The robots (and lots of young scientists) are coming

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.

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.

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.

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.