After six long weeks of planning, constructing and testing, Pitt Countys robotics teams are ready to battle teams from across North Carolina for robot supremacy.

Local students joined parents, teachers and mentors on Monday night at C.M. Eppes Middle School to introduce the robots they will send into the FIRST Robotics STEAMWORKScompetition next month. Gemini will run the gauntlet for the veteran Pitt Pirates team. Gearitation will duke it out for a Boneyard Robotics team in its third year.

We are excited this year, said Ann McClung, a former teacher at South Central High School and now the science coordinator at the Center for STEM Education at East Carolina University.This is our first year hosting the district competition.

The two Pitt teams will compete against about 30 other teams during the district competition March 4-5 at South Central High School. Winning teams advance to the state level of competition.

Pitt County Robotics, in its 10th year, is part of the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics Competition. FIRST, which began in 1989, is an international program with a goal of inspiring young people to pursue careers in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).

We have a great interest locally, McClung said. Once people get involved ... they are hooked.

McClung said getting a robot ready for competition takes a partnership among students, parents, mentors and sponsors.

The students work with mentors from various disciplines, she said. We have engineers, tech support people and electricians. But we also have people from other disciplines like marketing ... its a team effort.

Teams get just six weeks from the time the concept is revealed to completion of a robot. After that, it is bagged up so no modifications can be made before competition.

After the unveiling ... the robots are put away until the competition, McClung said.Its amazing what these teams do in six weeks.

In STEAMWORKS, robots must capture fuel, deliver gears to their teams and then climb a rope before the airship takes flight.

This year has a Steampunk theme, McClung said.I think this is the coolest theme yet for this competition.

McClung said that she would like to see more teams compete next year, but the program needs more mentors and sponsors.

There are a lot of kids interested in getting involved, but we need more mentors in order to get more teams, she said. I encourage anyone that might be interested in getting involved to come out to the competition in March. ... That is all it will take for them to get hooked.

For more information about theFIRST Robotics program or the competition in March, call McClung at 252-258-3974.

Contact Shannon Keith at skeith@reflector.comor at 252-329-9579.

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Robots revealed: Gemini, Gearitation ready to battle - Greenville Daily Reflector