Team 9960, or the N.E.R.D.S, are an organization dedicated to the teaching robotics. The organization itself is known as ” Northwest Missouri Educational Robotics Foundation Incorporated,” and has been in place since 2015. The team originated from the hope of Mr. Gerald Nelson to teach the children of South Nodaway Highschool robotics, due to the fact that learning robotics was not available for the kids because of how small the school was, and therefore the limitations on such activities. The team this season is seven members strong, most of them coming from South Nodaway. The team also has four mentors, including founder Mr. Nelson. Together, team 9960 works hard to achieve the goal of being the best on the field. Every day is a new surprise, with such highlights being:
- The recent breakthrough of finally being able to use the scissor lift on the robot to successfully lift the cap ball.
- The attaching of the robots Mecanum wheels, and the impressive maneuverability that came with them.
- The first successful run of the robots autonomous, which allowed it to claim beacons.
- The moment this website was introduced to the team.
- The equally amazing moment where the team got to put up it’s first post on the new website.
- The fun of finally finishing, and getting to test the robot.
- And of course, when the team was finally complete, and all members had joined, registered, and could take on the challenge.
The achievements won by the team are not the thing that make the N.E.R.D.S what they are, however. It is also the failures. All the times circuits blew out, wiring malfunctioned, and the bits and gears that popped off along the way. These are the times the team was truly fulfilled, the times that we were completing our mission. Our mission is to learn, and it is from these times that we have learned the most. Team 9960 is proud to appear in the FTC challenge, and hopes to keep on learning.