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the annual first robotics competition is

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in full swing with some 60 000 high

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school students competing in regional

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challenges using robots they built in

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six weeks from a common kit of parts

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nasa science chief and former astronaut

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john grunsfeld was at the d.c convention

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center to help kick off washington's

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regional competition when i was growing

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up there weren't programs like this

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where i could get with like-minded kids

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and we could work on a project together

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to build something great for me it was

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more a question of surviving the process

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and still staying interested in science

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and it's so crucial today that we have

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programs like this so that kids can grow

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together to grow stronger and to help

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our nation nasa is the largest sponsor

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of the national first program supporting

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five regional competitions and more than

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280 teams the dc region includes high

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school teams from virginia maryland

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washington and several other states

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first stands for four inspiration

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and recognition of science and

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technology

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here's a look at some of the competition

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since january high school first robotics

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teams across the country have worked

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tirelessly to build program and test

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robots in preparation for upcoming

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regional and national tournaments

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in hampton roads the nasa knights and

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triple helix teams both sponsored by

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nasa langley spent nights and weekends

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getting their 120 pound robot ready for

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this year's challenge called rebound

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rumble what it basically is is shooting

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foam basketballs

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up into basketball hoops that are

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arranged in a diamond pattern at both

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ends of the field the higher baskets are

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worth more points

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around 60 robotics teams competed in the

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virginia regional tournament held at

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virginia commonwealth university segal

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center all with the hopes of making it

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to the national tournament in st louis

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this april

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this year's game presented new

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challenges even for a season team like

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the nasa knights this year had a lot of

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neat challenges we actually got a vision

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tracking system working where we could

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use a camera and see where the backboard

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is and then judge your distance by the

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size of the backboard and spin their

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motors up accordingly which is something

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we've never really done before and it

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was really neat to

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figure out how all that worked both the

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nasa knights and triple helix feel

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confident about their robots and are

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looking forward to making it to

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nationals i'm really excited i think we

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did really well this year and i'm

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looking forward to seeing how everything

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first robotics is not only fun but

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offers students real engineering

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experience and may inspire them to

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pursue careers in stem i had no idea

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what i wanted to be before i joined the

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team but now i want to be a chemistry

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major so and

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i would have been interested in

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chemistry but if not for robotics i

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probably wouldn't have ever considered

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sponsored by the jet propulsion

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laboratory the 21st los angeles regional

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first competition at the long beach

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convention center matched 66 high school

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teams from not only california and

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nevada but also brazil and chile i

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learned so much because i basically

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already wanted to go into engineering so

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i just learned so much about robotics

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and so many other mechanics about it we

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were running out of time towards the end

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we had to work a few all-nighters just

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don't leave school stay there all night

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uh just to get it done but we ended up

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getting it all done on time i learned a

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lot of technical skills like how to

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program in c plus um and also just how

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to work with a lot of different types of

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people we've had ap students we've had

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credit division students everybody

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working together

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everybody's contributed it hasn't been

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just the top everyone's had a good idea

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that we've implemented into the robot so

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that's been really cool i had so much

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fun i learned how to communicate i

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learned how to build a robot i learned

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how to problem solve and get things done

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really quickly while like learning how

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to apply the math and science i've

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learned since i was a little kid it was

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the best thing ever

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students from 49 teams in six states

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competed for top honors during the 2012

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first robotics bayou regional

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competition in kenner louisiana as

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strong supporters of first nasa and the

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stennis space center provided coaches

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mentors judges and other volunteers

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a team from david thibodeau career and

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technical high school in lafayette

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louisiana joined a pair of teams from

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texas to survive three rounds of

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competition and emerge as tournament

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champion meanwhile the team representing

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north shore high school and the saint

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tammany school board in slidell

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louisiana walked away with the regional

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chairman's award for best partnership

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director bob cabana joined kennedy space

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center engineers at the first regional

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competition at the university of central

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florida in orlando

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teams from more than 60 high schools

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including several from the dominican

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republic and australia competed in the

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and more than 1500 high school students

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competed in the 11th annual buckeye

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regional first robotics competition at

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cleveland state university's woolstein

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center

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the event's 60 teams represented schools

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and community organizations in ohio

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canada maryland new york and

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pennsylvania glenn research center

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engineers and scientists volunteered as

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technical participants and mentors to

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the students

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the winners of these regional

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competitions will meet at the first

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championships april 25th through 28th at

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the edward jones dome in st louis

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some 51 000 students on more than 2 400

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teams are expected to vie

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the first program was founded by

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inventor and entrepreneur dean kamen in

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1989 to inspire student interest in

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science and engineering through the

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building of robots stay tuned to nasa

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television and check out nasa.gov and

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the nasa television youtube site for