Soccer-playing robots built by students from 37 high schools from California and one in Idaho will compete in two days of fast-paced action at the UC Davis Pavilion March 31 and April 1, in the Sacramento Regional FIRST Robotics Competition. Events run from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m. on both days, and the event is free and open to the public.

This is the sixth consecutive year that the regional competition has been held at UC Davis.

In this year's competition, robots will kick, pass and block soccer balls into goals at each end of the field. Students will team with their robots to compete for a range of honors and prizes, college scholarships, and a shot at the FIRST Robotics international championships in Atlanta's Georgia Dome in April.

Founded in 1989 by Dean Kamen, an entrepreneur and inventor of such innovative devices as the Segway and IBot Mobility System, the competition is designed to introduce high-school students to and engage them in the fields of science and engineering.

Every year in early January, FIRST organizers unveil a new game that challenges teams of about 15 to 25 students to design and construct remote-controlled mechanical game participants. All teams receive identical kits containing construction materials such as small motors, microswitches, joysticks and single-board computers. Aside from the basic motors and electronics, teams purchase and fabricate their own chassis, mechanisms and circuit boards to be used on their robot. Six weeks later, teams are required to pack their robotic contestants in crates and ship them to the site of their first competition.

Teams at regional competitions are judged on the effectiveness of their robots, their power of collaboration and partnerships, and the spirit and determination of their students. Teams are then rewarded for excellence in robot design, demonstrated team spirit, community involvement, good sportsmanship and camaraderie, as well as their ability to overcome obstacles. Successful teams from regional competitions are invited to the international championship. Winning, however, is not the only way to advance to this stage. After participating for four years in regional competitions, teams qualify to compete at the international event.

This year’s game, "Breakaway," is a fast-paced game based on the world’s most popular sport, soccer. Teams must design robots that can kick soccer balls across a 50-foot field and score in goals no wider than four feet. For bonus points, teams can get their robots to hang at the end of each match on the “tower” in the middle of the field to earn bonus points. Unlike a soccer field, obstacles stretch across the field. Teams must design chassis capable of conquering these obstacles to move around the field.

This year more than 1,800 teams from 12 countries on four continents will take part in competitions in the U.S., Canada and Israel. Of the 38 teams arriving in Davis, one is from Boise, Idaho, and one California team competed at the Israeli Regional earlier this season.

Area schools sending teams to the competition include St. Francis High School in Sacramento; Pleasant Grove High School, Elk Grove; Vacaville High School, Vacaville; a combined team from Hiram W. Johnson High School, Hiram Johnson Transportation Academy and the Sacramento City Unified School District, Sacramento; Rosemont High School, Sacramento; and a combined Davis team from Davis Senior High School and DaVinci High School.

Major sponsors of the regional competition this year are UC Davis and Abbott Labs.

About UC Davis

For more than 100 years, UC Davis has engaged in teaching, research and public service that matter to California and transform the world. Located close to the state capital, UC Davis has 32,000 students, an annual research budget that exceeds $600 million, a comprehensive health system and 13 specialized research centers. The university offers interdisciplinary graduate study and more than 100 undergraduate majors in four colleges — Agricultural and Environmental Sciences, Biological Sciences, Engineering, and Letters and Science. It also houses six professional schools — Education, Law, Management, Medicine, Veterinary Medicine and the Betty Irene Moore School of Nursing.