NDSU is scheduled to host the Northern Plains BEST Robotics Regional Championship Nov. 30 and Dec. 1 at the Sanford Health Athletic Complex. More than 600 middle and high school students from throughout the country will meet to determine whose robot is best.
The competition is free and open to the public on Friday, Dec. 1. The opening ceremony is scheduled for 8:30 a.m. Robot matches are from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. with an awards ceremony at 4 p.m.
A live stream of the event will be available at http://www.clrobotics.com.
Teams from across the country will be competing in this year’s game challenge: Crossfire! BEST teams have been tasked with designing and building a robot to extinguish the flames in a burning building, rescue a fire test Manikin and remove dangerous chemical drums from the building and transport them to a safe area. Besides their performance in the robotics competition, BEST teams are evaluated based on the quality of their project documentation, sales presentation, company exhibit and culture and their business ethics.
Thirty-two teams advancing from North Dakota, South Dakota, Pennsylvania and Ohio earned a spot to compete at the regional championship in Fargo. NDSU’s College of Engineering hosted the local Bison BEST Robotics Competition Oct. 27-28. This is the sixth year NDSU College of Engineering has hosted the championship.
Teams advancing to the regional championship either had the top-performing robot in their local competition or won the BEST Award, which includes a marketing presentation, a written engineering notebook, a team exhibit and a spirit and sportsmanship component.
More than 160 area business professionals and NDSU students, faculty and staff have volunteered to help manage the event.
BEST stands for boosting engineering, science and technology. Its mission is to inspire middle school and high school students to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics through participation in a sports-like science and engineering-based robotics competition.
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