The Droids You're Looking For

Since before Deep Blue's victory over chess legend Garry Kasparov, the technophobes among us have lived in fear of a robotic uprising. Luckily, area high school students have no such qualms. You can bear witness to their embrace of technological progress and the man-over-machine ethos at the Greater Kansas City FIRST Robotics Competition, where 47 area teams will vie to prove their intellectual mettle in the form of Frankenstein creations. Drop by Hale Arena (1701 American Royal Court) to see student-built robots compete to perform predetermined tasks. This day isn't quite about domination, however: FIRST (For Inspiration & Recognition of Science and Technology) aims to impart the utility of engineering and technology in problem solving to today's students and tomorrow's tech prodigies. The games go from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. today and continue through Saturday. For more information, call 816-452-5575. FIRST Robotics Competition
March 6-8, 2008