Chop Shop 166 Will Compete This Weekend

After six weeks of long days and nights building the best robot they could, FIRST Robotics team will join dozens of others at the Verizon Wireless Arena in Manchester this weekend for the 10th annual FIRST Robotics regional final.

Last year, Merrimack's team won the prestigious Chairman's Award during the Granite State Regional.

This year's competition is the Rebound Rumble, which requires members of three teams to form an alliance to compete against an alliance of another three teams. Robots from each team take the playing field and must shoot compact, foam basketballs at three levels of basketball hoops, each worth different points.

Opening ceremonies are scheduled for this morning, with qualifying matches scheduled throughout the day. But the big day is Saturday, with more qualifying matches, final round matches, and awards and closing ceremonies wrapping up the event around 4 p.m.

The winners will have the opportunity to go on to compete at the FIRST Championship in St. Louis, Missouri from April 25-28.

FIRST was founded 21 years ago by Segway creator Dean Kamen. According to the FIRST website, Kamen's vision was "To transform our culture by creating a world where science and technology are celebrated and where young people dream of becoming science and technology leaders."

For more on Merrimack's FIRST Robotics team, check out a three part package we ran on Merrimack Patch in the middle of their build season.