Bowling Green , Ky. - More than 230 elementary, middle and high school students participated in the seventh annual Kentucky Bluegrass Robotics Competition, hosted by Western Kentucky University’s Engineering Department on Nov. 11.

In the high school portion of the competition, 15 local schools sent teams with more than 75 students participating. Teams built a robot using construction materials provided by WKU that was able to pick up and move a variety of objects in a series of competitions with other teams’ robots.

Top finishers were: first place, Barren County High School; second place, Warren Central High School; third place, Edmonson County High School; fourth place, Bowling Green Christian Academy.

In the elementary and middle school portion of the competition, 160 students competed on 41 teams using LEGO Mindstorm kits to build a robot capable of autonomously traversing a course. The teams were divided into four divisions; the top finishers and their robot names follow:

Division 1: first place, “Kel'thuzad,” Monroe County; second place, “Speedy,” Monroe County; third place, “Charlie,” Allen County; fourth place, “Viper,” Monroe County.

Division 2: first place, “Amigee,” North Warren Elementary; second place, “Bobcat,” Richardsville Elementary; third place, “R-Dog,” Rich Pond Elementary; fourth place, “Sonador,” Red Cross Elementary.

Division 3: first place, “Robobull,” Rich Pond Elementary; second place, “Super Turtle,” Alvaton Elementary; third place, “iRobot,” Oakland Elementary; fourth place, “Digo,” Bristow Elementary.

Division 4: first place, “The Kings,” Moss Middle; second place, “Whildcat 1,” Warren East Middle; third place, “Li’L Einsteins,” Moss Middle; fourth place, “Block Bot,” Cub Run Elementary.

WKU engineering faculty Kevin Schmaltz and Stacy Wilson coordinated the department’s efforts, with faculty and staff members Chris Moore, Shane Palmquist, Ron Rizzo and Gashwin Saleno providing support. In addition, more than 100 current WKU engineering students participated in the set up and execution of the event during the fall semester.

More WKU news is available at www.wku.edu. If you’d like to receive WKU news via e-mail, send a message to WKUNews@wku.edu.

For information, contact Stacy Wilson at (270) 745-5848.

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