Robotics competition at Clemson to draw 1,000 high-schoolers
March 26, 2009
c/o Index Journal
CLEMSON — One thousand high school students from the United States and Brazil will descend upon Clemson University’s Littlejohn Coliseum as part of the sixth annual FIRST Robotics Competition Palmetto Regional.
The teams include Greenwood Robotics Interactive Partners, which is sponsored by FujiFilm Inc., Capsugel, Aaron Industries, Partnership Alliance and Piedmont Technical College.
The FIRST event is a competitive and action-packed contest, described as a rock concert and sporting event for the mind rolled into one.
Competition is from 9 a.m. until 4 p.m. Friday and Saturday, and the public is invited. Admission is free. No open-toe or heel shoes will be allowed on the floor of Littlejohn Coliseum for safety reasons.
Forty-three teams and robots will take the field to compete in a game called “Lunacy” that aims to launch as many moon rocks as possible into opposing robots within a specified amount of time. High-speed collisions are predicted to be common. The teams received the same kit of parts and had six weeks to design and assemble their robots, which can be no heavier than 120 pounds.
It is the second year Clemson will host the event. This year’s teams are from nine states and Brazil.
The regional events will lead to an international championship competition April 16-18 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta. Piedmont Tech, of Greenwood, is a participating school.
For information, go to the FIRST Web site at www.usfirst.org, or http://www.ces.clemson.edu/main/FRC/index.html.
Live streaming video of the matches will be provided at http://www.clemson.edu/tlt/stream/frc/ during the Palmetto Regional.
