Robotics Competition Underway At Boston University

BOSTON (CBS) - Remember those high school science projects? Well there's a robotics competition going on in Boston today with technology built by teenagers that you have to see to believe. It's the largest robotics competition in Boston. About 50 schools and a thousand students work for weeks to be ready for this two day regional contest at Agganis Arena at Boston University.

The goal is to build a robot that moves, racks up points by shooting frisbees through targets, and the biggest point getter of all, climbing a pyramid.

"I really like robotics. I'm planning to go into engineering as a mechanical engineer so this is giving me great experience," says Drew Niles a competitor from Bridgewater-Raynham Regional High School. The robot his team built was one of the few to complete the climb to the top of the pyramid. "It was awesome. I was so happy. It was so fun," says teammate Tom Hagen.

Part demolition derby, the technology here is anything but kids' stuff. "It's pretty complex. It was actually really difficult. There was a lot of work done to get the motors to work," says Ryley Wall, also on the Bridgewater-Raynham team. The kids drive the robots and control the action remotely with white knuckle tension. Sometimes they'll call a time out for repairs, and when they do, kids and parents and referees crank up the music and dance to fill the time. And then it's back to the competition. "To me the best part is when it all culminates into the regionals and everything you worked hard for all year is finally showing," says Tom Hagen from the Bridgewater team.

Day 2 of the contest is Saturday, March 23rd at Agganis Arena at BU. It's free and open to all.

More information visit: http://www.bostonfirst.org/index.html