Alabama Robotics Competition
Come test your computer programming skills and compete with other Alabama students for cool prizes! A fun day is planned with educational experiences, food and social activities. The Alabama Robotics Competition is an event where students write programs that navigate their robot across a series of obstacle courses. Awards will be given out in several categories across multiple grade levels (elementary school, middle school, and high school).
The initial flyer describing the event is available here. Please use the navigation bar above for additional information.
Update: Keynote Speaker announced - check out the Schedule to see more details on Tara Powell's talk entitled, "Pursuing a New Cool: Helping to build passion in today's students for tomorrow's technological challenges."
Why another robotics competition?
There are several excellent robotics competitions that already exist, such as the popular BEST Robotics events in Alabama and the world-wide FIRST Lego League competitions. This new contest complements these other events by filling in missing gaps of participation. After hearing from various K-12 teachers, it has been observed that a competition is needed in Alabama that met the following goals:
- A competiton that is open to all grades in K-12.
- An event in the Spring that offers students studying robotics additional activities to pursue throughout the entire school year (rather than just a Fall focus).
- An emphasis on programming skills, resulting in autonomous robot control, rather than a robot that is maneuvered by a remote control. Points are scored in this new competition based on the clever solutions of student programs, rather than the skill of a teammate with a remote control.
- A registration fee that is affordable - only $20 per participant (several Lego competitions have registration, fees, and kit costs over $1000).
Essential Details
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The competition is open to all Alabama students (public, private, or home schools) across all grade levels (elementary, middle, high schools).
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Teams consist of 1-3 participants. The registration fee is $20 per participant.
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The contest will feature several obstacle courses that must be navigated over a three-hour period by an autonomous robot that is programmed by each team.
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Robot programs to navigate the obstacle course may be written in any language (e.g., Mindstorms LabView, Java/Lejos, RobotC, C#, etc). It is assumed that participants already know how to program in their selected language prior to the contest.
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Students will use their own robots and their own computers to compete in the contest. Robots should be assembled in a base configuration prior to the competition.
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Each registered student will receive lunch, snack break, a T-shirt, and a certificate of participation.
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Prizes and awards will be given to the top-three teams in each division.
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Teachers, parents and family are encouraged to attend. In addition to viewing the competiton, special sessions will be provided to visitors during the event.
Important Dates
- Registration of Intent to Participate Deadline (web-based registration): March 25, 2011
- Registration payment due on day of contest
- Alabama Robotics Competition: April 2, 2011
Other Events in the Department: 2011 Summer Camps
The Department of Computer Science is also hosting three weeks of summer computer camps for high school students, with a housing option in our new residence halls for those outside of the Tuscaloosa area. The camps are focused on Java, robotics programming, and Android programming. More information about the 2011 Summer Camps is available here.
Sponsors
We gratefully acknowledge the following organizations in providing resources and support to the Robotics Competition:
