Described as something between a rock concert and a sports event because of its fierce competitive atmosphere and its high-energy, ear-splitting music, the Palmetto FIRST Regional Robotics competition will require the team-built robots to complete specific tasks in a certain amount of time. This year, the robots must herd and pass balls to human players, who then must shoot the ball into fixed and moveable goals—all in two minutes.

"The Palmetto FIRST Robotics Competition is a competition that focuses not on sports but on an academic playing field that features 42 robots and hundreds of students," said Harry Lightsey, president of BellSouth, which recently committed $1 million for FIRST and Project Lead the Way, another initiative aimed at boosting students' math and science skills. "It brings together students from all types of backgrounds for a competition that stresses creativity and problem-solving in a setting that is really a high-tech spectator sporting event.”

In January, FIRST shipped the robot kits from its Manchester, N.H., headquarters to the teams, who then had six weeks to design and build their robots before shipping them back to FIRST on Feb. 25. They won't see them again until they are reunited at the competition.

The Palmetto FIRST Regional promises to be an amazing display of imagination, design, and ingenuity, said Ralph White, dean of USC's College of Engineering and Information Technology.

"For six weeks, the students worked with their teachers and engineering mentors to solve real-world engineering problems and opened their minds to the magic of science, technology, and engineering," White said.

The winners from the Palmetto FIRST Robotics Competition will be eligible to advance to the international competition April 15–17 in Atlanta. More than 20,000 students on approximately 900 teams are competing in regional events, which are drawing teams from almost every state in the United States, as well as Canada, Brazil, and Great Britain.

The competition draws its name from FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), which was founded in 1989 by inventor Dean Kamen to instill an appreciation of science and technology in young people, their schools, and their communities.

BellSouth, the title sponsor of the Palmetto FIRST Robotics Competition, is partnering with USC's College of Engineering and Information Technology, the S.C. Department of Education, and the S.C. Chamber of Commerce.

To learn more about FIRST and the FIRST Robotics Competition, go to www.usfirst.org.

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