NDSU’s College of Engineering and Architecture is hosting the Bison BEST Robotics Competition Oct. 19 and 20 at the Bentson/Bunker Fieldhouse on the campus of NDSU. This is the sixth year NDSU has hosted the event.
BEST, which stands for Boosting Engineering, Science and Technology, offers hands-on, real world, engineering-based experience to middle and high school students. The mission of BEST robotics is to inspire students to pursue careers in engineering, science, technology and math through participation in a sports-like science and engineering-based robotics competition.
A total of 13 schools are competing this year. Six weeks ago, each school received an identical kit of equipment and parts and a set of game rules. Each team designed, built and tested a radio-controlled robot, and will try to outperform other teams’ robots.
Schools competing in the event are Wing Public School, WATCH Homeschool, Barnesville High School, Hillcrest Lutheran Academy, Davies High School, Kittson Central High School, Pelican Rapids High School, West Fargo STEM Center, REACH Homeschool, Stephen-Argyle Central, West Fargo High School, Frazee High School and Hawley High School.
The event consists of two parallel competitions. The first is a robotics game in which four teams compete at once in a series of three-minute matches. The theme of this year's competition is called Warp XX and revolves around a space elevator for lifting cargo out of Earth's gravity well. The students' robots must transport cargo, retrieve and refill fuel bottles and install solar panels. The robotics portion of the competition takes place on Saturday, Oct. 20.
The other competition is for the BEST Award, which includes the delivery of a marketing presentation, design of a team exhibit, and a spirit and sportsmanship component. The majority of the BEST Award categories will be judged on Friday, Oct. 19.
Engineers and other technical professionals from local industries served as team mentors who advised and guided students through the design and construction of their robot.
NDSU also is scheduled to host the Northern Plains BEST Robotics regional competition Dec. 6-8. This regional championship event will bring in the 24 top teams from the five BEST Robotics Competition hubs events in the tri-state area.
For more information about the competition, contact Nancy Rossland at 701-231-7994 or nancy.rossland@ndsu.edu.
NDSU is recognized as one of the nation's top 108 public and private universities by the Carnegie Commission on Higher Education.