US Open Robotics Championship to be hosted at MAC – The Daily Nonpareil

Robotics teams from all around the world are set to compete this week at the 2017 CREATE U.S. Open Robotics Championship tournament.

More than 2,500 students, educators and spectators are expected to participate in the event held at the Mid-America Center which starts Tuesday and continues through Saturday.

Teams from the United States, Canada, Hong Kong, China and Lebanon are registered to compete. Each team will operate a robot theyve designed and built to achieve the highest score. The teams are paired with each other to test not only their competitive skills and understanding of technology, but also their ability to collaborate.

We have 500 teams registered from across the country and teams coming in from China, Hong Kong and Canada, said Jim Schulte, president of the Create Foundation. Its one of the largest competitions of its kind in the world.

This particular competition removes almost all the constraints found in most other kit-based competitions by allowing the use of any control system, 3-D printed, laser cut or even handmade parts, according to the press release.

This year, teams from Abraham Lincoln and Thomas Jefferson High Schools will compete in the competition.

On Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday, competitors in grades two through eight will compete against each other in the elementary and middle school division championships.

On Thursday, the high school and middle school robots will be inspected for compliance for certain technical requirements.

Throughout the event, judges will assess the teams to determine the winners of several different awards and competitions. On Friday and Saturday, competitions will take place in the qualification rounds, followed by the final head-to-head competition on Saturday afternoon, to decide the CREATE U.S. Open Champions.

The event will close on Saturday evening with an awards ceremony.

All competitions are open to the public and admission is free.

Robotics competitions are to get kids interested in STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) and we are retiring a lot more engineers than were graduating, Schulte said. These competitions help to spur that interest in engineering.

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US Open Robotics Championship to be hosted at MAC - The Daily Nonpareil