The 21st Annual Kansas BEST robotics competition, designed to inspire and motivate high school students toward careers in engineering, science and technology, will be held from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 26, in Charles Koch Arena at Wichita State University. The event is sponsored by WSU's College of Engineering, so admission is free.

The BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) competition challenges students to build a remote-controlled robot that accomplishes a defined task within a competitive setting. For the first time this year, robots will also operate autonomously for part of the competition. Professional engineers and school teachers volunteer to coach teams through the engineering design process.

The sports-like technology contest combines the excitement of a high school football game with the strategy of a chess match and the intellectual challenge of a science fair. Using only the materials in the BEST-provided kits, students have six weeks to design, develop and test a robot that can outperform their competitors. The weeks of hard work will culminate in spirited, day-long competition held annually in October.

Participation in Kansas BEST is free, thanks to sponsorship by Textron Aviation and the WSU College of Engineering. All equipment is provided to participating teams. The only cost to teams is their transportation to events.

Twenty-six schools from Kansas will compete in the Kansas event. This year's game is called "Off the Grid,” and the theme is repairing an electrical power grid after a natural disaster strikes. In the simulated disaster, robots will repair high voltage and residential electrical lines and buried cables, transport and replace insulators and transformers, and clear debris.  The game is played on a 24’ x 24’ field divided into four power grids, where four robots will compete simultaneously.

The following schools plan to compete in Kansas BEST:

• Andover Central High School
• Atchison High School
• Augusta High School
• Campus High School
• Canton-Galva High School
• Circle High School
• Council Grove High School
• Cunningham High School
• Garden City High School
• Kansas City Christian School
• Kapaun Mt. Carmel Catholic High School
• Minneapolis Jr. / Sr. High School
• Pike Valley High School
• Rock Creek Jr. / Sr. High School
• Rose Hill High School
• Salina South High School
• Solomon High School
• Valley Center High School
• Washburn Rural High School
• Wichita Collegiate High School
• Wichita High School East
• Wichita Homeschool
• Wichita Southeast High School
• Osage City High School
• Southeast of Saline
• Smoky Valley High School

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