NASA is webcasting live the National Champships of the FIRST Robotics Competition from the Georgia Dome in Atlanta, Georgia.
This 12th annual championship pits teams from 26 regional championships between 930 high school teams representing the U.S., Canada, the U.K. and Brazil. Practice rounds run through Thursday, with qualifying rounds on Friday and Saturday followed by finals.
Originally begun with 28 teams and a single 14 x 14 foot playing field in a New Hampshire high school gym, the FIRST Robotics program for high school and middle school students now has over 900 teams participating nationwide and internationally. For the 2004 season, nearly 180 merit-based scholarship opportunities amounting to more than $3.8 million are available to eligible FIRST high school participants. (read more ... )
This humble blogger does have a dog in this hunt ... and is rooting for Team 571, Paragon, of the LoomisChaffee School and Windsor (CT) High School, the 2004 New England Regional Champs. Team Paragon is practicing and qualifying in Division Archimedes, one of the four live video streams presently coming from Atlanta.
Posted by dougsimpson at April 15, 2004 11:19 AM | TrackBack