BREATHITT COUNTY, Ky. (WYMT) – High schoolers are going head to head in the Robot Gladiator League (RGL) competition on Saturday. The students have been preparing for battle all semester.

RGL brings the world of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) and introduces it to the world of sports. It creates a high-energy environment for students to showcase robotics skills.

Keith Hollifield is a designer for RGL. He said it is an exciting time for everyone who attends the high-stakes competition.

“We have the crowd excited, we have them cheering, we have a team sport, we have scoring the crowd can follow,” said Hollified. “We have a light show, a sound show and announcers. So it’s very much a spectator-driven community engagement event. But for the students, they’re learning real workforce skills.”

The battle in the arena is not the only impressive part about these robots. It is the engineering behind the scenes that makes them special.

The students designed, built, and programmed every wire, circuit, and motor. Jackson City School team captain Brayden Harris said his team is not just learning how to compete but mastering the skills they can use to build the future.

“In a lot of ways it can cross over. Even the networking and resources attained in these past three years, have carried over and helped into my personal fields of interest,” said Harris.

Harris said the sport is beneficial for him in more ways than one.

“A lot of critical thinking skills, a lot of problem-solving skills, mechanical engineering skills and electrical engineering skills, programming, and just overall, like even make-shifting and last minute, repairs being able to adapt to these big changes that can kind of begin to just to rise out of nowhere,” Harris said.

To make things fair, every team starts with the same kit and manual. What the team chooses to do next is up to them.

“You get everything kind of calibrated and you kind of tweak on things and get it adjusted to where you want it,” said Harris, “Where you’re most comfortable with, and that alone even is a big part of the game. It’s not just what is your robot and how it’s built, but how fine-tuned it is to actually be able to maneuver it and be able to even outperform people and driving and agility in most cases.”

When the teams are ready to hit the competition floor, they have three bots and three pins. The goal is to knock down the other teams’ pins at the same time they are defending their own.

They must also be prepared for everything. If something goes wring with their robot, teams can call a one-minute timeout to problem-solve and address any issues.

The teams will go head to head at Jackson City School at 10 a.m. on Saturday. Tickets are $3 per person.

More information about RGL can be found here.

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