Botball
Program Overview
Now that you’ve
registered for Botball, be sure to review some key dates, deadlines and
policy statements on our website. Most importantly you’ll want to
be familiar with the current year’s:
Schedule/deadlines:
A complete list of deadlines, workshop and tournament dates.
Regional
webpage: Provides detailed information on each regional event
including a list of registered teams. From www.botball.org select
your region from the drop down listing at top right.
Registration
policy: Includes details on what you’ll need to participate along
with policies on registration incentives, payments and withdrawals.
Fundraising
Resources & Scholarships:
Download our Fundraising Guide for new funding ideas. If applying for a
Botball Scholarship is necessary for your team, be sure to read the
Scholarship Policy in full.
Now that you’ve
got an understanding of all of the important dates and policies, we’ve
provided an explanation of the 3 elements that make up the Botball
program: the Educator Workshop, Botball Tournament and Website
Competitions.
Educator
Workshop Overview
The Botball
Educator’s Workshop is a 2-day, hands-on learning experience for
teachers. Following the workshop, a letter is sent to each
participant's principal recognizing them for completing the
instruction.
Basic
Agenda:
Workshops are held
on Friday and Saturday or Saturday and Sunday depending on the region
(see your regional webpage for details). Sessions run from 8:00
a.m. to 5:00 p.m. each day. The workshop covers basic robot
elements, processors, sensors, motors, programming in Interactive C,
feedback and control, robot construction and Botball game rules.
What
do I leave with?
- Complete Botball kit
- CD with workshop slides and resource
materials
- Rules for the Botball Game
- Rules for the Botball Documentation
Website
Guidelines:
- Participation in the workshop is
optional, but recommended.
- New teams receiving scholarships are required to attend the workshop.
- You'll need to bring an extension cord,
power strip and your laptop computer (click here for specifications)
with Interactive C (IC)
installed.
- Each team may bring up to 2
representatives. We recommend two teachers from your school. At
least one person must be a teacher/mentor. (There must be at least one
adult per student.)
Tournament
Overview
Tournament day
provides a fun atmosphere for teams to showcase their work. Teams run 3
seeding rounds (unopposed) to determine their rank for the double
elimination portion. All teams participate in double elimination where
teams play against one another in an equitable draw bracket. The day
culminates in an Awards Ceremony.
- Robots must be completely student built
and programmed from the kit of approved parts.
- No teachers, coaches, mentors or other
adults are allowed in the Pit Area on tournament day. The Pit Area is
provided for teams to modify their robot and programming between
rounds.
- Teams are expected to bring their own
laptop, powerstrip and extension cord.
- Each team will run the game unopposed
during seeding rounds.
- Every team participates in both the
seeding rounds and double elimination rounds.
- All judges' decisions regarding scoring
are final.
- Trophies and certificates are awarded in
the following categories: Overall, Double Elimination, Seeding and
Judges' Choice.
Website Overview
In Botball teams
have the opportunity to create three websites: a public website for
your team, an optional Research & Design Website Challenge, and a
website documenting your team's robot building process. More details on
each website can be found here.
What
you'll need for Botball:
Computer - Botball participants
will need access to a laptop computer with Interactive C
installed. There will be no computers available at the workshop or
tournament. Your machine must run one of three operating systems:
- Mac OS 8.6 - 9.2 or 10.1 or later
- Windows 98 or later
- Linux
It must also have:
- A serial port or USB port with USB to
serial converter
- A CD Rom drive
- Privileges to install new software on the
computer
If your system does not meet any of these
guidelines, please contact us.
Internet Access - The bulk of
correspondence regarding Botball is done via e-mail or posted on our
website. E-mail is vital to success in the Botball program.
Arena - Each team has the option to
build their own game arena for practice purposes. The cost to build an
arena is kept to a minimum and detailed instructions are provided
at the workshop. All parts are standard items
available at a home improvement store.
Technical
Support
For technical
support or questions regarding game rules:
Log onto your Home
Base (click here for info on Home
Base) and post your question on the Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)
page. The FAQ page is provided so all teams have access to the same
questions and answers. |
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