CONTACT: 

KISS Institute for Practical Robotics

info@kipr.org

(405) 579-4609

www.botball.org

 

 

BOTBALL ROBOTICS COMPETITION: ROBOTS THAT DON’T NEED REMOTE CONTROL

Botball Educational Robotics Program teaches Science, Technology, Engineering, Computer Programming and Math through Robotics

 

Grandville - March 11, 2009 - The KISS Institute for Practical Robotics announces the Michigan Botball Educational Robotics Tournament, taking place Saturday, March 14 at Grandville Middle School. The Botball Tournament is free and open to the public. Seeding Rounds begin at 10 a.m. and double elimination rounds start at approximately 1:30 p.m.

Eight Botball teams from around the Michigan region will compete, including two from Indiana. Each team consists of about 5-20 middle and high school students who design, build, program and document a pair of autonomous (no remote control) robots to play in this year’s open-ended game. The theme of this year’s game is “Alternative Energy”.

The Botball Educational Robotics Program engages middle and high school aged students in a team-oriented robotics competition that develops students’ science, technology, engineering, computer science and math skills. Home schoolers and community teams are also welcome to participate.

Michigan has never before held a Botball Robotics Tournament, although the Botball Program has been around since 1997. Members of the Grandville Robotics Boosters contacted KISS Institute, the organization that created the Botball Program and made a great case for bringing the program to Michigan.

The Michigan Botball Program started with a two-day hands on professional development workshop for educators on January 17-18 at Grandville Middle School. At the workshop, teams received their kits of reusable robotics equipment. Each kit will be used for competition and will be kept by the school or team to be integrated into the classroom or extracurricular activities. This ensures that schools will be able to continue to grow their science, math and technology curricula through robotics after the Botball season is over.

KISS Institute for Practical Robotics, an educational non-profit organization, will present 14 Botball Workshops and Tournaments this year - 12 in the United States and 2 based internationally.  All teams who participate in their regional workshop and tournament, regardless of how they place in their competition, are eligible to participate in the International Botball Tournament taking place this summer in Leesburg, VA, during the Global Conference on Educational Robotics on July 1-5, 2009. 

Over 6,000 students participate in Botball every year and more than 60,000 have competed over the course of 11 years. In 2009, teams from 23 states and 6 countries will participate in Botball.

For more information about Botball go to: www.botball.org or contact: info@kipr.org.

 

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The Botball Program is sponsored in part by: NASA Robotics Alliance Project, Solidworks Corporation, Innovation First Inc, iRobot, and igus, inc.,

 

 

Michigan Regional Botball Teams

 

Goshen Middle School         Goshen, IN

Grandville Academic Team Boosters (3 Teams), Grandville, MI

Grandville Middle School (2 Teams),          Grandville, MI

Hamilton Southeastern High School,          Fishers, IN

Lakeshore Mathematics and Science Center,        Stevensville, MI

 

 

KISS Institute's mission is to improve the public's understanding of science, technology, engineering, and math; develop the skills, character, and aspirations of students; and contribute to the enrichment of our school systems, communities, and the nation.