The Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar (CMUQ) held the ninth Regional Botball Robotics Challenge over the weekend. Qatar Academy and Lycée Bonaparte in Doha won the first and second position in the competition while Al Khor International School finished third. More than 225 students from 20 schools participated in the competition.
Botball is an action-packed robotics competition for secondary school students that develops knowledge and practical understanding through a hands-on experience with science, technology, engineering and math.
Additionally, students learn soft skills like problem solving, teamwork, time management and leadership.
The Botball programme introduces secondary school students to the world of robotics, equipping them with the necessary skills and experience to independently design, build and programme autonomous robots using ‘C’ - the most widely used programming language in industry and academia.
Qatar Academy team member Abdullah al-Shakarchi said: “Botball is a great competition and has taught me to be fast and efficient. I really enjoy learning through game about artificial intelligence and product development. Our strategy to win was to keep it simple and get it 100% right.”
Each year, the regional finals focus on a particular theme. With Nasa’s Mars Curiosity Rover reaching the Red Planet last August, students this year had to use robots to “collect” rocks and “send” the samples back to Earth using ‘C’.
The goal was to show students how robotics technologies, physics and mathematical concepts are used to perform tasks like space exploration. The contestants had the opportunity to interact with faculty and students and were judged in part by industry experts.
The first place winner, Qatar Academy will travel to Norman, Oklahoma, in July to attend the 2013 Global Conference on Educational Robotics where they will meet middle school and high school students, robot enthusiasts, and professionals from around the world.
In Oklahoma, they will also compete in the 2013 International Botball Tournament.
The annual Botball season kicked off in Doha with a two-day workshop in February, in which 50 students from 29 regional schools learned how to command autonomous robots.
Schools from Qatar, the United Arab Emirates, Kuwait and Egypt participated in the Botball Regional Finals. The participating schools were Doha Independent Secondary School for Boys; Al Ru’ya Bilingual School; The Lebanese School; Al Wakrah Independent School for Boys; Al Mawakeb School - Al Barsha; Hamza Preparatory School for Boys; American School of Doha; Doha College; Hayah International Academy; Ahmed bin Mohamed al-Thani Secondary School; Al Khor International School; The British School of Kuwait; Lycee Bonaparte; Qatar Academy; Al Mawakeb School - Al Garhoud; International School of Arts and Sciences; Al Bayan Bilingual School; Dukhan English School; DPS - Modern Indian School, Doha and the International School of London - Qatar.