HARRISBURG, Pa. — Penn State Harrisburg will host the sixth annual South Central PA Robotics Competition on Nov. 12 at Penn State Harrisburg. The event is jointly organized by Harrisburg Area Community College (HACC), Dauphin County Technical School, Cumberland-Perry Technical School, and Penn State Harrisburg, whose 50th anniversary celebration includes this event.
This event is part of a larger STEM initiative, and is open to all students from all schools, as well as home-schooled students throughout South Central Pennsylvania. Participating students come from schools throughout the region, including Lower Dauphin, Susquehanna, Bishop McDevitt, Harrisburg, Hershey, Middletown, Silver Academy, Camp Hill, Northern High School, Tuscarora High School, Dauphin County Technical School, Cumberland-Perry Technical School, and Civil Air Patrol Squadron 306 Cadets.
This year will see some events carried over from last year, some new events, and some changes to the rules. Like previous competitions, contestants will work in teams of three high school students plus a mentor from one of the participating colleges. Teams will be presented with six tasks in robotic motion and control. Two of these tasks will be open competitions, where teams can use any robotic attachments sensor they wish. The winning team will have to program an educational robot to perform these tasks as quickly and precisely as possible. Unlike previous years, teams may now be composed of student teams from the same school.
Pre-registration for the competition is highly encouraged. Cost for entry is $5 per student, and includes a commemorative T-shirt and lunch on the day of the event. Entry forms may be found at: http://cs.hbg.psu.edu/robotics/index.html. The organizing committee has a limited amount of fee-waivers for any student wishing to participate in the event.
Any corporate or educational organizations that wish to support the event may also participate by following the sponsor link on the website. For additional information, please contact Deb Miller at dmm79@psu.edu or Aldo Morales at awm2@psu.edu.
The competition is sponsored by Arcelor Mittal, Carlisle Construction, Civil Air Patrol Squadron 306, Johnson Controls, HACC, the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE), Penn State Harrisburg, and Phoenix Contact.