Watch robots play games in national high school competition at UMaine

A graphic of a robot lobster with text below it that reads: "Lobstah Bowl: VEX Robotics V5RC Signature Event."

Teams of high school students from across the U.S. and their robots will face off in a national high stakes competition hosted by the University of Maine and VEX Robotics, a global developer of educational tools for creating robots, from Sept. 12-14 inside the Collins Center for the Arts.

During the VEX Robotics Lobstah Bowl V5RC Signature Event, the robots — which are typically cubic, a couple of feet tall and have wheels and crane-like arms — will compete in games of “High Stakes.” Played across a 120-square-foot field, the game involves two alliances, each one consisting of two high school teams and their robots, trying to earn the most points by scoring rings on stakes, placing mobile goals and climbing rungs on a central tower. 

The UMaine Black Bear Robotics Club has volunteered to help organize the event, as it has with other VEX Robotics competitions throughout the state since 2008. 

More information about the competition, which is free and open to the public, is available on the Maine College of Engineering and Computing website.