VLE
Botball is an after-school activity on offer to students in the Upper and Sixth Form Departments (Years 9-13). The programme exposes students to a real application of the subject matter they have been learning across the school. By designing, building, programming and documenting robots, students use Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) in hands-on projects that reinforce their learning in addition to building team-working, time-management and interpersonal skills.
The club offers students the opportunity to be part of the school Robotics Team, BStroniKs, which takes part in two overseas visits to Carnegie Mellon University, Qatar, for an initial programming workshop in January and then a Robotics Tournament in March.
The Botball season begins with a two-day professional development workshop for team leaders, mentors and students. Up to three people from each registered team may attend the regional workshop. During the hands-on workshop, attendees learn about current robotics technology by participating in a variety of interactive exercises and activities.
Teams receive their reusable robotics kit at the workshop along with software and documentation. They also receive detailed information regarding the current year’s game. Participants will actually use their robotics kit to build and program a demonstration robot at the workshop.
Student teams from across the Middle East region compete in an annual tournament where fully autonomous robots attempt to score points on a themed obstacle course. The game is always complex and requires students to consider multiple strategies and to work as a team to ensure that the robot designs, their core programming and the strategy chosen work together seamlessly to ensure that the highest possible score is obtained.
Teachers work as mentors and advisers but take no active part in the design, programming or competition process. The team has a student Manager, Secretary and Heads of Strategy, Programming and Design. It is the students themselves who run the project and who, ultimately, determine its success.
For further information please look at the official Botball website, www.botball.org. You may then wish to speak to one of the Robotics Coordinators, Ms Emma Leach or Mr Nick Allen.
Above: Members of our student robotics team, BStroniKs, develop their problem solving and team working skills by constructing and programming robots to solve specific obstacle courses and point-based challenges. We have successfully competed at the annual Botball Educational Robotics competition at Carnegie Mellon University, Qatar, in competition with other school teams from across the Middle East and Africa region. This year (2012) we returned having reached the quarter finals and were selected from almost thirty other teams to receive the Judges’ Choice Award, recognising our teamwork and adaptability.