About 1,000 students from Hawai'i, the Mainland, Mexico and the Philippines will compete in the 2009 regional robotics competition at the Stan Sheriff Center this week.

Hosted by Gov. Linda Lingle and Lt. Gov. Duke Aiona, the 2009 NASA/BAE Systems FIRST Regional Robotic Competition will challenge 34 teams to solve a common engineering problem.

The free event is open to the public and takes place tomorrow, Friday and Saturday at the Stan Sheriff Center at the University of Hawai'i Manoa.

This year's challenge, "Lunacy," celebrates the 40th anniversary of Apollo 11's historic mission to the moon.

The competition will showcase the work of students and their professional mentors who spent six weeks constructing robots and preparing for the competition.

The times are:

Thursday, 7:45 a.m.-noon, 2-4 p.m., Media Preview Day, practice rounds

Friday, 8 a.m.-noon, 1-4:30 p.m., first day of competition

Saturday, 8 a.m.-noon, 1-5 p.m., final rounds, awards

The competition will be streamed live on the governor's Web site, Friday and Saturday at www.hawaii.gov/gov.