Contact:

Jim Green / Ed Campion
Goddard Spc Flt Ctr, Greenbelt, Md.
(Phone: 301/286-7354 / 8955)

Darcy Schein
Botball Program Manager
Phone: 405/579-4609 (work) or 405/923-4503 (cell)

STUDENT-BUILT ROBOTS COMPETE FOR D.C. BOTBALL TITLE

Students from around the Washington Metropolitan area will go head-to-head in a fast-paced robot competition this Saturday, May 3, 2003 at the University of Maryland’s Ritchie Coliseum. The event is designed to engage students in learning the practical applications of science, technology, engineering and math through robot building and programming.

Middle and high school students from across the region have spent the past six weeks designing, building and programming their robots to compete in the D.C. Regional Botball Tournament. The robots compete on a 4-foot by 8-foot game board and score points by moving colored balls into scoring position. Each school's team of two robots must turn themselves on and off, react to their opponent and maneuver on the game board without the use of remote controls.

The total number of teams this year is 49 with 20 from Virginia, 24 from Maryland, and five from Washington DC. Included in this years contest is the Model Secondary School for the Deaf. This year’s competition will utilize a variety of motion, infrared, and vision sensors in the robot designs.

NASA’s Goddard Space Flight Center is a major sponsor of the event with funding going to nearly 20 teams and to support the over all event. In addition, a number of GSFC civil servants and contractors are mentors to the teams or judges at the competition while others will be supporting NASA display booths at the event.

“In the six years this event has been going on, we have NEVER turned a team away because they couldn't raise the funds” said NASA’s Jim Green. “If the kids are motivated to have a team, we find a way to fund them! No one is left behind.”

Green points out that a large number of Goddard employees devote their extra time to work with these kids as mentors, or judges, or manning the booths and that level of participation is something he is extremely proud of.

Green says the kids that participate in this contest are highly gifted and interested in computer engineering. "We want them as summer students, we want them to come and work at GSFC when they finish. They are our future leaders."

The DC Regional Botball Tournament begins with registration/practice time beginning at 8 a.m. The seeding round activity will take place at 10 a.m. and double elimination competition will start at 1:30 p.m. The awards ceremony is scheduled for 5 p.m.

The tournament is open to the news media. The event is also open to the public and there is no admission charge. For more information on the event, news media can call Jim Green at 301/286-7354 or reach him by email at James.L.Green@nasa.gov

Botball is presented nationwide by the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics. KISS Institute, founded in Reston, Va., is dedicated to linking people and technology through education, outreach and research.

For more information on Botball, visit www.botball.org or call 405/579-4609.

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