This past Saturday, as Nemesis 2590 stepped foot into the arena of Hatboro Havoc, excitement and anticipation quickly rose within the crowd. This event marked the beginning of the off-season for FIRST Robotics Competition, a memorable one for all.

The opening ceremony of the competition initiated with the Emcee announcing each of the competing teams, and we got to see our opponents up close. The atmosphere was electric, as we saw teams decked out in their team gear, ready to rally behind us. Hatboro Havoc, while smaller in scale to regional competitions, still features a full-fledged tournament environment. Teams are divided into alliances, working together to score points by completing various objectives like shooting game pieces into goals, climbing platforms, and completing autonomous routines.

The crowd, cheering with unbridled joy, intently watched the Nemesis robot Kronos’s every move while the drivers at the station scored points for the Red alliance. However, reality hit hard in the following games against formidable opponents, as they came out swinging. As the pressure mounted, we eventually settled in, and the matches were strategically starting to be played by the drive team. One of the drive team members, Nate Lonarker, claimed “Kronos performed pretty well overall, with no breakdowns or technical difficulties”. The matches were cycled through to the rookie drivers. This allowed the drive team to receive experience in driving Kronos. We allied with teams 407 and 5181 during the final playoffs matches. Overall, Nemesis 2590 made it past the qualification rounds and finished in eighth place overall.

One key aspect that was accomplished this Saturday was introducing rookies to the team dynamics in a competition setting and educating them on what is needed to be accomplished during an event. The rookies were able to learn more and build experience on scouting, which is the process of evaluating the FRC teams at the competition. The rookies were able to gain information on note taking while scouting and efficiently practice it. Even though the process appeared complex to them in the beginning, they eventually were able to pick up on it. Recurring team members also got a chance in practicing scouting teams by taking notes during playoffs, which allowed both to understand and analyze the robots performance up close. 

No robotics competition is without its challenges. Throughout the day, the team faced a few hurdles such as working with the other teams in autonomous tasks and scoring goals. These moments are what FIRST Robotics is all about—learning from setbacks and thinking critically under pressure. The newer members got hands-on experience working alongside seasoned veterans, reinforcing the notion that every member of the team plays an essential role in the day’s success.

The day ended with a sense of accomplishment and excitement for what’s to come. Hatboro Havoc gave Nemesis 2590 the perfect opportunity to kickstart the off-season with confidence. The team now has their sights set on upcoming events, more determined than ever to push the boundaries of their engineering and teamwork. Nemesis 2590 is ready to build on this momentum as they prepare for the next challenge, and continue embodying the spirit of FIRST Robotics. We hope to come back next year to Hatboro Havoc!

Robbinsville High School’s Robotics Team, FRC2590, Nemesis wins their Division at the FIRST Worlds Robotics Competition in Houston, TX
From the 8th seeded alliance in their division, to placing 5th in the WORLD: 
Nemesis’ Cinderella Story

    50,000 spectators, from 58 countries, and over 18,600 students in attendance; Robbinsville High School’s very own FIRST Robotics Competition team, Nemesis, made it to the World Championship in Houston, Texas. FRC2590 was not only the captain of their alliance, but also placed 5th in the world. However, this ‘rags to riches’ story didn’t start on the award winning Einstein field.

   The championship and the events leading up to it are all a part of FIRST, an organization that doesn’t “use kids to build robots, but uses robots to build kids” as founder Dean Kamen explains, perfectly summing up this empowering sport. And even though aluminum, circuits, and wires may be the stars on the field - this isn’t just about robots. How you play is just as important, if not more important than the results of the games. Though, that’s more than enough of a reason to celebrate the students’ hard work over the season!

   A common phrase you’ll hear if you happen to find yourself within a mile radius of an FRC, FTC, or FLL robotics competition is gracious professionalism. Along with the pillars of FIRST; discovery, innovation, impact, inclusion, teamwork, and fun. And Nemesis is no stranger to implementing these core values.

   From the beginning of the 2024 season, the students on Nemesis have been working hard to create a robot worthy of another blue banner. Ascending their way through district events and the regional event, 2590 made it all the way to Texas for Kronos’, our 2024 competition robot, final face offs on the big stage.

   On day one of the competitions, Nemesis began competing in the Curie division qualification matches. Up against over 70 other teams in their division alone, 2590 managed to cap off day one with a record score of 186. At the time it was also the highest qualifying score at Worlds. This landed them in 4th place. On the following day, however, three consecutive tough qualification matches dropped 2590 down to rank 23. This drastically impacted the team’s chances of becoming a top alliance captain - and at worst, not being picked to continue competing in the playoffs at all. But this set back wasn’t going to stop the resilient drive team and pit crew members. In the two final qualification matches, Kronos pulled through and rose through the ranks, pushing Nemesis to their final seed of 11.

   On day three of the competition, the alliance selection begins. The top 8 seeded teams assumed their positions as captains and began picking their first team members. As first picks were made, Nemesis  moved up into the 8th place alliance captain. Our final alliance consisted of team 4476, W.A.F.F.L.E.S based in Ontario, Canada, team 7028, Binary Battalion from Minnesota, and our back up partner team 190, Gompei and the H.E.R.D., coming from Massachusetts.

   The first match of the semi finals was alliance 8 vs alliance 1 - consisting of the #1 and the #3 seeded teams of the Curie division. The chances of Nemesis winning this match were below 39% and in a thrilling first match, alliance 8 caused the first upset of the day and beat alliance 1 and the odds!
The alliance 8 win streak was on a roll from there, successfully beating out alliances 1, 6, 7, and 3 in the semi finals. Only losing a single match in the entire division playoffs to alliance 4. But Nemesis wasn’t satisfied with just the semi finals, they took it to the final matches - a best out of three showdown - against none other than the alliance that previously beat them. 2590 won back to back matches and secured a place in the Einstein competition as the Curie division winners!

   Alliance 8 turned into the Curie Alliance. Nemesis and their partners quickly moved to compete with the other winners of each division. The competition was fierce, but Nemesis secured a winning match on the Einstein field and went out as the 5th place alliance in the entire world. Bringing home a new blue banner to the halls of Robbinsville High School.

   These wins were a feat of amazing maneuvering, offense, and defense of the drivers and the quick work of the pit crew, but the secret behind 2590’s key to advantage lies in the work of the autonomos code and the work of every scout’s data.

   Starting each match, Nemesis could acquire up to 40 plus points in the autonomous period alone, this gave them a head start in nearly every match where their alliance could secure these points. Sometimes those 40 autonomous points would be double what the opposing alliance’s three combined teams could score. This gave the drivers breathing room to work their magic on the field during the teleoperated portion of the game.

   But the true ‘secret sauce’ can be found in the work of every student in a red and white shirt. Throughout the qualifying matches, batches of team members would scout the robots playing. Recording points racked up, shots and misses, positions played, when teams broke down and when they got ranking points. This data is crucial to the work of Nemesis’ strategists, who pulled together the list of the very teams making up their division winning alliance this year. Scouting is an often overlooked aspect of competitions, but a most impactful one by far and every attending team member had a hand in making it work.

    At the culmination of the 2024 World Championships, Nemesis finished 5th in the world. From a small tech lab in Robbinsville, NJ to the George R. Brown Convention Center in Houston, TX, Nemesis maintained the same core disciplines of passion, hard work and a true love for robotics. It was a wonderful day. 
 

Robbinsville High School’s Robotics Team, FRC2590, Nemesis wins their Division at the FIRST Worlds Robotics Competition in Houston, TX

   The Robbinsville High School’s Robotics Team, FRC2590, Nemesis, qualified for the World Championships in Houston, TX by placing in the top 25 teams in the Mid-Atlantic region.  At Worlds Nemesis, became one of 8 alliance captains on their field of 70 teams, and led their alliance to victory by winning the finals in the Curie Division.  The winning alliance is awarded a blue banner, the most coveted trophy in FIRST robotics.  The winning alliance on each of the 8 divisions goes on to compete on the Einstein field. On the Einstein field, Nemesis ended the competition as the 5th ranked alliance in the World!
 

Nemesis is excited to have completed this year’s annual food drive. Throughout a three week long timespan, we were able to gather 1700 canned food and toiletry items to donate to our local food pantry. The food drive was based out of Sharon Elementary School, where bins were placed at the front entrance for students to donate food items. Fourth graders were especially motivated to donate, since the class with the most items donated would receive a robot demonstration from Nemesis.

As the food drive progressed, Nemesis team members volunteered to transport the food items from the elementary school to Robbinsville High School, where the items would be sorted and stored. At the culmination of the three week period, team members gathered to ready the donations for the pantry. Items were sorted into boxes based on different categories, and team members volunteered to drop the food off at the pantry.

The program continues with a robot demonstration for the fourth grade class that donated the most food.. This initiative showcases the merging of STEM education initiatives and general charity. While the food drive helps to generate valuable resources for those in need, it also helps introduce our community’s youth to STEM and robotics. For many current team members, their first introduction to FIRST was through the fourth grade food drive demo. By continuing our long standing tradition of organizing the food drive, Nemesis is able to inspire the spirit of robotics while also aiding those in need.

   Last weekend, Nemesis had a very noteworthy experience at the regional competition at Montgomery High School. After the competition a couple weekends ago, Nemesis used the 2 week window efficiently. The team worked diligently to improve the robot, Kronos. They continuously worked on scoring in the trap in order to increase their chances of success. As for business, they were prepared to present every aspect of Nemesis to the judges, in order to paint the best possible picture of the team.

   Coming up to the competition, the robot underwent many beneficial changes. The build team made many improvements to Kronos; implementing a four piece auton, testing new hooks, and working on shooter tuning. Because they worked on scoring in the trap prior to the competition, Kronos was one of few robots that was able to score in the trap consistently. This allowed the team to gain many ranking points. Thanks to the drive team, the driving of the robot for each match was strategically executed as well. Due to all these efforts, Nemesis ended up in first place before alliance selection. Sadly, the team lost during the alliance matches, but had a great game overall.  

   The business team had a great experience as well. They gave an in-depth pit presentation for the judges that truly showcased Nemesis’s best qualities. The group had the opportunity to discuss their financial objectives, future plans for the team, and sustainability implementations. The team also spoke about their multitude of community outreach initiatives, such as their involvement with the Trenton Urban Promise, Sponsor Night, Engineering and Discovery Day, and multiple instances of global outreach. The judges loved to hear about the team’s lego recycling drive, in which they had collected over 100 pounds of legos to donate. Along with this, buttons were distributed to other teams, and the team displayed gracious professionalism throughout the competition.

   By the end of the 2nd competition day, both business and build teams had made a profound effort to make an impact for the team, and the final awards were being announced. The team waited in suspense while listening intently for each award being given, the bleachers filled with a sea of Nemesis red. When the team heard their name being announced for the Quality Award, they rejoiced, cheering loudly as they ran down the stands to take their picture. This was the moment they had been hoping for, and they couldn’t be more proud. After countless meetings, the effort of the team, and so much time spent, our hard work had paid off. Nemesis could not be happier for this accomplishment, and we are extremely grateful for it. We are beyond excited to see what the experience at MAR holds for us.

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.

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.

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!
 

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!

The second to last week of the Build Season has come to a close, and excitement for competitions is at an all-time high. The team has been tirelessly working to ensure that we are ready for our first district competition. 

In the past week, the business team has become one step closer to finalizing the community outreach initiatives and sponsor night preparations. The media team worked to finalize the sponsor banner, made more buttons, and worked on the business plan, all which will be showcased during our annual sponsor night. Alongside this, our logistics team worked on organizing our weekly meetings and planning our meals for the weekend. Meanwhile, the finance team was busy finalizing the business plan, working on the sponsor night presentation, working on the library demo, and working on our executive summary and press packet. Our community outreach team, alongside the finance team, worked on organizing the library demo and planning and executing our FLL interest meeting event. 

The build team spent hours in the lab prototyping and working to perfect the robot. The software team worked on coding the subsystems for the prototypes that build managed to put together. The scouting team worked on managing and expanding the scouting software for our upcoming competitions. The fabrication team worked extremely hard and efficiently to finish cutting most of the pieces for the robot, such as the climbing rails which will allow the robot to pull itself up on the chain at the end of the game. The electrical team worked to finalize the layout of the robot and mounted the electrical components. Alongside this, the electric team also successfully completed the installation of the swerve drive. The design team finally worked on finishing all of the designs that will be implemented on the robot and started to prototype backup ideas.

We are excited to see what we have in store for the next week of build season, upcoming events, and eventually competition season!

Week four of the build season is complete! With just two weeks left until the competition season begins, we have eagerly prepared for our first match!

This past week, the business team worked on several tasks for the upcoming Sponsor Night and started preparations for the Mid-Atlantic Regional Competition. The logistics team started finding restaurants for team dinners at MAR and continued to organize meals for the build season. Media began designing a new robot trading card and continued to sort through and organize photos, utilizing our new photos to update the team’s socials. The finance team worked with the media team to design a new business plan cover. The business team as a whole has collaborated to plan our Annual Sponsor Networking Night; donors and parents are invited to the school for a presentation about the past season and plans for the new one, along with a tour of our Tech Lab.  The community outreach team organized the upcoming library demonstration and worked to ensure a successful event! Collaboratively, the business team made more buttons and updated the large showcase displays located outside the tech lab. 

More work was conducted on getting our new competition robot up and kicking on the build team’s end. This is largely due to the design team’s recent completion of the CAD for the new robot. Utilizing this, fabrication started on the key components of the robot. The electrical team designed the electric diagram of the robot. The build team also created a functional drive base for the software team to use. Thanks to this, the robot is now fully capable of driving. Furthermore, the software team gave the robot vision capabilities after spending the past two weeks working on it. The software team also discussed and finalized its code superstructure and has begun changing the subsystem to accommodate it. The team’s strategy subteam began development of this year’s scout app. Week 4 of the build season was incredibly productive for the build team, and a finished competition robot is only a few steps away. 

Overall, the team accomplished a lot this week and is excited to continue progressing through its tasks as competition season gets closer. We are eager to see what next week brings because the team has worked extremely hard to prepare for the Crescendo Competition Season.

We’re halfway through the build season and Nemesis is more productive than ever! Both the build and business subteams have been preparing for the upcoming competition season, as well as the events that the team will be hosting. 

The business team has continued preparations for the competition season while also getting resources ready for the annual Sponsor Night event. Specifically, the finance team has been reconciling the bank account, finishing our 5-year business plan, and finalizing the press packet. They are also working on the executive summary to keep our sponsors up-to-date with accomplishments of the past season, as well as our goals for the future. Meanwhile, the media team has been updating the website and social media accounts, finalizing button designs, creating a new business plan cover, and taking action shots of the team. The logistics team is preparing activities for travel competitions like MAR Champs and Worlds. They are also organizing team meals for the weekends and updating the pit presentation for competitions. Finally, the community outreach team has been arranging our annual FLL Interest meeting and food drive and working on written materials and documentation for the Impact award. Simultaneously, they are working to touch base with our collaborators at the Trenton Urban Promise organization, 

The build team has also been incredibly busy, finishing prototypes and beginning work on the final robot. The software team has been rewriting code for the swerve drive, began utilizing new libraries for better subsystem code, and finalizing PhotonVision for AprilTag analysis. The electrical team is working closely with software to wire the swerve bot, as well as connecting the prototypes to circuit boards to simulate how it would work on the robot. The fabrication team is using CAD to design parts, as well as manufacturing initial parts created by the design team. Lastly, the strategy team is creating different subsystems for the robot, updating the scouting app to accommodate the new game, and working on note taking for competitions.

We can’t wait to continue this progress throughout the latter half of the build season as we have an exciting month ahead of us, prior to competition season! 
 

Week two of the 2024 build season has shaped up wonderfully despite the challenges that a New Jersey snowfall put forth. Nemesis wasn’t able to be as hands-on as we would have liked, however we took advantage of the snow days to brainstorm, plan, and collaborate. 

The business team made strides in their preparations for the upcoming competition season! Specifically, the media subteam continued planning out designs of the buttons that we hand out to all the FIRST supporters. Nemesis’s annual full team photos were captured and we were ecstatic to continue this beloved tradition. The logistics subteam continued to perfect new team merchandise designs, specifically upgrading the hats with a black background and red team logo. They also ensured that the team was set for a weekend of work with team meals. The community outreach subteam worked on the new Impact award submission. Finally, the finance team spent time finishing the updates to the five year business plan.The business team as a whole has worked together to tear down and revamp our team’s showcases in the hallway; we cannot wait for a new week of progress. 

The build team continues to work diligently towards prototyping the robot. After the first week of planning and finalizing designs, the team has started polishing final components. They have been focusing on detecting the AprilTags using photonvision and have made progress in assembling the swerve modules. After experimenting with different prototypes, the build team worked on using a diversion intake/outtake which is used to score notes with the same device. Meanwhile, the rookies have been learning the process of fabrication for various custom parts. Overall, the build team is working at a good pace, and they have officially hit the one-third mark of the build season.

The team as a whole has been working hard to prepare for the upcoming competitions, and we are looking forward to a successful season ahead!

As Nemesis has kicked off this year’s FIRST Robotics Competition season with the theme Crescendo, we are excited to prepare for a fun-filled time ahead.

This past week, the business team has been working on several tasks in preparation for our competitions. The Community Outreach team has been gathering students for our FLL meet and greet to create more FLL teams in our community. We have also been preparing for our food drive in February where we collect items for local food pantries and soup kitchens. The Sustainability Award is one of the most prestigious awards an FRC team can win, and we have been tirelessly working on perfecting our pitch to showcase the impact we have had, both in our community and internationally. The Media team has been working on creating new button designs to hand out at upcoming competitions. These are crucial for meeting new teams and helping them connect with us. They have been posting to our social media platforms and team website with our latest updates, such as pictures from our recent Unified Robotics event at the local middle school. The Finance team has been updating our 5-year business plan to ensure a financial understanding of our team and have been working on maximizing our funding by applying to grants. The Logistics team has been preparing for upcoming competitions this season, and they ensure the team's schedule is well organized by coordinating team meals, transportation, and meeting dates. 

The build team’s prototyping period is halfway done, with 1 week left. This past week, the team has been brainstorming ideas and perfecting their intake technique. They have had a few prototypes that have not worked out, but they continue to experiment with new ideas, such as a one bar intake. One of their key tasks is using CAD to improve the design of their robot and find solutions to any problems they may be having. The team has been using the notes (the game pieces) to test out their creations and have found success in collaborating with each other. Each subteam is working on a specific task and comes together to discuss their findings, ensuring a motivated and productive team.

The team as a whole has been incredibly productive in preparation for the upcoming seasons and we can’t wait to see what next week holds.

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.