The second district event qualifiers for the NE FIRST Robotics Competition kicked off Saturday morning at Wilby High School in Waterbury.
The 34 teams participating in the competition have designed and programmed their robots in less than two months. The two-day event began Saturday, Feb. 28 at 8 a.m. and will run until Sunday, March 1 at 5 p.m. This weekend marks the second of 10 district qualifying events in the region of New England.
This year’s competition is a recycling-themed game, titled “RECYCLE RUSH," involving "two Alliances of three robots each," according to the news release.
"Robots score points by stacking totes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers, and properly disposing of pool noodles, representing litter," according to a news release.
The next and final New England district qualifying competition will be at Hartford High School on March 28 and 29.
Winners will advance to the NE FIRST New England Championship at Worcester Polytechnic Institute in Worcester, Massachusetts April 9 to 11. Winners at the regional level will move onto the FIRST World Competition April 22 to 25 in St. Louis, Missouri April 22 to 25.
The public is invited to attend at no cost.
The following teams are competing at this weekend's district qualifier:
• Techno-Nuts – Berlin, CT
• Aces High- Windsor Locks, CT
• The CyberKnights- Southington, CT
• GU S Robotics- Meriden CT
• GaelHawks- Shelton, CT
• TechnoTicks- Old Lyme, CT
• Black Magic Robotics- Watertown, CT
• RoboSquad- New Haven, CT
• MachaRams- Cheshire, CT
• Team MAX- Wolcott, CT
• The DiscoTechs- Brookfield, CT
• The Uberbots- Avon, CT
• The Dragons- Hartford, CT
• The Panther Project- Southbury/Middlebury, CT
• Apple Pj, Robotics- Guilford, CT
• Titanium Tomahawks- Glastonbury, CT
• Team Beta- Woodbury, CT
• Cyber Rams- Stamford, CT
• Mechanical Mustangs- Clifton, NJ
• Operation PEACCE- Bristol, CT
• Sim City- Simsbury, CT
The Nuts and Bolts of Fury- Waterbury, CT
• Hard Botties- Bridgeport, CT
• Tech Tigers- Middletown, CT
• Junkyard Battalion- New Britain, CT
• Robot Unicorn Attack- Providence, RI
• Northwestern Robotics Gearheads (“NRG)- Winchester, CT
• Full Metal Falcons Robotics- Middletown, CT
• Barlow RobAutics0 Redding, CT
• Sintian Robotics- Hamden, CT
• Digital Devils Robo- Hamden, CT
• Wirecats- Simsbury, CT
• Valley Regional Robotics- Deep River, CT
