Sharon Tiger Techs two Robotics Teams are headed to national championship competitions in Houston and Fayetteville, Arkansas.

The teams received high honors at the Northwest Pennsylvania FIRST LEGO League Robotics Championship held January 14 at Penn State Behrend in Erie, Pennsylvania.

The Black team received the Overall Champion's Award and a First Place Robot Performance Award. Due to their achievements, the team will travel to Houston in April to compete in the international FIRST World Championship.

The Orange team received a Second Place Championship Award and a Second Place Robot Performance Award. Their achievements landed them a spot at the University of Arkansas' FIRST LEGO League Razorback Open Invitational in May.

The 2022 Invitational in Arkansas brought in students from seven countries and 29 states, according to the University of Arkansas' news page.

Each of the 28 teams that competed in Erie had 6 months to design, build and program a LEGO EV3 Mindstorm robot to function autonomously for 2.5 minutes. Each robot had to complete 15 tasks related to the theme of energy. These included "collecting energy units from an oil refinery, a wind turbine and collecting water units from a hydroelectric dam," according to the press release.

The teams were also required to develop a solution to an everyday energy problem. The Black Team created the "Super Power Pack," a battery inverter designed to charge during off-peak hours so energy would be cheaper for the community during peak energy hours.

The Orange Team designed the Park 'N Charge, a wireless electric vehicle charger.

Both teams worked with local electrical contractors and universities to develop the prototypes.