The robotics team will be heading to the rolling hills of Kentucky starting April 20 as the team heads to Louisville for the Vex Robotics World Competition, where thousands of teams from hundreds of countries will compete.

“I think the team is looking forward to competing with the best in world and at the same time learning about students from other cultures and building relationships with other people who have their same interest in technology,” robotics teacher Brian Lidington said. “The competition is long enough so they have plenty of time to learn about different approaches to technical problems as well as socialize with motivated techies from all over the world.”

Even with so much to look forward to, students still expect a challenge.

“The most challenging aspect will be remaining competitive in worlds,”senior Austin Wyatt said. “There are a lot of amazing teams out there so we’re going to have to do really well to keep up.”

The robotics team has been working hard all year, and the students are excited to show off what they have built.

“We have been building our robot since the beginning of the school year but most of us came into school with ideas we have up with over the summer,” junior and lead mechanical engineer Josh Blumenthal said. “We just finished the state TSA where we finished 5th out of over 90 teams. There we learned that the robot drive needs to be worked on, so getting it fixed will be a bit of a challenge.”

Despite hard work and challenges, Blumenthal looks forward to speaking with competitors from the many different nations.

“I think the most important thing we can take away is the knowledge that we gain from talking to other teams,” Blumenthal said. “Last year I talked to teams from as far away as South Korea about topics ranging from robotics to politics. It was interesting to get views from someone who lives in a place with such different cultural values.”

Others, such as junior and lead software engineer Connor Redding, look forward to the team building experience and a chance to expand connections.

“[The most important things we can take away are] ideas for next year and gain contacts in the Vex community, as well as some good ol’ team bonding.” Redding said.

Like Redding, Wyatt agrees that the World Competition will be a great opportunity to strengthen the team’s bond.

“I think the most important thing we can take away from this by far is teamwork,” Wyatt said. “We have a team of really awesome people, and we all worked hard together to become this successful.”

Lidington, on the other hand, related this experience to the vastly expanding technological world.  

“The world we live in is getting smaller and smaller, due to technological advances,” Lidington said. “Globalization is a huge influence on the corporate world. Students will not only see the best robot technology, but, I think, gain a respect for the advances other countries have made in education, while at the same time seeing different cultures and building relationships through the common interest in robots.”