Contact: Jenny Grigsby
Public Outreach Coordinator
KISS Institute for Practical Robotics
1818 W. Lindsey, Bldg. D, Ste. 100 Norman, OK 73069
This email address is being protected from spam bots, you need Javascript enabled to view it
(405) 579-4609 (o) (405) 921-9612 (c)

NATIONAL ROBOTICS CONFERENCE IS COMING TO HAWAII:

Robots will be rolling into the Hawaii Convention Center July 10!

HONOLULU, HI, JULY 10-13, 2007 - For the first time ever, the National Conference on Educational Robotics and the International Botball and Beyond Botball Robot Tournaments are being held in Honolulu (July 10-13, 2007). All of the robot tournament events are FREE and open to the general public. The Lieutenant Governor of Hawai`i, James R. “Duke” Aiona, Jr., will be making opening remarks to kick off the International Botball Tournamentʼs Seeding Rounds on July 11. He will begin speaking at 1:30 pm and the seeding rounds will begin shortly thereafter. The Beyond Botball Double Elimination Rounds will be held on July 12, 2007 from 3:00 pm – 5:30 pm and the International Botball Tournament Double Elimination rounds will be held on July 13, 2007 from 1:30 pm – 5:30 pm. All tournament events are being held at the Hawaii Convention Center in Exhibit Hall 1.

The National Conference serves as an opportunity to give students the experience of a professional conference and help increase the societal value placed on intellectual achievement, as well as provide an opportunity for the general public to learn more about various aspects of robotics. It will give many Hawai`ian students, teachers, and robotics professionals the chance to see invited guest speakers from internationally recognized organizations such as NASA, iRobot, SPAWAR, Kagawa University, and the University of Hawaii, as well as the opportunity to discuss ideas and give presentations. Middle school and high school aged participants will also have the chance to show their work on the playing fi eld in the International Botball Tournament. Adults will be competing in the fun and challenging Beyond Botball Tournament. For more information on the National Conference and a tentative schedule of events, please visit: http://www.botball.org/season/2007/ncer/2007_national_conference.php

The International Botball Tournament is open to every middle and high school student robot team that competed this year at a regional Botball Tournament. This yearʼs International Botball Tournament is the largest ever with 65 robot teams competing including 20 teams from Hawai`i, 44 teams from the mainland, and 1 international team from Poland. There are currently 11 teams from across the United States and Japan registered to compete in Beyond Botball.

In this yearʼs International Botball Tournament, each team is faced with a Hawaiian-themed game board and objectives. Robots will be scrambling to prepare their ʻislandʼ from the impending destruction from a nearby rumbling ʻvolcanoʼ. Because Botball robots donʼt use remote control, each bot has been programmed by the students to harvest pineapples, compost leaves, place rooftops on houses, and clear away lava (game elements are made of small pompoms and pvc pipes). The human team members wonʼt be able to assist the robots during the 90-second game. All bots must start, operate, and stop by themselves.

###

Botball is an educational program created by the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics, a non-profi t organization based in Norman, Oklahoma. Hawaii Botball is funded in part by the NASA Robotics Alliance Project, SolidWorks Corporation, Hawaii Convention Center, Hawaii Department of Education, and Hawaiian Electric Company, Inc.