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The team's task is to build, in six weeks, a robot that can move soccer balls across a field and around other robots.

Nationwide kick-off parties were Jan. 9 for teams participating in FIRST Robotics' Breakaway regional competitions next month. During the parties, FIRST, a nonprofit scholarship program sponsored by several corporations, unveiled this year's competition task.

"I think it's harder than last year, but it will be cool to see," said senior Mary Brady, 17, one of about 40 students on the robotics team, called Epsilon Delta.

Herndon's robot, "Ed," will be part of a three-on-three robot soccer showdown during the school's first regional competition in the District from March 4 to 6.

The competition, which features 59 teams, is sponsored in part by Booz Allen Hamilton, Lockheed Martin and NASA. Students participating in regional and national tournaments compete for bragging rights and more than $12 million in college scholarships, which last year were awarded to more than 700 students.

The recent snowstorms have added to the difficulty of this year's task, Herndon students said.

"The snow days put us behind because we couldn't get into the school, and that's where the robot is. But we've got a pretty good team," said senior Cara Buchanan, 17.

In past years, the team has done well at the regional competition.

With the loss of one week of school because of snow, the team is working in overdrive.

"We're really far behind. But the last week of building, we're always rushing to finish," said senior Amanda Youmans, 17, team co-captain.

With more than a decade of experience, Herndon's team is trying some innovations this year, though the time crunch could stifle that advancement.

"We decided to do some innovative designs that we haven't done before -- a swerve drive, where [the robot's] four wheels can work independently," said co-captain Chaz Armstrong, 17, a senior.

Robots must not exceed 120 pounds or 28-by-38-by-60 inches. Supplies and tools are paid for in large part by a $35,000 grant from NASA.

One year, Herndon's robot was 40 pounds overweight, mentor Heidi Foster said, adding that the team shed the extra weight in time for the competition. Since then, the team, which is one of about a dozen in Fairfax County competing in the event, has learned to replace steel with aluminum and metal with plastic.

Previous years' tasks have included robots racing around a track while moving 40-inch balls and placing inner tubes on racks.

The Fairfax teams have participated in the regional for 15 years. During that time, the competition has swelled from about 95 teams to more than 1,800 nationwide, said Dave Lavery, a longtime mentor of the Herndon team.

"The experience that the kids get, what they walk away with, is the same," he said. "They gain some very obvious lessons about mechanics, how to build things. . . . But the real value of what we're trying to give them is how to work as a team, leadership and problem solving; how to deal with adversity, like this year with the snow."