Worlds 2024 : Nemesis’ Cinderella Story!
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!
