Sixth annual Emerald Coast BEST Robotics competition hosted by the University of West Florida

The University of West Florida (UWF) will host the sixth annual Emerald Coast BEST Robotics competition for local middle and high school students on Saturday, Oct. 20 in the UWF Field House.

Participating robotics teams from area schools are given 42 days to complete a product, which they will present on Saturday. This year’s objective was to design and build a prototype robot to transport cargo and equipment on a Space Elevator tower.

Teams will test their robots during three-minute matches. The competition will be broken down into semifinal and final rounds to determine the winning teams, which will then go on to the regional competition.

The UWF Emerald Coast BEST hub is the only one in Florida. Last year, twenty teams competed. Four teams from Seaside Neighborhood Middle School, Woodham Middle School, Milton High School and Pensacola High School made it to the South’s BEST regional competition held in Auburn, Ala.

The annual competition is sponsored by BEST Inc., a non-profit, volunteer-based organization. Its name stands for Boosting Engineering Science and Technology, and its mission is to inspire middle and high school students to pursue careers in engineering, science and technology through participation in the sports-like, science- and engineering-based robotics competition. More than 11,000 students from 750 middle and high schools in 18 states participate in the competition each fall.

Competition Agenda:

October 20, 2012

7:30 a.m. to 8:30 a.m. Team check-in and compliance check

9 a.m. to 4 p.m. Competition

4 p.m. to 5 p.m. Awards Ceremony

For additional information about the Emerald Coast BEST Robotics competition, visit uwf.edu/ecbest.