The winners of the Botball Robotics Challenge with their trophies.
DOHA: Middle and high school students at the ninth Regional Botball Robotics Challenge were challenged to imagine they are part of Nasa’s Mars Science Laboratory and develop a robot like the Curiosity Rover, which must land on Mars and scoop up rock samples to be analysed back on Earth.
Enthusiastic crowds of friends and family cheered on the 225 participants and a team from Qatar Academy named overall champions.
Qatar’s Lycee Bonaparte finished second overall, while Al Khor International School finished third.
The competition was held at Carnegie Mellon University in Qatar over the weekend.
As the first place winner, a Qatar Academy team will travel to Norman, Oklahoma, in July to attend the 2013 Global Conference on Educational Robotics where it will meet middle and high school students, robot enthusiasts and professionals from around the world. In Oklahoma, the team will compete in the 2013 International Botball Tournament.
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 percent right.”
The Botball programme introduces secondary school students to the world of robotics, equipping them with necessary skills and experience to independently design, build and program autonomous robots using ‘C’ — the most widely used programming language in industry and academia.
Cania Antariksa participated in the Botball Regional Finals twice before she was motivated to study computer science to achieve her dream of becoming a gaming programmer. This year, as a freshman in computer science, Antariksa joined in Botball again, but as a volunteer to mentor other students through the competition.
“Participating in Botball last year was fun, hectic and a great experience. It developed my interest in programming and led me to apply to do computer science at Carnegie Mellon,” Antariksa said. Each year, the regional finals focus on a particular theme.
With the 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.
Students competing have the opportunity to interact with faculty and students and are judged in part by industry experts.
The Peninsula
