By Bernie Hale, Owensboro Community and Technical College
Owensboro Community and Technical College is hosting a real-world robotics competition on Saturday, January 31, 2015 for students in grades 7-12. The event will be held in the Advanced Technology Center, on the main campus located at 4800 New Hartford Road, Owensboro.
FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is designed for students in grades 7-12 to compete head to head, using a sports model but applying STEM related skills. Teams are responsible for designing, building, and programming their robots to compete in an alliance format against other teams. The robot kit is reusable from year-to-year and is programmed using a variety of languages. Teams, including coaches, mentors and volunteers, are required to develop strategy and build robots based on sound engineering principles. Awards are given for the competition as well as for community outreach, design, and other real-world accomplishments.
21 teams are scheduled to compete, representing schools and organizations in Kentucky, Tennessee, Missouri, Ohio, and Indiana, including Lexington Christian Academy, Oakdale Christian Academy, St. Henry District High School, Larry A. Ryle High School, Roberson County High School, Christian Educational Consortium, Daviess County High School, Louisville Robotics Institute, Paducah-Tilghman High School, South Spencer High School, Whitefield Academy, Bethlehem High School, Dayton Regional STEM School, John Burroughs School, and neighborhood and homeschool association groups.
Owensboro Community & Technical College, NASA Kentucky, Domtar, and AMTEC are sponsoring this year’s event. For more information about the OCTC’s FIRST Lego League competition, please contact Shawn Payne at (270) 686-3789 or shawn.payne@kctcs.edu.
