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500 robots, 10,000 students head to Atlanta

Get a panoramic look at the FIRST Robotics Sacramento Regional competition, where teams of high school engineering students vied for a chance at the national championship.

James Martin Managing Editor, Photography
James Martin is the Managing Editor of Photography at CNET. His photos capture technology's impact on society - from the widening wealth gap in San Francisco, to the European refugee crisis and Rwanda's efforts to improve health care. From the technology pioneers of Google and Facebook, photographing Apple's Steve Jobs and Tim Cook, Facebook's Mark Zuckerberg and Google's Sundar Pichai, to the most groundbreaking launches at Apple and NASA, his is a dream job for any documentary photography and journalist with a love for technology. Exhibited widely, syndicated and reprinted thousands of times over the years, James follows the people and places behind the technology changing our world, bringing their stories and ideas to life.
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This week, more than 500 robots and 10,000 students from around the country who have participated in regional competitions will head to the Georgia Dome in Atlanta for the FIRST National Robotics Championship.

Below is a panoramic photo from the auditorium where the FIRST Robotics Sacramento Regional competition was held. On the left, you can see student teams preparing to play this year's game, called Lunacy, as they make modifications and repairs to their designs in the mechanics' pit. Across the gymnasium and to the right sits the game floor, where their robots will attempt to score points and outmaneuver the opposing teams.

Four regional finalists are visible in this panorama image taken March 27, 2009, at the UC Davis-Sacramento Regional Competition in Davis, Calif. Teams 115 from Monte Vista High School in Cupertino, Calif.; 1323 from Madera High School in Madera, Calif.; 1717 from Dos Pueblos High Engineering Academy in Goleta, Calif.; and 668 from Pioneer High School in San Jose, Calif., are all there in the robotics pit where teams make final adjustments to their bots and prepare for their matches. Can you find them?