This story originally appeared on RealTime/STL.
Prepare yourselves, St. Louisans: The robots are coming. Along with about 12,000 robot handlers, ages 6 to 18.
Welcome to St. Louis… Let the games begin! #FIRSTChamp #omgrobots @FRCTeams @FTCTeams @firstlegoleague pic.twitter.com/s16fyHXuDm
— Official FIRST (@FIRSTweets) April 21, 2014
In all, about 30,000 people are expected to participate in and attend the FIRST Tech Challenge this week at America’s Center. FIRST (an acronym for For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) seeks to inspire students, teaching them science and technology skills.
All packed up for champs! #FIRSTchamps #botsonbotsonbots #omgrobots pic.twitter.com/cEEKy5fuHf
— Texas Torque (@TexasTorque) April 21, 2014
Most students arrive Wednesday, and will put their custom-built robots to the test starting Thursday. It all builds up to a robotic showdown Saturday afternoon.
@FIRSTweets Champs are THIS WEEK!!! Are you READY, St. Louis?!!! #omgrobots
— jojoaguilar (@jojoaguilar) April 21, 2014
So pumped for Champs! See everyone in St. Louis Wednesday! #omgrobots
— Miss Daisy (@FRC341MissDaisy) April 21, 2014
RealTime/STL will be covering the event. Follow Erica Smith on Twitter (@ericasmith) for updates from the event, and watch our site for stories.
To follow the action, follow the #OMGrobots hashtag on Twitter. Or stop by the convention center; admission is free.