Prepare Your Robots, Stronghold is Coming

Let the countdown begin! On January 9, 2016, FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics teams around the world waited impatiently to discover what game would rule their lives for the next year. The task: build a competition robot in a short 6-week period with finite resources. Each year, FIRST releases a new challenge that gives high school students the opportunity to test their robotics and STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics) knowledge in competitions at local, regional and international events.

Nemesis, Robbinsville High School’s FIRST Robotics Team, along with robotics teams from Allentown, Bridgewater-Raritan, Hamilton, Hightstown, Moorestown, and North Brunswick gathered at Montgomery High School for the kickoff of the 2016 FIRST Robotics Competition season, excited to watch the NASA-TV webcast revealing this year’s challenge.

A collection of workshops led by members of Montgomery’s own Cougar Robotics taught students a variety of subjects including Autodesk Inventor (a Computer-Aided Design --CAD-- program), pneumatics, gearboxes, and sensors.“The workshops are a great way to start the new season. Using Autodesk Inventor challenged me in a new way and I would love to work with it again!” stated senior and Director of Marketing and Communications Mitaali Taskar.

Anticipation was high as teams gathered in the auditorium for the live stream launch of the 2016 challenge. Students held their collective breath as they waited for the game to be announced. As the countdown neared its end, the crowd went wild. The official challenge of the 2016 season would be called FIRST STRONGHOLD!

FIRST STRONGHOLD, a medieval battle-inspired game, involves two alliances of three robots each who defend their castle while storming the opposing alliance’s citadel. They can elect to utilize a spy robot in enemy territory. The end goal of the game is to capture the enemy’s tower by successfully shooting balls into the opposing castle tower then surrounding it. The match begins with a 15-second autonomous period, when the robots are controlled solely by pre-written code. The remainder of the battle is 2 minutes and 15 seconds of intense, student-driven robot competition.

Nemesis is very excited to tackle this year's challenge and build upon the success of the 2015 season, where the team won the Hatboro-Horsham and North Brunswick District Events, the Montreal Regional, and competed at the FIRST World Championship. In addition, the team was recognized for its advantageous robot design with the Excellence in Engineering Award at both the Hatboro-Horsham District and Montreal Regional competitions.

“Although a much more complicated game than last year, we hope to repeat our prior success and continue learning throughout the build sesaon,” stated Build Executive and senior Parth Mandrekar.

Most notably, in 2015, was the strong performance of Nemesis’ Business Team. The students’ comprehensive business plan and business acumen was recognized with the Entrepreneurship Award not only at the district level at North Brunswick, but also at the international level at the FIRST World Championship in St. Louis. Triumphing at the global level for the second consecutive year, Nemesis was recognized as one of the four strongest Business Teams in the world.

In the 2016 season, Nemesis will compete at the Hatboro-Horsham and Lenape-Seneca District competitions and the South Florida Regional in West Palm Beach, Florida. Qualification for the FIRST Mid-Atlantic District Championship and FIRST World Championship is dependent upon the team’s performance at the district and regional competitions. The team is always looking for financial and material sponsors and technical mentors. If you are interested in supporting the team please visit our website FRC2590.org.

Nemesis would like to thank their sponsors. Without them, none of this would be possible: Robbinsville High School, NAVAIR, Bristol-Myers Squibb, New York Society of Cosmetic Chemists, CCL Label, Siemens Corp., Lockheed Martin, Investor’s Bank, Robbinsville Education Association, Robbinsville Education Foundation, Designtree, Carfaro, Gilbane, RAS Process Equipment, EAG, Princeton Sports and Family Medicine, Triangle Copy, SRI International, The McGraw Hill Financial, NorthStar VETS and Coldwell Banker .