LYNN – Dreaming of a world where robots walk among humans, performing our simple tasks and waiting on us hand and foot? Technology has not come quite that far, but the machines are rising, slow but sure, thanks to the knowledge and mechanical ability of technology savvy robot manufacturers, including a team located right here in Lynn.For the third straight year, students from Lynn Vocational and Technical Institute have come together from all of the school’s vocational programs to be a part of the robotics team, which manufactures a practical robot to participate in an annual competition held in Boston.The event is a sort of robot Olympiad, where schools from across the state build mechanical creatures to perform a specific task. This year that task is to move a 40-inch ball over a six foot six inch hurdle while it is moving around a racetrack.”The idea is to get students to compete in a competition with the flavor of a sporting event or rock concert with science and technology,” said electronics teacher and robotics team leader Chris Speropolous.The competition is sponsored by FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) and pits robotics teams from across the state against one another for a chance to attend the nationals in Atlanta, Georgia. The event is prestigious, as the cost to enter alone is $6,000.The after school club, funded by private donations, meets five nights a week and all day on Saturday for six weeks to construct a 120 pound robot that can complete the specific task required for the competition.Speropolous says students from every vocational concentration take part in the project, even the culinary arts students who keep the team sustained with their cooking, and they also receive assistance from General Electric volunteer engineers.”We have a significant advantage here because we have all of the shops in the school with the technology,” said Speropolous.LVTI’s team set the bar high in its first attempt at the competition in 2006, finishing first in the rookie category, which earned them a trip to nationals where they ultimately finished in second place.Last year the group placed a modest 27th, and is hoping to get back to Atlanta with a good showing in 2008.The team has until the last week of March to finish the robot, but hopes to have the device at least moving around by this weekend.Speropolous says he wants to encourage the public to attend the competition, held at Boston University’s Agganis Arena March 27, 28 and 29, and experience the rowdy, loud atmosphere that is the FIRST competition.”Admission is free, and it is something unusual,” he said. “It is a very high energy event, the kids are rowdy and yelling.”The robotics team is still looking for financial donations to keep the program moving forward, and Speropolous encourages anyone interested in the project to visit their Web site at www.team1761.com.Anyone who would like to make a donation can mail a check to Lynn Vocational Technical Institute, care of Chris Speropolous, 80 Neptune Blvd., in Lynn.