The field of robotics is taking the world by storm as researchers and scientists in countries all over the globe race to make the most useful and innovative robotic device. One of the reasons this field has taken off in the way that is has is because there doesn’t seem to be a limit to the number of things robotics can do and, because of this, everyone wants to be the person who came up with the most useful creation in the field. The city of North Bay, Ontario, is taking the boom in the robotics industry to heart with the announcement that it is hosting the FIRST regional robotics competition.
The Robotics competition is set to take place next February or March and will have around 40 teams made up of 25 students each. These teams will put together remote controlled robotic devices that will then compete in a series of different games that are designed to test just what the robots can do.
Anthony Rota is a co-chairman of a local committee that has worked during the past six months to secure the three-day event and he issued a recent statement claiming, “If there was a Stanley Cup for the mind, the FIRST robotics competition would be it.
This is the first time that North Bay has been selected to host the regional event and the city expects to see competitors from Canada, the United States and Mexico. The winners of this particular contest will be able to appear in the FIRST World Championships that are held in St. Louis, Mo., at the end of April 2014.
The point of these kinds of competitions is to get kids interested in robotics so that when they become professional adults, they are well versed in this field. People who have won these competitions are the sorts who go on to build ape-like robots that could traverse the harsh climates of the moon, for example. The field is one that is growing, but those that host these contests understand that an interest in robotics needs to be nurtured.
