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PREPARING FOR 2019 First Tech Championship
Congratulations!
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Congratulations to the Reinke Sponsored Electrogator Robotics team for taking the Winning Alliance title in the Nebraska FIRST Tech Challenge Championship. The 16-team statewide competition was held last Saturday in Columbus.
The Electrogators won five of their six qualifying matches and four of their five final head-to-head competitions with the students representing other schools from across the state to earn the Winning Alliance title. The squad also won the tournament Connect Award, presented to the team that the judges feel most connected with their local Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM) community. The judges noted that the Electrogators had done the best job of all the teams by partnering with Reinke to seek out professionals who could help guide them in the design of their robot. |
The students were also named the first runner-up for the Collins Aerospace Innovate Award that celebrates the teams’ ingenuity and inventiveness. Elements of this award include elegant design, robustness and ‘out of the box’ thinking with regard to the robot’s design. Judges review the design notebooks of all the teams and award highest honors to those who clearly explain their work consistently and what they’ve done to arrive at their solutions.
The day-long competition was called the Rover Ruckus. Students built a robot that would unhook itself from a lunar-type lander, retrieve minerals and then hook itself back up to the lander again in just two minutes and 30 seconds.
According to the team’s coaches, most of the students are in their second year on the team and that experience from last year’s competition helped them on Saturday. This year’s team members are: Caleb Jalas, Cameron Czekai, Chole Mosier, Landon Lowery, Luke Reinke, and Mira Eschilman.
“Congratulations to the ELECTROGATOR Robotics team for their win at the state meet,” said Russ Reinke, First Vice President at Reinke Manufacturing, sponsor for the team. “It was an outstanding performance amongst great competition. I know the entire community wishes them all the best at the world competition.”
The Electrogators and their robot will now travel to Detroit to compete in the 2019 First Tech Championship in Detroit, April 24-27.
A total of 70,000 people from around the world will attend two First Tech World Championship events to celebrate young innovators and their robots. The other event will be in Houston one week earlier. To learn more about the competition, go to FirstChampionship.org.
The day-long competition was called the Rover Ruckus. Students built a robot that would unhook itself from a lunar-type lander, retrieve minerals and then hook itself back up to the lander again in just two minutes and 30 seconds.
According to the team’s coaches, most of the students are in their second year on the team and that experience from last year’s competition helped them on Saturday. This year’s team members are: Caleb Jalas, Cameron Czekai, Chole Mosier, Landon Lowery, Luke Reinke, and Mira Eschilman.
“Congratulations to the ELECTROGATOR Robotics team for their win at the state meet,” said Russ Reinke, First Vice President at Reinke Manufacturing, sponsor for the team. “It was an outstanding performance amongst great competition. I know the entire community wishes them all the best at the world competition.”
The Electrogators and their robot will now travel to Detroit to compete in the 2019 First Tech Championship in Detroit, April 24-27.
A total of 70,000 people from around the world will attend two First Tech World Championship events to celebrate young innovators and their robots. The other event will be in Houston one week earlier. To learn more about the competition, go to FirstChampionship.org.
Radio Interview on KRVN/@RuralRadioNet with Russ Reinke - 2/5/19 @ 12:45pm CST
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Reinke helps students learn about robotics
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(DESHLER, Neb. – Jan. 21, 2019)
The Thayer County Activity Center hosts many different types of events. But earlier this month, more than 20 area junior high and high school students were at the center to learn more about electrical engineering, design and mechanics during a robotics scrimmage. One of those groups was the Electrogator Robotics team from Deshler. This is the second year for the team sponsored by Reinke Manufacturing. For Reinke, the world's largest privately held manufacturer of center pivots and lateral move irrigation systems, it was an easy decision to help - both with employees volunteering to coach the team and financial support to purchase the materials need to build the robots. |
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"Supporting the robotics team was important for a couple of reasons," said Reinke President Chris Roth. "One, an irrigation system is kind of like a big robot. We use state-of-the-art manufacturing equipment, including many robots and computer numerical control (CNC) machines. And two, this has been a great opportunity for Reinke to support our community by helping the students learn skills we use each day."
Besides learning how to build robots, the students also learn how to work together and solve problems. The scrimmage helped them prepare for the upcoming statewide competition, the Nebraska FIRST Tech Challenge Championship, that will be held on February 9 in Columbus.
According to Reinke computer engineer and one of the volunteer coaches, Hal Hockersmith, the kids do a lot of interactive thinking as they learn about physical mechanics. The team has to document and explain their work when presenting their robot to the judges. Included in that documentation are some of the business skills they're learning along the way: public relations, ambassadorship, finance and web development.
"It's really a mini engineering project," said Hockersmith. "They're given a challenge with basic guidelines and deadlines, but the rest is up to them. As a team, they discuss the issues they're facing and how to solve them."
During this month's scrimmage, four teams from area schools competed. They were all given the same First Tech Challenge - to build and program a robot and then compete in a challenge. The competition was timed, with points awarded for programming and the final product they produce.
And although the scrimmage wasn't a direct qualifier for any competitions, many teams attending said they felt more prepared for upcoming state finals.
"We made great progress and got a chance to try a lot of ideas that day," noted Hockersmith. "The kids are super excited and are ready to enter the final push for February."
What the Electrogators are learning from their practice sessions and scrimmages will certainly help them during the state competition, but it might even help them choose a career someday.
"Reinke needs employees who know how to design, service and operate robots, whether it's the big robotic irrigation system in the filed or the big robots we use in our manufacturing process," said Roth.
Students on the Electrogator Robotics team are: Caleb Jalas, Cameron Czekai, Chole Mosier, Landon Lowery, Luke Reinke, and Mira Eschelman. Along with Hockersmith, Stan Reinke is also volunteering to coach the team this year.
Good luck to them as they prepare for state!
Besides learning how to build robots, the students also learn how to work together and solve problems. The scrimmage helped them prepare for the upcoming statewide competition, the Nebraska FIRST Tech Challenge Championship, that will be held on February 9 in Columbus.
According to Reinke computer engineer and one of the volunteer coaches, Hal Hockersmith, the kids do a lot of interactive thinking as they learn about physical mechanics. The team has to document and explain their work when presenting their robot to the judges. Included in that documentation are some of the business skills they're learning along the way: public relations, ambassadorship, finance and web development.
"It's really a mini engineering project," said Hockersmith. "They're given a challenge with basic guidelines and deadlines, but the rest is up to them. As a team, they discuss the issues they're facing and how to solve them."
During this month's scrimmage, four teams from area schools competed. They were all given the same First Tech Challenge - to build and program a robot and then compete in a challenge. The competition was timed, with points awarded for programming and the final product they produce.
And although the scrimmage wasn't a direct qualifier for any competitions, many teams attending said they felt more prepared for upcoming state finals.
"We made great progress and got a chance to try a lot of ideas that day," noted Hockersmith. "The kids are super excited and are ready to enter the final push for February."
What the Electrogators are learning from their practice sessions and scrimmages will certainly help them during the state competition, but it might even help them choose a career someday.
"Reinke needs employees who know how to design, service and operate robots, whether it's the big robotic irrigation system in the filed or the big robots we use in our manufacturing process," said Roth.
Students on the Electrogator Robotics team are: Caleb Jalas, Cameron Czekai, Chole Mosier, Landon Lowery, Luke Reinke, and Mira Eschelman. Along with Hockersmith, Stan Reinke is also volunteering to coach the team this year.
Good luck to them as they prepare for state!
About Reinke Manufacturing: With hundreds of dealers in more than 40 countries, Reinke Manufacturing is the world’s largest privately held manufacturer of center pivot and lateral move irrigation systems. Family owned since 1954, and headquartered in Deshler, Neb., Reinke develops products designed to increase agriculture production while providing labor savings and environmental efficiencies. Reinke is a continued leader in industry advancements as the first to incorporate GPS, satellite-based communications and touchscreen panel capabilities into mechanized irrigation system management. For more information on Reinke or to locate a dealership, visit www.reinke.com or call 402-365-7251.
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