Local elementary and middle school students from Austin Public Schools and Southland Public Schools will compete Saturday at the Southeastern Regional FIRST Lego League Robotics Competition at Rochester Technical and Community College. Doors open at 7:30 a.m. and the awards ceremony is at 4 p.m.

Students at Neveln, Southgate, Banfield and Southland elementaries and Southland Middle School have been working since September to improve the community and world around them. This year’s challenge, Senior’s Solution, challenged students to research ways to help senior citizens live a healthier, more active and independent lifestyle; in addition to using technology and engineering skills to design and program an autonomous robot to complete pre-designed missions under 2.5 minutes.