39 teams from New Jersey and Pennsylvania competed in the annual Mid-Atlantic District Robotic Competition. Watch video
MOUNT OLIVE -- Aspiring teenage engineers gathered at Mount Olive High School in Flanders to participate in the annual Mid-Atlantic district robotic competition.
This year's medieval-themed game is called FIRST Stronghold.
There were 39 teams from New Jersey and Pennsylvania competing in the event.
First Stronghold is played by two alliances of three teams each. The alliances compete against each other to capture their opponents' tower.
Grueling 'Monty Python'-esque robotics contest kicks off
The game is played on a 27-foot by 54-foot field, divided into red and blue alliance sections and separated by a white neutral zone that contains boulders. Each section contains a courtyard, an area for opposing teams to shoot boulders at the castle goals, a "secret passage" that allows human players to feed boulders to their robots from the human player station, the "outer works", and the tower.
The FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) Robotics competition is for students in grades 9 to 12, in which teams design, build and program robots to complete tasks against others. Teams advance from local qualifying tournaments to state and ultimately world championships.
Lexi Halbur, a senior at Mount Olive High School has been a member of the Mount Olive Robotics Team 11 for three years. Halbur loves being a member of the team. She said it has helped her build her skills over the years.
"The team offers me a lot of opportunities to learn business and presentation skills in addition to learning how to build and program a robot," Halbur said.
Patti Sapone may be reached at psapone@njadvancemedia.com. Follow her on Twitter @psapone. Find NJ.com on Facebook.