Nonnebots were born in 1997, when an ad was put out in a local newspaper requesting a local engineering firm to sponsor a robotics team for Nonnewaug High School. A small yet versatile company known as 9th Wave heard the cry and took up the challenge of fostering a love for math and science among an otherwise oblivious teenage population. With limited financial support, a handful of parents, and two or three engineers, a robot to compete in the 1998 FIRST Robotics competition had been successfully forged. While none were prepared for the mass fundraising, countless hours of building, testing, and revamping, everyone enjoyed the atmosphere and spirit of watching something they created compete and perform. The team was awarded the "Rookie All Star" award for 1998.
The next season, 1999, was met with a greater understanding of the tasks necessary to create a successful robot. Efficient designs merged with experienced mechanical crews, and as a result, the robot did well, primarily due to the experience gained by the now seasoned team. However, with experience comes responsibility.
Believing they had a greater understanding of the FIRST process, the relatively young team dove into the 2000 competition with the intentions of a complete design/development project. However, a critical mistake had been made: more than 50% of the 6 week building period was used up in design alone. Flustered and rushed, a robot was hastily assembled, only to be 20 pounds overweight, excluding any electronics. With a mere 3 days until shipping, the skeleton of the robot was literally chopped in half to accommodate for the excess poundage. The frame in a shambles, broken spirits, and little to no electrical systems in place, students and engineers decided on a 48 hour stretch of work to attempt the completion of something that can move under its own power. Two hours before shipment, the chassis was handed over to the electronics department with two words: good luck. By the time the shipping truck rolled in, the crippled robot could move, and primitive programming and wiring was in place for most of the advanced features, but still nothing useful to the competition was available. The fried minds and fatigued bodies waved the robot off to the regional competition with a sigh and began the clean up process. Although the primary features became operational during the practice times (after already stressed engineers worked their magic), nothing was completely reliable. Needless to say, we were not the most successful team in the world at either the regional or national competitions.
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