Our Technology Manager received a letter in the mail earlier this week from ‘BotsIQ’. They have a division here in the southwestern Pennsylvania area, and are looking to expand their competition to 48 teams for their 2009 event. Even though completion of the application does not ensure us a spot (something about a lottery system), we are thinking about applying nonetheless.
My big question is, has anyone heard of BotsIQ? And what it is, exactly? It sounds like it has some school curriculum behind it, and the competition itself is basically “battle bots”. Anyone who knows of this, or has participated, please explain in detail what BotsIQ is all about, and if you think it would be a good secondary project for our FIRST team. Thanks!
http://www.botsiqpa.org/index.asp
Thats exactly what it is, BotsIQ is the high school version of Battlebots. I have judged a competition and it can be alot of fun. There is crossover in the parts used for each, but realize that since this is battlebots, you bot will most likely be destroyed. The one thing I really learned through participating in BB is designing for durability.
If you have the resources I say go for it, but realize there are alot of differences between the two competitions.
Ok, my team used to compete in the BBIQ every year until we decided to switch to FIRST. We tried to do both of them last year, but could not pull it off due to schedule problems. Like was said before, they are alot different. That does not mean that you can not apply what you know from one to the other. For instance, my team knows all about durability. Our bots have been tipped repeatedly, fell off of other bots last year from a foot and landed on its side, this past year we had a team do nothing but try and destroy our robot, we have taken ramming from acrossed the field. All of this and we have yet to have a bot break. Why? Because after having someone come after your work with a chain saw, a little fall seems like nothing. If you need to work on your defense, there is no better place then the BBIQ.