Charles Sturt University (CSU) in Bathurst will host a training day on Tuesday 19 February for primary and secondary school teachers and pupils from schools across the NSW central west to help them prepare to compete in the regional 2013 RoboCup Junior Challenge to be staged at the University in mid-June. RoboCup Junior Challenge coordinator, Mr Allen Benter, a PhD student and researcher at the CSU Centre for Research in Complex Systems (CRiCS) in Bathurst, saidRoboCup Junior Australia is a project-oriented educational initiative that supports local, regional and international robotic events for primary and secondary students. “The focus of RoboCup Junior is the development of cooperative teamwork and technical skills in an environment of participation, fun and excitement. Teams choose to take up the challenge at their own skill and interest level. RoboCup Junior offers three distinct challenges - Dance, Rescue, and Soccer. The first event for the year is the workshop for teachers and pupils to assist them through the process of constructing and programming a robot using Lego to compete in one of three events at the competition in June. The winners of the regional competition will then advance to the state competition.”