Reitz Journalism

Ever wish you could have a robot do a chore or task for you? Well that’s exactly what Brian Thompson, Ben Balbach, Justin Steinback, Tom Grimes, Andrew Miller, Jamie Heard, and Jared Welden are trying to do.

The Robotics team has been an extracurricular activity that has been involved in competitions all year.
“When Mr. Hartman told us about the competition in Indianapolis, we thought it was a really good idea,” explained team member, Ben Balbach. “We never thought we’d make it as far in this competition that we have.”
This year, Reitz High School participated in the worldwide competition to build a robot to perform a certain task. While this has been the first year that Reitz has competed in this competition, Robotics team member, Ben Balbach has been in Robotics since his sixth grade year at Helfrich Park Middle School.
“Honestly, I don’t think I’ve really learned anything new. But we’ve just been playing around with it and just having fun,” Balbach exclaimed.
In February, Reitz qualified 11th in Indianapolis. The top ten teams go on to the final round in LA. Since a few teams were unable to make it to LA, Reitz was the first alternate.
“I think we have a really good chance to place well this year,” stated Balbach. Along with four teammates, he will be competing in LA from the first to the fifth of May. “I think what we are looking forward to most is just going to LA.”
Every team is presented the same Vex Robotics kit to use. The way they use it, is what sets them apart in the competition.
“Justin actually came up with the idea of how to build it,” stated Balbach. “My team members all have great ideas.”
This year the objective is to place tennis balls in troughs that are 12 inches off the ground in three minutes. The students have to program their robot to do something for twenty seconds. After that, for the time remaining the robot is remote controlled.
Out of the seven students on the Reitz team, only five are going to LA. There are expected to be 100 teams, and nearly 1000 high school students. Almost half of the teams will be from outside of the USA, including teams from Asia, Canada, Europe and South America.
The game, ‘Bridge Battle’, was created by Innovation First to interest students in today’s science and technology. The game is played on a 12’x12’ square field that is divided into two sections with four teams total on the field at a time. The teams’ robots are competing simultaneously, challenging the teams to work closely with one another.
This year the world competition will be held in LA through May 2nd and 3rd. The Reitz team will be in LA from the 1st to the 5th of May.
AutoDesk is supporting every team with a grant to reduce the registration fee by $200. The trip will cost roughly $4000. According to Brian Hartman, donations and support would be greatly appreciated.