On Sunday, they came together to check out the competition and perform dry runs against each other before they head back to their classrooms and workshops to put the final touches on their creations.
"It allows them to see how their design stacks up against other designs," said Jennifer Hughes, robotics teacher from Clark Magnet High School.
Getting students interested in engineering is the main reason teachers like Hughes encourage their robotics students to participate in these challenges, she said.
It also provides a fun way to learn about electrical and mechanical engineering.
"Some people learn with their hands as opposed to their heads," said Ralph Mills, one of the event's organizers. "What they're doing is putting math and science to work."
There were 44 teams of students and faculty advisors battling their robots in task-based competitions. The robots were placed in fenced-off squares and charged with collecting yellow balls to place in baskets around the partition.
The crowd stood by in a large semi-circle of more than a hundred spectators and cheered for their teams in the last minutes of the rounds.
Some teams came dressed for the occasion as they sported matching T-shirts as they revved their machines up for the competitions.
"They get to build something and then they learn while having fun," said Lewis Chappelear, robotics and engineering teacher at James Monroe High School in North Hills. "And it's typically kids that wouldn't be into sports. So it gives them a chance to meet kids from other schools."
Students like Tony Siriveh, 17, of North Hills, said he most enjoyed the creative freedom that making robots allows him.
"It's all student's ideas," Tony said. "The student's imagination."
Other students like Jose Flores, 18, of Panorama City, said he's always been into robotics and the competitions were a change for him to express himself.
"You put a little bit of yourself into your robot," Flores said.
The Tech Expo at Glendale Community College continues at 10 a.m. today.
The national competition will take place Dec. 16 at Cal State University Northridge, with an international competition in Atlanta next year.
