February 2, 2009
Inaugural Youth Advisory Council Announced
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Steve Goodgame, Executive Director
KISS Institute for Practical Robotics
(405) 579-4609
sgoodgame@kipr.org
Inaugural Youth Advisory Council Announced January 28, 2009 - delay due to Oklahoma Ice Storm
I am pleased to announce the students selected for the inaugural Botball Youth Advisory Council:
Anna Cyganowski, age 19, Rensselar Polytechnic Institute.
Arvind Harinder, age 15, Greater D.C. Region.
Tessa Niehoff, age 16, Greater D.C. Region.
Wesley Myers, age 18, Carnegie Mellon University.
Aaron Parker, age 18, Southern Illinois University Edwardsville.
Jeffrey Hsu, age 16, Florida Region.
Matthew Thompson, age 17, Florida Region.
Jeff Chan, age 16, Northern California Region.
Joe McCormick, age 16, New England Region.
Jeremy Rand, age 19, Oklahoma Region.
Nick Uebele, age 15, Texas Region.
Alexander Nabavi-Noori, age 14, Southern California Region.
Jake Sticka, age 17, Southern California Region.
These candidates were selected by a committee from a large pool of high quality candidates through a blind application review process. The committee was overwhelmed by the number of highly qualified applicants and wants to make sure that applicants who were not accepted at this time and prospective applicants keep up their Botball promotional activities and submit an application in September.
The application process included; a letter of reference from a former teacher or mentor, a survey of positions and responsibilities held on their current or former Botball teams, extracurricular activities, outreach and fundraising activities, and their written response describing what they have gained from participation in Botball and why it is important to be a part of the council.
International Botball Champions will automatically receive a letter of reference from the KISS Institute if they choose to apply for the council.
Jamie Boiles, Public Outreach Coordinator, has been excited about getting the group in place and will be working with the council to develop a strategy and plan of action for the group whose task is to not only promote Botball through social media but to also advise the KISS Institute on issues related to Botball.
“The future I see for this group is limitless. The council represents a diverse pool of high achieving students who are leaders not only on their team, but also in their school and community. Through their assignments and efforts this council will have an impact on a national and international level. These students have expressed a passion to see the Botball program grow and I am looking forward to brainstorming with them about their ideas,” Boiles commented about the council.
As was announced, the inaugural members will serve until September 1, 2009. Subsequent councils will serve a one calendar year term starting each September.
“I want to personally invite all current Botballers to keep up their Botball promotional efforts and to consider applying for the second term,” Steve Goodgame, Executive Director.
Steve and Jamie are excited to get started with the council and look forward to working with them on expanding and improving the Botball Educational Robotics Program.
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Robot traverses the surface of the heart
Robot traverses the surface of the heart
Sci/Tech | Akanksha Vaidya
The term “robotics” brings to mind visions of probes that zoom up to the sky and land on the rocky surface of the moon. Carnegie Mellon, however, has introduced a robot of a different kind: one that lands on the slick surface of the heart. HeartLander, barely the size of a finger, is being developed by Cameron Riviere, an associate research professor at the Robotis Institute, and is capable of revolutionizing the way cardiac surgery is done today. Read more
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January 9, 2009
Submit Botball Haikus!
Submit a C program that prints out a Botball haiku online at the Botball Haiku Submission Form.
We’ll pick our favorites and post them to the web site.
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October 31, 2007
Happy Halloween!
Get the Flash Player to see this player.
We saw the Snap-o-lantern from Evil Mad Scientist Laboratories and decided that we had to build our own using the XBC. It’s just one of the many ways to use your controller between seasons.
If you’re using the XBC for projects outside of the Botball season that you’d like to share with the Botball community, we’d love to hear from you!
And the Halloween* Create Goes to…
Team 08-0004 at DeWitt Perry Middle School in Carrollton, TX
Congratulations! The Create will be awarded to the team at their regional workshop or after the team has completed the payment process for the 2008 Botball season, whichever comes first.
Sad that your team didn’t win? Don’t fret - there are more drawings planned:
- November 30
- December 20
Every team registered by midnight (Central Time) the day before a scheduled drawing will automatically be entered in the drawing for the free Create. The earlier you register, the more chances you have to win!
* Poltergeist not included.
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September 28, 2007
And the first team to win a Create is….
Team 08-0052 - Blow Pierce Junior Academy from Washington, DC!
Congratulations! The Create will be awarded to the team at their regional workshop or after the team has completed the payment process for the 2008 Botball season, whichever comes first.
Sad that your team didn’t win? Don’t fret - there are several more drawings planned:
- October 31
- November 30
- December 20
Every team registered by midnight (Central Time) the day before a scheduled drawing will automatically be entered in the drawing for the free Create. The earlier you register, the more chances you have to win!
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July 24, 2007
Don’t forget about the CAD Contest!
The 2007 Botball and Beyond CAD Contest is underway!
Teams can create movies, animations, and image sequences that show case their Botball strategies and their CAD skills. If your team wants to take a shot at the accolades and free Solid Works software that the winners will receive, you have 1 day before the August 1st deadline.
Missing some parts?
We’ve added lots of new and updated parts files to the Botball and Beyond CAD Contest area of the team home base. A complete set of the components included in the 2007 Botball kit is now available for download for most part categories, as well as a new model of the XBC.
Made some parts?
Feel like showing off? If you’ve modeled some of the kit parts that we haven’t made available for download, and you want to share them, send them to us and we’ll add your name to the credits if we use them.
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June 19, 2007
iRobot Create Challenge
Long summer days got you thinking, “Man, I wish I was back in the lab!” ? Then the iRobot Create Challenge might be just what you’re looking for. Use your engineering skills and the iRobot Create Programmable Robot platform to win glory and prizes. The entry deadline is August 31st.
Do you have some brilliant ideas, but no hardware? Check out iRobot’s Scholarship sub-contest where you can post your ideas for a chance to win an iRobot Create Kit for the competition. Deadline for the scholarship contest is June 28th, 2007.
If you need to buy a Create for the contest, you can help support Botball by making your purchase using our iRobot affiliate link.