For the Reporter

The Auburn School District – in partnership with Washington FIRST Robotics – hosts the FIRST Robotics Competition (FRC) on Friday and Saturday at Auburn High School, 800 Fourth St NE.

The event, which is free to the public, runs from 11 a.m. to 8 p.m. Friday and 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday.

More than 700 students, ages 14-18, from teams throughout Washington and Oregon will gather to compete in the FIRST Robotics Challenge. There are 111 FRC teams across Washington, 43 teams in Oregon. The top 64 teams from the two states advance to the Pacific Northwest Championship at Portland’s Memorial Coliseum on April 10.

FIRST Robotics is a sport of science, technology and teamwork, combining the tremendous opportunity to develop STEM skills under the guidance of professional engineering and business mentors who volunteer their time and talents to teach the students valuable engineering, project management and entrepreneurship skills.

FIRST Robotics teams are challenged to design and build a robot based on an annual themed challenge under strict rules, limited resources and tight time constraints. Washington FIRST Robotics and the 879 teams throughout Washington take STEM to the level of “cool” for students.

Students involved in FIRST are eligible for 900 individual scholarship opportunities with a total value of more than $19 million. It’s an amazing opportunity for students.Affiliated with U.S.FIRST, Washington FIRST Robotics designs accessible, innovative programs that motivate young people to pursue education and career opportunities in science, technology, engineering, and math, while building self-confidence, teamwork and life skills.

Playing field

AERIAL ASSIST is played by two competing Alliances of three robots each on a 25-foot-by-54-foot field, straddled by a truss suspended just over 5 feet above the floor. Alliances try to score as many balls in goals as possible during a two minute and 30-second match.

The more Alliances score their ball in their goals, and the more they work together to do it, the more points their Alliance receives.

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For more information, visit www.firstwa.org