VCU to host remote kickoff for FIRST robotics competition Jan. 10

By Mike Frontiero and Pattie Cook

WHAT:           High-school students, engineers and science professors will gather at Virginia Commonwealth University's School of Engineering for the kickoff of the annual NASA/VCU Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. Three hundred people from 50 teams will learn the rules and elements of the new 2004 Challenge, in which they will design and build robots and enter them into competitions.

The live NASA broadcast at VCU will be one of 26 remote kickoff events in the United States and Canada that will occur simultaneously with the live event in Manchester, N.H. At the kickoff events, team representatives will receive details about the March 4-6, 2004, competition at VCU and their kits of robot parts, which include motors, control system, pneumatics, assorted hardware and a sophisticated software package that teams will use to build their robots. In addition, three workshops will be held at VCU to help the teams, particularly first-time competitors. The workshops will focus on programming/control, pneumatics and rookie team suggestions for success. Representatives are expected from Virginia, Maryland, North Carolina and West Virginia.

WHEN:          Saturday, Jan. 10, 2004 from 9 a.m. to 12 p.m. Telecast begins at 10 a.m.

WHERE:       Main auditorium, 1st floor, VCU School of Engineering, 601 W. Main St., Richmond, Va.