Hatboro-Horsham to Host Regional Robotics Competition

Hatboro-Horsham High School will host a 37-team robotics competition this weekend. Teams from Eastern Pennsylvania, New Jersey and Delaware will participate in the event.

“Hatboro Robotics will be competing against some of the best teams in the region. Top performing teams will move on to the regional championship, which will be held in the spring,” according to a post on Hatboro-Horsham Patch’s bulletin board.

Each year, high school students participating in the competition are given a unique engineering challenge and allotted six weeks to design, fabricate, assemble and build a competition-worthy robot, the post said.

The competition challenges students to think outside of the box to accomplish tasks successfully to gain points. This year the teams will compete in Recycle Rush, a recycling-themed game in which robots score points by stacking totes on scoring platforms, capping those stacks with recycling containers, and properly disposing of pool noodles, representing litter.

“Robotics helps students sharpen their knowledge of science, technology, engineering and mathematics. They learn to identify problems, think critically, and communicate,” Robotics Advisor Eric Zygmont said. “In addition, they refine their skills as team members, learning about how to work through disagreements and differences for the good of the team.”

Amanda Piergallini of Hatboro-Horsham is this year’s Master of Ceremonies.

The event is free and open to the public.

Qualification Rounds are scheduled from 11:00 A.M. through 1:00 P.M and 2:00 P.M. through 6:00 P.M. on Feb 28. On March 1, Qualification Rounds can be viewed from 9:30 A.M. through 12:30 P.M.

Tournament and Elimination Rounds will be held from 2:00 P.M through 5:30 P.M.

The competition will also be broadcast live via YouTube and is accessible at www.hatboro-horsham.org/robotics

Hatboro-Horsham High School is located at 899 Horsham Road in Horsham. For more information contact Hatboro Horsham High School at 215-420-5502.