Promoting Careers in Science, Technology, Engineering and Math (STEM)

The Sacramento Regional FIRST Robotics competition returns to the UC Davis Pavilion March 15-17 for three days of intense mechanical competition between high school teams from around the region and across the country.

Under strict rules, limited resources, and time limits, teams of 25 students or more are challenged to raise funds, design a team "brand," hone teamwork skills, and build + program robots to perform prescribed tasks against a field of competitors. It’s as close to "real-world engineering" as a student can get. Volunteer professional mentors lend their time and talents to guide each team.

This year’s challenge is “Rebound Rumble,” where each alliance competes by trying to score as many of the basketballs in the hoops as possible during the 2-minute and 15-second match. Balls scored in higher hoops score Alliances more points. Alliances are awarded bonus points if they are balanced on bridges at the end of the match. In matches where opponent Alliances work together to balance on the white bridge, all participating teams earn additional valuable seeding points.

Here’s the full list of teams. Competing again this year is Team 1678, the Citrus Circuits from Davis. For the first time last year, Citrus Circuits went to the national competition in Atlanta!

Practice rounds begin on Thursday, March 15 with full competition on Friday and Saturday, March 16-17. The event is free and open to the public, so come down and cheer them on.

More about the Sacramento regional event: http://www.firstsac.org/
FIRST Robotics national site: http://www.usfirst.org/