Students from eight area high schools will gather at Elon University Jan. 19 for a First Tech Challenge robotics scrimmage.
When: 1-4 p.m., Saturday, Jan. 19, 2013
Location: McCoy Commons, Room 212 (located on Williamson Avenue in Elon, N.C.)
Media Contact: Jochen Fischer, adjunct professor, jfischer5@elon.edu, 336-269-9329
More Information on FTC: http://www.usfirst.org/roboticsprograms/ftc
Students from eight area high schools will gather at Elon University Jan. 19 for a First Tech Challenge robotics scrimmage. The event is being coordinated by Adjunct Professor Jochen Fischer, coach of the Western Alamance High School team, and is hosted by Elon’s Department of Computing Sciences.
The teams will be testing their robots in preparation for the First Tech Challenge statewide tournament scheduled for Feb. 23 at North Carolina A&T State University. This year’s competition theme is titled “Ring it Up.” Robots constructed and programmed by the teams score points in the competition by picking up rings and placing them on a rack in the center of an arena.
Students will have the opportunity to fine tune their robots and solve problems with the guidance of Joel Hollingsworth, chair of Elon’s computing sciences department.
Teams from Alamance, Guilford and Wake county high schools taking part in the scrimmage include the following:
Wannabe Strange (Greensboro)
Thunderducks (Greensboro)
Enthalpy (Kernersville)
Plan B (Burlington)
Because We Are Nerds Squared (Greensboro)
Ninja Pirates (Greensboro)
Mechanical Marauders (Cary)
Aperture Science (Elon)
First Tech Challenge is designed for those who want to compete head-to-head, using a sports model. Teams of up to 10 students are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. The robot kit is reusable from year-to-year and is programmed using a variety of languages. Teams, including coaches, mentors and volunteers, are required to develop strategy and build robots based on sound engineering principles. Awards are given for the competition as for well as for community outreach, design and other real-world accomplishments.