The Paly robotics team will compete in its first regional robotics competition of the year in Portland, Ore., beginning on March 3.

If the team is victorious either at this competition or another regional competition in San Jose that will take place in two weeks, it will move on to the championships in Atlanta, Ga., according to senior team member Connor Brew.

“We went two years ago and really hope to make it back [to the championships] this year,” Brew said. “We have put an enormous amount of work into this robot over the past seven weeks which was entirely student built, including machining and welding.”

This year, the robotics team built a “robotic soccer bot,” according to teacher Doug Bertain, the adviser for the Paly robotics team.

The robot has to execute complicated tasks including moving around an artificial field and shooting soccer balls into goals, according to the Paly robotics Web site. The robot uses cameras to locate the goal. A video overview of the competition is posted on the robotics team’s Web site.

Approximately 61 teams are competing in the competition, Bertain said. The competition is a part of the annual For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology (FIRST) competition, which Paly has been competing in since 1996.

Paly robotics is ranked eighth among United States teams competing in the FIRST competition, according to Brew.