Nemesis and the top eight teams who would later become alliance captains. Unfortunately, instead, the team fell from 13th place to 15th place to 22nd place just in time for alliance selection. The team remained optimistic, a sentiment paying off when they were the first pick of the fourth-seeded alliance.

Behind the scenes, the Software Team entered a frenzy from the first match, attempting to reform the glitch-prone code in time for Daedalus’s next showing. During the autonomous period, the robot consistently crossed into the opponent’s courtyard successfully under the low bar obstacle, but failed to score with similar consistency. Upon resolving one problem, another promptly appeared in the ensuing match. However, much like the Build Team, Nemesis’ Software Team executed a complete overhaul of the code. By quarter-finals, within the autonomous period, Daedalus not only swept the enemy defenses, but also scored the coveted and punishing high goal, effectively laying the groundwork for the Drive Team’s triumphs later in each match. The revised code played an essential role in establishing a strong point lead over opponents early.

Although the Build and Software Teams may have experienced a much more exhilarating event, the business side of Nemesis did not walk away empty-handed. The team’s Chief Financial Officer Colin Riley became a Dean’s List Finalist, recognizing his efforts in exemplifying the core values of FIRST and STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, and Mathematics). Additionally, the team was honored with the Quality Award, recognizing their robust robot design and construction. 

Few times in Nemesis’s admittedly short history have there been such an emotional rollercoaster as this past weekend at the annual FIRST Mid-Atlantic Hatboro-Horsham District Event. A story befitting the medieval legends its central game was based on, Nemesis rose to the challenge and overcame considerable obstacles on and off the field, despite facing difficulty at nearly every turn. While it seemed that every facet of the event possible of going wrong did, in fact go wrong, Nemesis and its alliance partners stuck the battle out to its victorious end.

Next, Nemesis will be competing at the Seneca District Event on March 19-20th. Nemesis would like to thank their sponsors: Robbinsville Board of Education, NAVAIR, Bristol-Myers Squibb, CCL Label, NY Society of Cosmetic Chemists, Siemens, Lockheed Martin, Investors Bank, RAS, Robbinsville Education Association, EAG, Princeton Sports & Family Medicine, McGraw-Hill Financials, Robbinsville Education Foundation, Gilbane, Coldwell Banker, Carfaro Fencing, DesignTree, Triangle Copy, & GrabCad. For additional information please  contact Team Advisor Joy Wolfe at wolfe@robbinsville.k12.us.

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2016 Week 6: Build Journal


Wow! It seems like it was just yesterday that the team was brainstorming, yet here we are at week 6. This week, the Build Team worked tirelessly around the clock to finish assembling the final competition robot.

Week 6 went by in a flash without a single dull moment. Whether it was cleaning the lab to prepare for inspections or picking up last minute orders, everyone from freshmen to seniors had something important to do.  

Luckily, the final assembly was completed without too many issues. However, we are close to the weight limit at 116.5 pounds. After assembling the robot, the team got right to work creating the technical documentation. While sections of the Build Team wrote documentation, the Drive Team began testing the competition robot. We are happy to say that we can conquer most of the obstacles and shoot from both the outer works and the batter.

We are sad to have finished build season, but are all incredibly excited for the upcoming competition season. Finally, we would like to thank the mentors and Executive Team for all their support and everything they have taught us over these 6 short weeks.

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"Investing" in the Future


On Tuesday, February 23, Nemesis members proudly accepted a generous $2,500 donation from the local branch of Investors Bank, who were eager to support the team. As competition season rapidly approaches, FRC Team 2590 continues to search near and far for financial cooperation in their ambitious venture. Finance Team member Jarelle Boac recently  cold-called Investors Bank and CFO Colin Riley followed up by applying directly for a grant from Investors Foundation. After this, the team was ecstatic to see an email from Investors, promising sponsorship and asking to arrange an official check presentation with the team.

The team sprung into action, quickly arranging the meeting. With the help of  dedicated parents and mentors, four team members (Marketing Director Laura Quon, CFO Colin Riley, Jarelle, and Marketing Team member Nick Anderson) met at Investor’s Bank promptly after school. The group received a warm welcome and met with the team’s new sponsors. The people of Investors Bank were more than happy to offer support to Nemesis.

While it is often unmentioned, this process of reaching out to sponsors and quickly reacting to positive responses, no matter when they may arrive, is something the Marketing and Finance Teams must do regularly. Similar to the real world of business, team members must rely on their own sense of judgment and initiative to make quick decisions, a skill that many members have refined greatly in their time with the team. It certainly pays to “run the team like a business!”

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2016 Week 6: Marketing Journal


While week six included a surge of red, heart shaped Valentine’s Day purchases, the Marketing Team managed an outpouring of orders for red, Nemesis-branded apparel. Marketing members also continued working on Nemesis’ competition standard, which will be raised proudly at upcoming competitions. In a collective effort, the business subteams made edits to the business plan including adding new graphics, writing and editing, and updating financials.

Shadowing Chief Financial Officer Colin Riley and finance mentor Peter Barlis, rookie Finance Team members looked over the business plan and learned accounting tricks of the trade. Meanwhile, the Finance Team evaluated Nemesis Cares and Shares applications and maintained Nemesis’ financial well being. In conjunction with emails reaching out to local businesses, select marketing and finance members conducted an array of cold calls in hopes for potential sponsorship.

Throughout the upcoming weeks, the Business Team plans to continue preparing for the Entrepreneurship Award, the Chairman’s Award, and the Media & Technology Innovation Award. Competition season is just 14 short days away. With this in mind, Nemesis team members intend to hone their soft skills, by rehearsing for the upcoming competition season.

Hatboro-Horsham… Here We Come!

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2016 Week 5: Build Journal


With Build Season coming to a close, the Build Team is working around the clock to finalize designs and finish fabricating parts. All of the designs have been finished and the team is working to assemble and test the robot mechanisms.

For week 5 the team was focused on fabricating the drivetrain, shooter, and intake parts. All pieces of the robot were machined by students using the school’s CNC Mill and CNC Router.  Not only was this week spent advancing robot production, but also teaching underclassman how to use these machines. Upon completion of fabricating the parts, the practice robot began to be assembled. With testing, the team began tweaking and further improving the design.    

The Software Team is working diligently to tackle various autonomous routines and better understand vision processing. Meanwhile, the Electronics Team fitted the assembled drive train with electronics.

For week 6, our team hopes to finish assembling and fine tune the robot. Everyone is looking forward to the final push before the bag and tag.  

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2016 Week 5: Marketing Journal


Week five of the 2016 build season was yet another great week of accomplishments for Nemesis! Emerging from yet another very successful Sponsor Networking Night -- that the entire team spent the first four weeks of build season preparing for-- the business team felt a well deserved wave of relief immediately followed by an increased concentration and focus on the upcoming competition season. The Finance Team worked on finishing the business plan which will be presented to judges at competitions and will serve as the basis for our team to compete the Entrepreneurship Award. Meanwhile, the Marketing Team wrote and mailed thank you notes to the generous parents and sponsors who supported the team with donations and “sorry we missed you cards” with information about Sponsor Networking Night to those who missed the event.

Marketing also worked on designing apparel for the team to wear throughout the upcoming competition season, as well as writing articles to promote the team's community outreach programs. The Logistics Team is still hard at work continuing to arrange travel for our upcoming trips to South Florida, and hopefully St. Louis.   

Another exciting development in the Robbinsville High School Tech Lab was the creation of the first 3-D printed hand for our partnership with e-NABLE. With them, Nemesis plans to donate prosthetic hands to those in need.

The Marketing and Finance Teams are very excited to see the robot that the Build Team has been working on for the past six long weeks and that the Marketing Team will be writing, promoting, and talking about for the next year.

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Nemesis Lends a Hand


By: Melinda Beyer & Nicholas Began

In a heart-warming fusion of STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) and charity, FIRST Robotics Team Nemesis 2590 has partnered with e-NABLE, an organization of countless volunteers whose mission is to build and distribute 3D-printed prosthetic hands to those in need.

Ivan Owan founded e-NABLE in 2011, after he posted a video on Youtube about his cosplay metal hand for a science-fiction convention. The video reached a South African carpenter named Richard Van As, who had lost his fingers in a woodworking accident. Despite the 10,000 miles between them, the pair began to communicate, sending each other prototypes constructed from materials found around their houses over the internet. Enabling The Future gathered a following and the organization was born.

The 3D-printed hands provide an affordable option for many families for whom prosthetics are financially out of reach.

Harrison Young, a Nemesis alumnus, spearheaded the initiative to use the team's skills in MakerBot technology to create 3D-printed hands for the life-changing organization. Exuberance flooded the Technology Lab when our first hand was finally complete. Word of the prosthetic hand spread like wildfire and many students not involved with Nemesis visited the Technology Lab to see the source of all the excitement. The entire Robbinsville High School community was delighted to see one of their own creating such an impact.

Through this partnership with e-NABLE, the team spreads the STEAM message while emphasizing the importance of altruism and service. Nemesis plans to continue working with e-NABLE to better the lives of those in need.  


If you are interested in supporting Nemesis or e-NABLE, please contact our Team Advisor Joy Wolfe at wolfe@robbinsville.k12.nj.us.

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2016 Week 4: Build Journal


As week 4 is coming to a close and the competition season is just around the corner, the build team's productivity levels are still going strong. As prototyping is officially over, most of the build team has started to work on the final robot. We are working wholeheartedly to make sure that the robot will be completed in time to ensure our drivers get to practice before bag and tag.

This week we worked on milling the final parts of the drivetrain. The exec team is evaluating their options for the electrical board and requirements for the drivetrain.

The complex game obstacles are giving us a run for our money. The intake and shooter have final designs and have been tested on a practice bot.

During Week 4, everyone, from freshmen to seniors, was hard at work developing the robot.

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2016 Competition Dates


Build season is coming to a close, and competition season is right around the corner. Nemesis invites you to come to any of the free high energy tournaments the team will be competing in...

Hatboro-Horsham District Competition: March 5 - 6, 2016

Hatboro-Horsham High School

899 Horsham Rd, Horsham, PA 19044

Seneca District Competition: March 19 - 20, 2016

Seneca High School

110 Carranza Rd, Tabernacle, NJ 08088

2016 South Florida Regional: April 1 - 2, 2016

Palm Beach Convention Center

650 Okeechobee Blvd, West Palm Beach, FL 33401

We hope to qualify for:

FIRST Mid-Atlantic District Championship: April 14 – 16, 2016

Stabler Arena, Lehigh University

124 Goodman Dr, Bethlehem, PA 18015

2016 FIRST Championship: April 28 - 30, 2016

Edward Jones Dome

901 N Broadway, St. Louis, MO 63101

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2016 Week 4: Marketing Journal


Week 4 of Build Season can be described by one word for the Business Team: Perfection! Nemesis’ Annual Sponsor Networking Night was held on Wednesday, February 3rd. Weeks of preparation went into ensuring this evening was a huge success. This week Business Team members mentored the Build Team members in public speaking and presenting, ensuring that they would uphold Nemesis’ reputation for excellence.

Nemesis presented their successful 2015 season and this year’s progress to the team's previous and potential sponsors along with team parents. Assemblyman and avid Nemesis supporter Dan Benson tweeted, “Great job by everyone tonight! Awesome challenge ahead, confident you're up to the task!”   Many of the sponsors and parents complimented team members for their organization, professionalism, and poise. Nemesis is incredibly grateful to all of their sponsors.

In other news, the week was spent finishing up the Chairman’s Award, the Woodie Flowers Award, and the Entrepreneurship Award. The team really came together to get it all done!