January 6, 2009
2009 Oklahoma Botball Robotics Tournament
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
CONTACT:
Jamie Boiles
Public Outreach Coordinator
jboiles@kipr.org
(405)579-4609
2009 OKLAHOMA BOTBALL ROBOTICS TOURNAMENT
More robots than ever are coming to Oklahoma
Oklahoma City, OK - January 6, 2009 - The KISS Institute for Practical Robotics announces the 9th Annual Botball Educational Robotics Competition. The Botball Educational Robotics Program engages middle and high school aged students in a team-oriented robotics competition based on the science, technology, engineering, and math (STEM) educational principals.
The 2009 season marks the largest Oklahoma Regional Botball Robotics Tournament to date hosting 40 teams. Teams from North Texas, Arkansas, New Mexico and 30 Oklahoma teams will be competing on Saturday, February 28, 2009 at the Science Museum Oklahoma (formerly Omniplex). The regional tournament is free and open to the public. Seeding begins at 10 a.m. and double elimination rounds will begin at approximately 2 p.m.
Botball teams consist of 5-20 middle and high school students, who learn how to design, create and program two autonomous (no remote control) robots to complete this year’s game challenge based on the theme of “Alternative Energy”.
Team leaders and student participants will begin their 2009 season at the Botball Educator’s Professional Development Workshop on January 9-10, 2009 at the University of Oklahoma. During this two-day professional development workshop, teams will receive their reusable robotics kit. Each kit will be used for competition and can be integrated into the classroom. 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 Oklahoma based 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 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.
Many Oklahoma Botball teams have received scholarships provided by generous local partners, such as: University of Oklahoma, Hille Foundation, Oklahoma Aeronautics Commission, Chesapeake Energy Corporation, Oklahoma EPSCoR, BancFirst, Kirkpatrick Family Foundation, University of Oklahoma - College of Engineering, Tinker Federal Credit Union, Milstein Family Foundation, Leader Communications Incorporated and Arvest Bank.
For more information about Botball in Oklahoma, go to: www.botball.org/oklahoma or contact: info@kipr.org.
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The Oklahoma Regional Botball Program is sponsored in part by: NASA Robotics Alliance Project, Solidworks Corporation, Innovation First, Incorporated, Robotevents.com, iRobot, and the University of Hawaii
Oklahoma Botball Teams
Canadian Public School, Canadian, OK
Cheyenne High School, Cheyenne, OK
Davenport High School, Davenport, OK
Duncan Middle School, Duncan, OK
Edmond North High School, Edmond, OK
Fort Gibson High School, Fort Gibson, OK
Glenpool Alternative Program, Glenpool, OK
Gracemont High School, Gracemont, OK
Haileyville Public School, Haileyville, OK
Howe Public School, Howe, OK
Yellowjacket Academy, Kingfisher, OK
Kingston Robotics, Kingston, OK
Mounds High School, Mounds, OK
Alcott Middle School, Norman, OK
Dimensions Academy High School, Norman, OK
Irving Middle School, Norman, OK
Longfellow Middle School, Norman, OK
Norman High School, Norman, OK
Whittier Middle School, Norman, OK
Emerson High School, Oklahoma City, OK
Moore West Junior High, Oklahoma City, OK
Southeast High School, Oklahoma City, OK
Westmoore High School, Oklahoma City, OK
Western Heights High School, Oklahoma City, OK
Edison Preparatory School, Tulsa, OK
Holland Hall, Tulsa, OK
KIPP: Tulsa College Preparatory, Tulsa, OK
Southwest Covenant High School, Yukon, OK
Wayne Public School, Wayne, OK
*As of January 1, 2009. Registration still open
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December 11, 2008
Youth Botball Advisory Council
The KISS Institute for Practical Robotics is announcing the inaugural youth Botball advisory council.
The council will be made up of 15-20 Botballers or past Botballers ages 14-22 years old. (Students who have graduated high school must be enrolled in college.) Each member must make a one year commitment. This inaugural year will be a shortened year, but after this year terms will run September to September.
Some of the responsibilities of the council include:
-Actively engaging in peer to peer interaction
-Serving as advisers for Botball staff and organizers in various capacities
-Involvement in blogging and social media
-Enhancing awareness of needs, problems, and issues affecting Botballers
Read more about the Botball youth advisory council, please go to www.botball.org/nominations or for questions, email nominations@kipr.org. Nominations will end Friday, January 12, 2009 at 5 p.m., so don’t delay!
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October 14, 2008
GCER 2009 to be held in Leesburg, VA
GCER 2009 to be held in Leesburg, VA
The 2009 Global Conference on Educational Robotics will be at the National Conference Center in Leesburg, VA ( about 35 miles from Washington, D.C. ) on July 1st through July 5th. Pre-conference activities will be held on June 30th.
Details will be posted on our web site as they become available.
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August 6, 2008
2009 R&D Website Challenge Released
The details of the 2009 Research and Design Web Site Challenge have been released to the public. This year’s topic is assistive robotics.
New this year:
- You can participate in the challenge without being registered for Botball
- Teams are free to use any publicly accessible host for their site.
- The final submission deadline is earlier this year. Sites must be submitted by Dec 2, 2008
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July 15, 2008
2008 International Botball Tournament Results
You can now download the complete results from the 2008 International Botball Tournament.
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July 11, 2008
International Botball Tournament Brackets!
Even if you’re not at GCER, you can check up on how your favorite Botball teams are doing in the International Botball Tournament by checking out the 2008 IBT brackets. We’ll be updating them live throughout the tournament.
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July 9, 2008
2008 International Botball Seeding Results Posted
The complete results of the 2008 International Botball Tournament Seeding Rounds have been posted.
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June 18, 2008
Deadline Extended for GCER Robot Glamour Shots and Robot/Team Bios
The deadline for submitting International Botball Tournament Robot Glamour Shots and Team and Robot Bios for inclusion on the GCER Conference Proceedings CD has been extended until 11:55am CDT on Monday, June 23, 2008. Don’t miss out on having your team team included!
- IBT Robot Glamour Shot — Images should be at least 1024x768 pixels, and the background should not be cluttered with irrelevant objects. Consider an “action” pose with Botball surroundings or a clean “studio” background. You may upload up to two images.
- IBT Team and Robot Bio — Write a short (one or two paragraph) description of your team and your robots. Your submission should be 250 words or less. Make sure to include the name of your school ( or other sponsoring organization), as well as the names of your robots. Your school may have a privacy policy on the publication of student information. Make sure your Team and Robot Bio complies with this policy.