Public invited to FIRST Tech Challenge robotics competition
Posted by Andrew Careaga
The public is invited to attend the Missouri FIRST Tech Challenge Championship this Saturday, Feb. 26, on the Missouri University of Science and Technology campus. Video of the event will also be live-streamed online.
FIRST Tech Challenge teams design, build and program robots for a tournament-style competition.
Hundreds of high school students from throughout Missouri will put their robotic creations to the test during the event, a statewide robotics competition for high school students and hosted by Missouri S&T.
The championship will be held in the Student Recreation Center on the Missouri S&T campus. The center adjoins the Gale Bullman Multi-Purpose Building at 10th Street and Bishop Avenue (U.S. Highway 63). (View live-streaming video on the day of the event. Windows Media Player required.)
Team registration begins at 7:30 a.m., followed by inspections and technical presentations. The opening ceremony for the competition begins at 11:55 a.m., with the first qualifier competitions beginning at 12:15 p.m.
The FIRST Tech Challenge is a nationwide robotics competition involving teams of up to 10 students between the ages of 14-18 in grades 9-12. Each team designs, builds and programs robots for a tournament-style competition based on competitive sports.
Thirty-four teams are expected to take part in the Missouri S&T event.
The competition is sponsored by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a nonprofit organization founded in 1989 “to inspire young people to be science and technology leaders” through participation in various robotics programs.
Participants in this year’s competition – titled “Get Over It” – will use their robots to score points by emptying baton dispensers filled with 6-inch long PVC tubes and scoring them in stationary and rolling goals.
Winners of the Missouri event will compete in the international championship, to be held April 27-30 at the Edward Jones Dome in St. Louis. St. Louis was selected as the host city for that event for the next three years, just as Missouri S&T was chosen to host the statewide event for the same period.
More information about FIRST and the FIRST Tech Challenge is available online at www.usfirst.org.
