By Andrew Knittle
After months of preliminary competition, the KISS Institute for Practical Robotics' 2008 International Botball Tournament got under way Wednesday with three seeding rounds that will shape Friday's double-elimination finale.
High school and middle school students from all over the world -- including teams from Kuwait and Poland -- converged on the third floor of the University of Oklahoma's Oklahoma Memorial Union, where the tense rounds were played out for five grueling hours.
Teams were not squared off against actual opponents. Instead, the groups and their robots -- which are all made from the same materials, including Legos and the base of one of those robot vacuums -- performed tasks that earned them points to improve their seeding.
Whittier Middle School, which has both boys' and girls' teams, fared the best during Wednesday's seeding rounds, placing 8th and 17th respectively.
George Beaver, coach of the Whittier boys' team, said his group is used to taking on older students and, despite the fact his kids are normally among the youngest at competitions, they're held to same rules and guidelines as the high schoolers.
"The students are to do all the work, we're just kind of there to referee somewhat and maybe set some rules for them," Beaver said. "But we're supposed to be able to do this [coach the team] with our hands behind our backs -- we're not allowed to touch the robots."
Alcott Middle School also did well Wednesday, tying the Whittier girls' team for 17th place. Norman High, a two-time champ, placed in the middle at 30th, while Longfellow Middle School slid in at 56th place -- a three-way tie that includes Moore West Junior High.
Last year's champion, Cedar Brook Academy from Clarksburg, Md., placed 4th in the seeding rounds.
Far from a polite, academic competition, Botball is a serious sport for the youngsters who compete in the tournaments, and many of them have been at it for years by the time they reach high school.
Amy Simcsuk, assistant coach for the Whittier girls' team, said the level of competition among the students isn't too far removed from more mainstream sports like football or basketball.
"They are amped," she said. "They want to get out there and do their best. They want to win; they want to beat everybody."
She added that Whittier's two teams frequently competed against each other, which is one of the ways the two improved during the season.
"That's what we do all year long is compete against each other and build ideas off each other's," Simcsuk said.
Charlie Bevers, coach of the Whittier girls' team, said he has high hopes for both squads from his school.
"With everything we have done, and with all the kids have done, we expect the boys to be 1 or 2," Bevers said. "They have an excellent chance to win if everything goes right."
"And we expect the girls to place in the top 10 as well," he added.
Three of Whittier's students, Alex Spens, Nafis Saman and Braden McDorman, were selected to display the group's robot -- which solves a Rubik's Cube in about 14 minutes -- in a special showcase Wednesday night.
The machine, which has to be seen to be believed, is made of little more than Legos and black tape.
Spens, who speaks German and probably has an off-the-charts IQ, is the one who dreamed it up.
"I just came up with one day," he said. "It took about two weeks of designing and about two weeks to build."
The next round of competition, which is played in a double elimination format, is set for Friday afternoon at the same location. But this time teams will compete against each other face-to-face.
Andrew Knittle 366-3527 aknittle@normantranscript.com
