Nemesis, Robbinsville High School’s FIRST robotics team, won the Mid Atlantic Regional Championships at Lehigh University in Pennsylvania the weekend of April 12.
Teams from New Jersey, Delaware and eastern Pennsylvania gathered at the school’s Stabler Arena to compete for a spot in the world championships.
Nemesis and their robot, constructed in six weeks in the high school’s technology lab, were challenged to the Ultimate Assent. In this competition teams must use their robot to throw Frisbees into goal at varying heights then guide it to one of three levels on a pyramid.
By the end of day two, team members Josh Falk, Antonio Papa, Dan Gavrushenko and mentor Scott Meredith had lead the team to a second place ranking.
The team also were judged on its business plan and community outreach events. Safety advisers talked with Nemesis’ safety Captain Parth Mandrekar to ensure the team was following regulations.
On the final day of competition Nemesis joined forces with Storm Robotics from Lenape Regional High School and Sa-BOT-age from Downington High School East in Pennsylvania to create a first-ranked alliance.
Robbinsville’s alliance advanced to the final round and won with a score of 140 to 136.
During the award ceremony, Nemesis members were presented with the Excellence in Engineering award for creating a robot that quickly retrieved Frisbees.
They will advanced to the world championship competition, set for April 24 through 27 in St. Louis, Mo.
