team NEMESIS: Impact
The Community
Nemesis is the embodiment of Robbinsville’s vision for a technologically advanced high school and reflects the goals of the community. There is a symbiotic relationship between our team and the Project Lead the Way (PLTW) pre-engineering program, Stevens Institute/NSF BUILDIT Underwater ROV/AUV, and interactive multimedia and design courses offered. Many of our team members are PLTW and Technology students and apply their classroom knowledge to design and create the 3DS Max movie, the website and tutorials, and presentations, in addition to building the robot. In June 2009, our students and school passed the national PLTW certification process and now received college credit for their pre-engineering classes. Our PLTW students gave a Principles of Engineering presentation and demonstration at the NJ PLTW Guidance Counselor Conference at Rowan University to rave reviews. They were recently honored by the New Jersey State Board of Education for their Academic Achievements and Community Service Activities as they increase awareness and add a “cool” factor to engineering and technical studies.
Although we are a new team, we have sponsored or participated in several activites to spread the FIRST message and help attract new team members.
Gadgetoff 2009
Gadgetoff is a one day, invitation only event designed to showcase technology, innovation and art. Team Nemesis was one of five FIRST Robotics teams invited to participate and demonstrate what FIRST and the FRC is all about.
2-5th Grade Robotics Day
Team Nemesis sponsored its second robotics camp / fund raiser in December. Participants constructed Lego robots and tested their configurations in our pool. Basic mechanical concepts were demonstrated and the elementary school participants enjoyed getting a chance to pilot our 2009 robot. Lunch was served and each participant received a goodie bag including a “hex bug nano” toy to take home. The event was a tremendous success and will help raise a "farm team" for FRC 2590's future while inspiring our future engineers.
Pond Road Middle School, Science and Technology Night
We participated in the middle school's Science and Technology Night. This was a hands-on event where the students could perform a set of simple experiments, one at each table, in the middle school cafeteria.
Our 2008 robot was in a crate on its way to Georgia, but Team 1089, Hightstown, kindly let us borrow one of their older robots. We had a video projector showing action from the NJ Regionals and had the Hightstown robot set up so the students could drive! This particular robot had a claw so students could drive over to a soccer ball and manipulate the robot arm to grab the ball.
We got excellent feedback from parents attending this event, most of whom had never heard of FIRST or the high school team until they had read about it in the paper after the NJ Regionals. The kids had a great time at our table, although it was hardly fair competition. When choosing between:
- soaking a penny in a vinegar solution
- looking at dirt off the floor under a microscope
- being able to get hands-on with a giant ball-crushing remote controlled robot
K-4th Grade Robotics Day
The team sponsored an elementary school fund raiser where the participants constructed robots using Legos. The robots swam underwater in a large wading pool. Students had a pizza lunch, got to see a demonstration of our 2008 FRC robot, and watched the Disney movie Wall-e (which, if you haven't seen it, is about... you guessed it - a robot!). As a parting gift, each participant received a "hex bug" robot toy.
Dedication Reception for the Trenton Museum of Science and Technology
Our team participated in a dedication reception at the Trenton Museum of Science and Technology. We demonstrated our 2008 robot and explained FIRST and FRC to the attendees.
2008 World Science Festival, New York City
Along with several other regional teams, we participated in the World Science Festival on May 31st in New York City.
Teams demonstrated the robots for the many festival attendees and explained FIRST/FRC to the masses. The younger kids especially loved the giant FIRST Overdrive game balls and the hurdling robots were a great crowd pleaser.
