SAR students shine in robotics

On the morning of the annual Robotics Competition sponsored by Technion — Israel Institute of Technology, Salanter Akiva Riverdale (SAR) High School’s team had some robotic car trouble. 

“The car wouldn’t follow the line,” explained senior Max Orman-Kollmar, 17. “It took us until the day of the competition to figure it out.” 

Luckily, Max, along with fellow robotics team members Binyamin Kaplin, 17, Marty Rubin, 18 and Joey Yudelson, 14, figured out the problem — a glitch affecting the car’s motion censors — with help from an engineer at the institute and their robotics team coaches.

Designing the car involved complicated coding and construction, but the students, who take robotics as an elective at the school, were up for the challenge. 

They were the only North American team to compete at the competition, facing off against 19 other teams from around the world in both a driving competition and a written test on Israeli traffic laws.

They placed seventh overall and managed to achieve fourth place in the written competition. 

“It was invigorating,” said Binyamin. “It was the culmination of a lot of work.” 

“Seeing our car perform up on stage with the other cars [was the best part],” added Max. 

SAR started its robotics program three years ago, after Max’s dad, Richard Kollmar, did a demonstration for the school’s engineering club. 

SAR science department co-chair Tobie Brandriss became one of the club’s advisors, along with physics teacher Yaron Tokayer. 

“We couldn’t have done it without the help of our coaches,” Binyamin said.  

Working with an engineer at the Technion to help them fix their robot, Mr. Tokayer said, was an important experience.

“It’s the guess and check nature of engineering — that’s amazing exposure,” he said.  

And the four students took their principal to Israel with them — on the back of their racecar. 

After the team members finished designing their car, they attached a photo of Principal Tully Harcsztark to the back of it, naming the car “Tully.” 

“He was a little creeped out at first, but he liked it,” said senior Max Orman-Kollmar, 17.