There was a heavy metal concert going on at the Maverik Center in West Valley City and it wasn’t KISS, Metallica or Guns N’ Roses. It was the grinding steel and chains of remote-controlled robots battling it out in this year’s Utah Regional FIRST Robotics Competition.

The two-day event was held Friday and Saturday, March 13 and 14.

More than 50 high school teams from the western U.S. and Canada converged at the arena for this year’s game, called “Recycle Rush.” In the game, the robots had to stack recyclable bins and cans on platforms using conveyor belts and mechanical arms.

And for the first time ever in Utah, famed inventor Dean Kamen, founder of FIRST, attended the event where he met the teams and kicked off Saturday’s matches.

 

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