Students from various communities throughout Texas are currently in the midst of a six-week preparation session ahead of this year's Get Excited About Robotics Competition. It's the largest regional robotics competition for elementary and middle school students in the United States, according to the University of Texas at San Antonio.

UTSA's Interactive Technology Experience Center is a co-sponsor of the event along with the AT&T Foundation. Last year, according to UTSA, about 1,500 people attended the GEAR competition, including nearly 600 competitors from 125 teams.

"GEAR is an annual robotics competition that motivates kids to pursue careers in engineering by demonstrating advanced technologies and engaging them in interactive, hands-on activities that build technical skills and foster critical thinking, self confidence, communication and leadership," according to UTSA.

Participating teams must build a robot that is able to complete predetermined tasks, including harvesting corn, delivering crops and removing manure from a barn. Of course, all will be done with small wooden pieces with hooks and cups that must be moved from one location to another.

The school's iTEC is the main organizer of the event. The center was formed in 2007 as the result of a $1.5 million grant from the AT&T foundation.

Penfield High School in upstate New York recently held its annual Rochester Robotics Rally, an event that allows area high schools to prepare for upcoming robotics competitions, according to the Rochester Democrat and Chronicle.

Lee Drake, the Penfield team's corporate sponsor, called the event a "debugging scrimmage." Essentially, it allows teams to test their robot in a competition-like atmosphere to ensure everything works smoothly.

"It's a blast," Drake told the newspaper about the whole process of building and competing with robots. "There's nothing like working with kids this age. This is when they're figuring out what they are."

For many teams, the newspaper reports, the rally is the first opportunity to test their robot on a full field. Otherwise, they are restricted to the confines of a classroom.

Ensuring a robot is in full working order is serious business, considering the implications of many robotics competitions. Some may feature hundreds of students from not only surrounding communities, but states and countries, as well. And a trip to national or international competitions is often on the line.

The SME Education Foundation recently announced it will be holding its National Robotics Challenge at the Marion County Fairgrounds Veterans Memorial Coliseum in Marion, Ohio, April 14 through 16.

More than 400 robots from schools across the nation, including 15 first-time participants, will take part in the robotics competition. Because of the growing popularity of the event, online registration has been extended to February 28.

Teams featuring students in sixth grade all the way up through graduate school are invited to compete in one of the event’s 13 categories. Teams and robots are judged based on their application of principles of technology and engineering and their ability to solve problems through a team approach.

"We are supporting the National Robotics Challenge because it is a major step in the educational career path of these young people," Bart Aslin, chief operating officer of the SME Education Foundation, said.

The National Robotics Challenge differs from other robotics competitions in that no building kit is supplied to teams. According to NRC director of events Tad Douce, the real "challenge" of the competition is find suitable materials and equipment to solve the problem teams face.