FIRST Chesapeake District Southwest Virginia Robotics Competition (CANCELLED)
Venue: Blacksburg High School, Blacksburg
Date: Saturday, March 24, 2018
Time: 9:00 AM - 7:00 PM
Event Types: Miscellaneous, Family Friendly, STEM Events
Cost: Free
Description:
UPDATE: Due to the expected snow storm this event has been moved to Richmond, VA and the Blacksburg event has been cancelled.

FIRST Chesapeake District presents the 2018 Southwest Virginia Robotics Competition Sponsored by Anton Paar on Saturday, March 24, 2018 and Sunday, March 25, 2018 at Blacksburg High School.

Saturday Schedule:
• 9:00 am - 6:00 pm - Welcome and Information Tables Open
• 10:30-11:00 am - Opening Ceremonies
• 10:30 am - 12:30 pm - FIRST LEGO League Junior Expo and Parade
• 11:00 am - 1:00 pm - Qualification Matches
• 1:00-2:00 pm - Lunch
• 2:00-7:00 pm - Qualification Matches
• 8:00 pm - Pits Close

Forty of the best and brightest high school robotics teams from Virginia, DC and Maryland will be competing in this two day event that serves as a qualifier for the FIRST Chesapeake District Championship. Come out and cheer on your favorite team or learn more about bringing FIRST Robotics programs to your community.

This year’s game, developed by FIRST® (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), is called Power Up. It includes the nostalgia of the video arcade with the excitement of a sports-based robotics competition. The game scenario includes two, three-team alliances of video game characters and their human operators who are trapped in an arcade game. Each alliance has three ways to help defeat the “boss”: Tipping a scale or the alliance’s switch in their favor to earn points, exchanging power cubes for power ups (force, boost, and levitate) to gain a temporary advantage, and climbing a tower to face the “boss” and escape the game.

To see a video of how the competition works, visit: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HZbdwYiCY74&index=5&t=17s.

Admission is free and open to the public.

FIRST Robotics Competition is recognized as the premier high school engineering challenge. Teams of students, working closely with teachers and volunteer mentors, have six weeks to conceptualize, design, build, program, modify and test a robot to participate in a competition that changes each year. Every January, FIRST unveils the challenge or “game” at an annual kick-off event that is simulcast to locations around the world.

Following a six-week design and build phase, teams enter two of seven district competitions in the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Virginia. Teams compete for scores that will earn them a place at the FIRST Chesapeake District Championship. Winners from FIRST Chesapeake will compete at the FIRST World Championship in Detroit.

To view Sunday's event, visit: http://www.nextthreedays.com/FeaturedEventDetails.cfm?E=465910.

For more information, visit: https://www.firstchesapeake.org/first-programs/frc/first-chesapeake-district-events/southwest-va or https://www.facebook.com/events/186750811919794/.