The fun and excitement of the FIRST Robotics Competition returns to the UC Davis Pavilion (formerly Recreation Hall) next Friday and Saturday, with 40 high school teams from California and across the country putting their machines to the test. The event is free and open to the public.

The name says "FIRST," but in fact this is the second such competition at UC Davis. FIRST is an acronym: For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology, a national competition founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, inventor of the Segway scooter and other devices, to inspire young people to an appreciation of science and technology.

"The FIRST event is truly a wonderful gathering of bright high school students, dedicated volunteer mentors, generous sponsors and enthusiastic supporters, all excitedly engaged in the design and competition of innovative robots," said Virginia Hinshaw, provost and executive vice chancellor.

"Please welcome the participants to our campus community and come watch the competition — seeing these students in action is really great fun!"

The opening ceremony for the UC Davis-Sacramento Regional Competition is scheduled for a 9 a.m. start on March 24, with action continuing until 4.30 p.m., when the first of two awards ceremonies is set to begin. The next day's competition kicks off at 9 a.m. and continues until the final awards and the closing ceremony at 3 p.m.

"Activities such as FIRST inspire our young students to become the next generation of scientists and engineers," said Enrique Lavernia, dean of the UC Davis College of Engineering, which is one of the sponsors of the event. "In this way, they come to understand the vital spark of imagination and creativity at the heart of all discovery."

The FIRST Robotics Competition challenges high school students, working with professional mentors, to design and build robots that are then put into games and contests that measure the effectiveness of the robots.

In the game devised for this year's competition, alliances of three teams will direct their robots to shoot, roll or push balls through goals in the corners or above the end of the arena. Teams will get bonus points for parking their robots on platforms at the ends of the arena at the completion of the round.

"There will be a lot going on in this year's game," said Karen McDonald, associate dean of research in the College of Engineering, who is one of the volunteers organizing the event.

She added, "The robots have to score as many points as possible without human control during the first portion of each 2-minute, 10-second game. Once the human players take control, the robots will play offense as well as defense, and pick up balls, push balls through the lower corner goals and shoot balls through the upper goals."

Teams are allowed to equip their robots with small cameras to locate and take aim at the upper center goal, she said. The teams designed and built their robots over about six weeks earlier this year, based on a basic kit of parts.

Local teams include one with students from three Yolo county schools, Davis High, Da Vinci High and Holmes Junior High. Other teams from around the region: Elk Grove High School; Granite Bay High School; Vanden High School, Fairfield; Jim Elliot Christian High School, Lodi; New Technology High School, Napa; and the Weber Institute, Stockton. Other teams from the San Francisco Bay Area, Oregon, Michigan, Alabama, Montana and Hawaii also are due to take part in the competition.

UC Davis is a major sponsor of this year's competition. Other regional event sponsors include EMC Corp., Tower Records and Xyratex Ltd.

"I'm delighted that UC Davis is hosting this event — plus I definitely plan on some of these impressive participants becoming Aggies in the future," Hinshaw said.

The UC Davis-Sacramento Regional FIRST competition is one of 33 regional events being held around the country. The winners of the regional events are entitled to compete in the national competition. That will take place during April 27-29 at the Georgia Dome in Atlanta.

For a robotics slide show, visit www.news.ucdavis.edu/slideshows/robot_hp/