N.E.R.D.S. Team Update
The N.E.R.D.S (Novice Engineer’s Robot Design Society) Team 9960 competed in the First Tech Challenge Blue Valley CAPS Qualifier on January 20. Despite technical difficulties with the robot, they managed to finish 4th out of 24 teams after the qualifying matches. Then the N.E.R.D.S formed a set of three teams to begin the Alliance elimination rounds. Unfortunately, they were knocked out of the competition in the quarter-final round.
The failure of a color sensor and the poor performance of the robot software in the autonomous portion of each match were offset by the exceptional performance of the robot when being controlled by our team driver, Colton Swalley. He managed a perfect score for the driver-controlled portion of the first match and did extremely well in the other matches. Our 4th place finish resulted from a loss of one qualifying match out of five. The three teams above us were able to win all five of their matches.
We are sporting a new addition to our team uniform, rainbow suspenders and bow ties, plus white tape on the bridge of our safety glasses. Left to right are Kevin Henggeler, 8th grade, South Nodaway; Nathan Meyer, 8th grade, Northeast Nodaway; Gerald Nelson, Mentor/Coach; Colton Swalley, 8th grade, Northeast Nodaway; Connor LaBryer, Sophomore, South Nodaway; Nicco LaBryer, 7th grade, South Nodaway; Samuel (Evan) Nothstine, Junior, South Nodaway.
The team’s next event is expected to be the West Conference Qualifier on February 10. An invitation to this event is based on results from meets, not other qualifiers. We are now ranked first out of the 52 teams in the Northwest Conference because the two teams above us earned a trip to the State Tournament in other ways. The anticipated cutoff for an invitation to the West Conference Qualifier is below the 15th ranked team: