Robots to take center stage at WSU's Koch Arena

The 20th Annual Kansas BEST robotics competition, designed to inspire and motivate high school students toward careers in engineering, science and technology, will be held from 8:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Oct. 20, in Charles Koch Arena on the campus of Wichita State University.

Kansas BEST is sponsored by WSU's College of Engineering. Admission is free.

The BEST (Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology) competition challenges students to build a remote-controlled robot that accomplishes a defined task within a competitive setting. Professional engineers and school teachers volunteer to coach teams through the engineering design process.

The sports-like technology contest combines the excitement of a high school football game with the strategy of a chess match and the intellectual challenge of a science fair. Using only the materials in the BEST-provided kits, students have six weeks to design, develop and test a robot that can outperform their competitors. The weeks of hard work will culminate in spirited, day-long competition held annually in October.

Participation in Kansas BEST is free, thanks to sponsorship by Textron Aviation and the WSU College of Engineering. All equipment is provided to participating teams. The only cost to teams is their transportation to events.

Twenty-eight schools from Kansas will compete in the Kansas event. This year's game is called "Current Events,” and the theme is a recycling. Robots will ride “currents,” represented by a free-floating beam, to collect recyclables and clean up the oceans. Wildlife are simulated with 3D-printed turtles and rubber ducks that teams can collect to score points. The game is played on a 32' x 12' field divided into four unique currents designated by four different colors into three zones – the cold zone, the hot zone and the no entry zone.

The mission of Wichita State University is to be an essential educational, cultural and economic driver for Kansas and the greater public good. Wichita State is a doctoral research university enrolling nearly 15,000 students and offering 59 undergraduate degree programs in more than 150 areas of study in seven undergraduate colleges. The Graduate School offers 45 master's and 12 doctoral degrees that offer study in more than 100 areas. Wichita State's Innovation Campus is an interconnected community of partnership buildings, laboratories and mixed-use areas where students, faculty, staff, entrepreneurs and businesses have access to the university's vast resources and technology. For more information, follow us on Twitter at www.twitter.com/wichitastate and Facebook at www.facebook.com/wichita.state.