The Arlington Public Library hosted a kickoff celebration Saturday, April 25, at its Youth Technology Center . The Lab, located at the East Arlington Branch Library, for the upcoming GEAR Robotics Competition.
This is the first year the Library will host this regional event right here in The American Dream City.
Robert Acosta, founder and CEO of GEAR Robotics, developed this program 14 years ago with the help of his wife, Ginger. GEAR, which stands for et Excited About Robotics, was intended to reach those young people who might not be otherwise exposed to this growing technology.
At the kickoff, Acosta released the new "top secret" playing field for this year's competition. Student teams from Grapevine, Richardson, Cedar Hill and Arlington eagerly anticipated the big reveal.
"I can't wait," said 12-year-old Daniel, who will be competing for the first time with a friend from Boy Scouts. "I think we're going to name our team the Biohazards because that's what we're called at Boy Scouts."
Now that teams know the layout of the field, they have exactly four weeks to build and program their robots for the competition on the UT Arlington campus. The competing students are allowed to program and practice at The LABduring regular hours. Teammates must build and program their robots with minimum help from adults.
One of the few girls competing, 14-year-old Kristen, said she is nervous and excited about this year's competition. When she was told that a girl team won 1st place last year, Kristen said, "Yeah, girls rule!"
The GEAR competition is scheduled for Saturday, May 23, at UT Arlington's School of Engineering, Nedderman Hall Atrium, 416 Yates Street. Everyone is invited to come out and cheer on Arlington Public Library's students in this fast-paced, exciting tournament.
Library, News