Kids Compete in Robot-Building Fest Saturday

Emma Alaba has been into robots since the mid 1990s, writing code in DOS, an early programming language, but a 2009 conference at Carnegie Mellon University changed everything.

That’s when she learned about the RoboFest competition.

“When I went there I never did competitions,” said Alaba, who organizes the local tournament which is at 11 a.m. Saturday at the Ross Norton Recreation Center in Clearwater. “We didn’t have it in Florida, so I said we got to have this.”

RoboFest is an annual autonomous robotic competition designed to promote science, math, engineering and technology to students in grades 5 to 12.

This is the third year of the tournament in Clearwater which features 19 teams from around Pinellas County, including one from Our Lady of Lourdes School, competing in categories including game, exhibition and fashion and dance.

Alaba liked the concept because the costs were relatively low as far as robots go.

One woman said her kids' robot cost about $400 and spending time helping program the robot’s instructions can take 20 or more hours each week.

“We’re still rookies at it but were getting much better at it now,” Alaba said.

If you go:
What: RoboFest
When: 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. Saturday
Where: , 1426 S Martin Luther King Ave., Clearwater