SWTJC hosts third annual robotics tournament

Southwest Texas Junior College is hosting a First Lego League Qualifier Tournament on Saturday, February 16 in Uvalde.

A total of 23 teams from the Alamo FIRST® Area, which spans from San Antonio to Laredo will compete. The Sacred Heart Saints from Sacred Heart Parish School are the lone team from Uvalde competing in this year’s event.

The top seven teams will advance to the Alamo Area Spirit Division Championship on March 24 in San Antonio.

FIRST® LEGO® League gives students the chance to develop, design, build, and code LEGO® MINDSTORMS® robots to perform autonomous “missions” on a themed playing field and design innovative solutions to a real-world problem inspired by the theme.

Every year the competition is given a theme. The theme for the 2018-19 season is ‘Into Orbit,’ which introduces participants to the challenges of space exploration.

The robot game missions encourage teams to overcome space challenges ranging from detecting and mining resources under the surface of an asteroid to the effects of zero-gravity on the human body.

Each team is also tasked with developing a solution to either a physical problem that impacts the immediate health or safety of a space explorer, such as the need for air, water, food or exercise, or a social problem, one that could affect the long-term ability of a human to be productive in space, like isolation and boredom.

The public is invited to attend and watch teams as they compete in the robot games.

Concessions will be for sale courtesy of the SWTJC Uvalde STEM Club. For any additional questions regarding the competition, please contact Oscar Gaytan, STEM outreach coordinator, at oegaytan@swtjc.edu or 830-591-7381.