The FIRST Tech Challenge regional robotics championship is set for Saturday in the basketball courts at the University of Texas Permian Basin gym.
Organized by the UTPB College of Engineering, doors open at 7 a.m. Robots start competing at 11 a.m. Final round results will be at 4:30 p.m. and awards at 5 p.m. The championship is aimed at students in grades seven through 12.
Teams work in alliances to score points by descending from the lander, collecting minerals from the crater and sorting and scoring the minerals in the cargo hold of the lander. Alliances also earn points by positioning their team marker, a news release said.
The designed robots will be tested by making them perform a series of tasks given by the organizers and will be evaluated in: design, build, program and test.
There will be 36 teams around Midland and Odessa competing. Each team will have about 15 students.
The top four teams will move on to a state competition.
