Apr. 30, 2016

More than 100 students battled each other on April 16, 2016 at NASA’s Ames Research Center in Silicon Valley in the annual Northern California Regional Botball Tournament, a middle and high school competition, which relies entirely on brains and not brawn.
Eighteen teams from schools as far north as Middletown, California, to as far south as San Jose brought robots they built by hand, with minimal tools, over a seven-week period.

Inspired by the film “The Martian,” this year teams were encouraged to build two autonomous robots that can work alongside others to survive while stranded on Mars. The students had to design, build and program robots that potentially could help to build a habitat in a crater on the Red Planet.
The teams used components from Botball kits, including, a robotic vacuum cleaner, plastic game pieces, compatible metal parts, motors and servomechanisms, which are automatic error-sensing devices. Two cameras aid the built-in computer vision system. No remote controls are allowed. Rules required the robots to rely on computer programming to control movement and sensors to detect light, color, parameters and distance. Each team has a coach, like Biswa Ghosh of “Los Altos Robotics” whose two sons have competed in Botball tournaments. But Ghosh, an electrical engineer, said his participation with kids on the team was limited.

“The Botball philosophy is ‘They do all of the work’,” he said. “It’s amazing, by not telling them what to do, what they come up with. They do things where I say ‘that’s not gonna work.’ But they make it work. They have innovative ways to figure things out.” By working to get their robot to operate and documenting their efforts to design, build and program it, the students end up learning science, engineering, technology, math and writing skills.
“When you’re working on it and, for some reason, it doesn’t work, you get all down and sad,” said a 13-year-old girl from Los Altos, California. “We never gave up. We put on music and kept going. It kept crashing into things. It’s a disobedient child.”

“It used to work perfectly,” said a middle school team member, after witnessing her team’s robot meltdown during the first round. “I didn’t know whether to laugh or to cry.”
A freshman from San Mateo County, California said, “Most people always say you should do a sport. But I say, ‘Life is a sport’.”
Several students said the hard work and long hours helped strong friendships evolve. “They do something real and meaningful, and you can measure the output,” said Stephen McInerney, a data scientist who coaches a Botball team. “They develop skills that they couldn’t if they were just studying for a test.”

While some of the kids are learning to write computer-programming code, others specialize in building the robots and some are the ones who hold the team together, in terms of spirit and attitude. “It helps them develop socially. It’s not just about robotics,” McInerney said. “You don’t spoon feed them when you see them making a mistake. It makes me proud. It’s a testament to their hard work. I’m happy that I can participate.”
Terry Grant, Botball’s Northern California coordinator and retired Ames electrical engineer, helped to bring the tournament to the center in 1998. “I got involved because I was looking ahead for something meaningful to transition to after retirement,” Grant said. “I couldn’t think of anything that had the same impact.” He said, over the years, he has witnessed transformations. He has seen students, who were on the verge of dropping out of school choose to go on to college, and shy kids, who have trouble making friends, blossom into team leaders.

“Los Altos Community” is the team that cleaned up at the tournament, ranking number one overall, as well as earning the top scores in the double elimination, seeding and alliance challenge rounds. “Hillsdale High School Robotics” took home the Judge’s Choice and outstanding documentation trophies.
Grant said a new team from Paramount Collegiate Academy, a charter school in Sacramento, wore t-shirts to the tournament that had the phrase “Teach Thought” across the front of them. Ultimately, he said, those words exemplify the true mission of Botball.