Members of the technology club will be attending the FIRST Robotics Crossroads (FRC) regional competition at the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in Indiana from March 5 to March 7.

The twelve students attending will be competing against 45 other high school teams from Indiana and Alabama. The purpose of the event is to challenge other schools and the robots they have built, according to Isabelle Armbruster, junior and technology club member.

“Over the past six weeks, we’ve been building and programming a robot to compete in a game against the other schools’ robots,” Armbruster said.

After announcing the new game for the season, the FRC set a deadline of six weeks for each school to complete their robot, and they must use a common set of parts to complete the robot. Although each team has mentors, the students will be controlling the robots during the competitions, according to Rose-Hulman’s website.

Even though the event’s purpose is to inspire teenagers to participate in science, the competition does rate each high school’s robot, Armbruster said.

“During the game [you participate in,] you and your team score points from the panel of judges,” Armbruster said. “By the end of the competition, the team with the most points wins.”

Teams can win awards that range from design excellence to sportsmanship to the Chairman Award, which is given to the team that represents the purpose of the FRC. Participants will also be eligible to apply for up to $14 million in scholarships from top engineering colleges from around the country. Each of the LZHS students, along with all of the other competitors, will receive a medal to honor their effort and achievements.