York Technical College

News Release
For Immediate Release
Contact:  Joe Polinski
(803) 981-7161


College to Host Robotics Competition

December 5, 2007

ROCK HILL—Middle school students from the region will compete in a nationwide robotics competition to be held at York Technical College.  The top 10 teams from the competition at York Tech will advance to the state championship to be held at Clemson University.

The event, sponsored by the FIRST LEGO League (FLL), combines hands-on, interactive robotics using the LEGO MINDSTORMS Robotics Invention System with the atmosphere of a sporting event. The program is co-sponsored by FIRST, an organization whose mission is to excite young people about the fun, accessibility, and importance of science and engineering, and the LEGO Company.

The competition will take place on Friday, December 7, at 9:15 a.m. in the college’s Institute for Manufacturing Productivity and will conclude at approximately 3:30 p.m.  Peak action is expected between 10 a.m. and noon.

This year's competition is expected to attract more than 25 teams consisting of 10 players each from across the region.  Teams face an assigned "challenge" emulating a real world event or situation and must research, plan, build, program and test a fully autonomous robot capable of accomplishing the challenge.  

To learn more about FIRST LEGO League nationwide, visit www.firstlegoleague.org or www.usfirst.org.

York Technical College . 452 S. Anderson Road . Rock Hill, SC 29730