Cal U to host FIRST Robotics Competition
Fans of classic 8-bit arcade games will be in their element at this year’s Greater Pittsburgh Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.
More than 50 teams from nine states, as well as teams from China and Taiwan, will drive their 120-pound, custom-built robots across the playing field March 22-24 in the Convocation Center at California University of Pennsylvania.
In this year’s challenge, FIRST POWER UP, “alliances, videogame characters and their human operators are trapped in an arcade game” and must complete a series of tasks in order to escape. Robots will maneuver “power cubes” into a vault and onto giant balancing scales, then ascend a central tower to “face the boss.”
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter
Mark Marietta/Observer-Reporter
Titanium Titans team members Adam Robertson, Luke Markinos, Jesse Wolfe and Meghan Black make last-minute adjustments to their machine between rounds at last year’s FIRST Robotics Competition.
After a six-week design-and-build period at their home schools, nearly 1,000 students in grades 9-12 will compete at this year’s event.
Robot inspections and practice matches take place March 22. Qualifying matches are scheduled for March 23 through the morning of March 24, followed by elimination rounds and the regional finals.
Spectators can watch the ongoing POWER UP action from seats in the Convocation Center at this free event, or don safety glasses and visit the “pits,” where competitors modify and repair their robots and market their teams.
Depending on their school’s location, winners of the Greater Pittsburgh Regional will join winning teams from other regional contests at the FIRST Robotics Championship, either April 18-21 in Houston, Texas, or April 25-28 in Detroit, Mich.
To learn more, visit www.pittsburghfirst.org.