Introduction
PSSO Robotics is a revolutionary program that provides an inspirational
learning environment for students 9 – 14 years old, wherein they
practice what they learn in class rooms, combined with latest
technology.
Objectives
The program is designed in such a manner that not only does it encourage
children to learn and implement science and technology, but it also
expose them to the real world professions. They learn professionalism
and project management.
Methodology
The world faces many challenges. In PSSO Robotics, we select one such
challenge as the theme for the season, and
Children make their team (maximum 15 – minimum 4)
Find their coach (18 years or older)
Assign roles to each team member
Arrange their own budget
Building and programming the robot (LEGO MINDSTORM NXT)
Finding their way to solve the challenge
The Team The Team comprises of 15 kids (maximum) - aged 9 to 14
years (to be eligible, a child cannot be older than 14 at the time of
registration). There are no restrictions on how and from where you form
your team. The team make-up is unique and can be created taking recourse
to numerous areas of your community for instance, schools, after-school
programs, family groups, masjid-schools, and neighborhood groups.
It is strongly recommended that students make a team of a
minimum of 10 members, if not 15. They will not only share the budget,
but also they learn teamwork. They identify their inner strengths as
they compare themselves with others.
Robotics as a hobby, profession or subject is not cheap; it
is expensive, and we encourage students to arrange their budget by
themselves. It is suggested that the interested kid should not just go
to the parents and ask them to arrange the budget. On the contrary, he
or she should take the remedy of doing something creative and in the
bargain make their own money. Make it fun, arrange games for
fundraising, but don’t ask someone to give you money for free. On the
contrary, offer them a service or product and let them know you are
doing it for your team-fundraising. For example, arrange a play at your school and make
your money from the tickets; arrange a game and let other students play
it for a pay. Take it as a challenge and you will do it. Look for some
sponsors around you. You can have your own table during the tournament
and you would be having banners, shirts, caps, etc. Lot of businesses
would like to expose themselves with your banners, shirts and caps. All
of you are very creative and smart in this.
Reminder
Students will start igniting their
energies and blowing their minds from
1st January 2010
The Coach Every team needs
to have a coach, who must be 18 years or older. The coach is very
important for the team to succeed and motivates the students to work to
their full potential. It is the team which must design and build the
robot and not the coach or any other adult, in spite of the inclination
to do so. If you do it for them or any other adult does it, this will
only spoil the revolutionary idea. Anyone else, other than the students,
doing the work, sends the children a message that the students are
incapable of doing the work. The program is designed for children
focusing on their abilities.
It does not mean that the coach or the mentor should stay
away and be idle. It is undesired to make the decision for the students,
but the students can be guided indirectly. For instance, instead of
asking the team not to put additional third servo motor, the coach or
mentor can ask the team to brainstorm ideas to make the robot be more
energy conservative.
PSSO Robotics believes that the coach should control the
whole process, keep the team motivated, distribute responsibilities, and
be patient to let them learn and practice. They will become problem
solvers by finding solutions themselves. Take the practical example of
cycling. Children learn cycling only if they practice it. If the parents
do the cycling for them then the children will never learn it.
Hint Look for sponsors around you even your school could be a
sponsor, they can have there company name on your shirt, banner
or cap. Lot of companies would like to expose them in this way.
Additionally, as the coach should also take care after the
team, especially when they are in team meeting or when there is an
event. An eye ought to be kept on every child, teaching them how to
tackle varying conditions and situations. They should be well-informed
of some basic practices like – they should always stay with their team,
they must always inform the coach incase of leaving the game area (e.g.,
bathroom, drinking, eating), they should not leave the facility unless
they get permission of their coach. Parent’s guardian should inform the
coach while taking the child back to home.
At PSSO we believe that every child comes with a specialty,
or a tendency towards a specific field. Some are good in physics, math,
chemistry, and others are good in biology. We want the children to
identify their strengths and develop teamwork skills. Assign them some
responsibilities and roles, rotating the roles with the endeavor that
everyone can try everything to identify his own strengths.
The PSSO Robotics team can be divided into the following roles.
Project
Management – Be professional –
do it as a project. Get focused, discuss ideas, identify risk
factors and strengths, and keep everyone on the schedule.
Fundraising
– Seek possibilities of making money; arrange a play at your school,
a game, or find sponsor.
Research
– Look around your self; find people who have an impact on the
problem, try arranging team meetings with them. Search the internet
for existing solutions, and sources of knowledge.
Strategy Analysis
– Analyze the whole structure of the competition and put your plan
that can accomplish the mission.
Building
– The design solution comes from research and analysis. Try
distributing the constituents and responsibilities of robot-building
among students, as every one wants to enjoy its experience.
Programming
– Depends on the design and analysis – let the team make the
decision.
Robot Operators
– Two students at a time are allowed to operate the robot at a
tournament and any other official event. Decide about them in a
discussion with your team. They should be able to work
under-pressure and in tense situations
Marketing
– Find a name, and design a logo for your team. Let people around
you know about you and your team. Invite them to watch your
performance during the events.
Presentation
– Prepare a presentation about your project, the challenge and your
solution.
Documentation
– Keep proper documentation of your team work, budget, schedule,
success, and failure. Record every thing that happens during the
PSSO Robotics season. This will help you reach the top the next
season or sustain your existence even for the next. Make a movie of
your teamwork, record interview, etc. Do things professionally –
bring about a revolution! Write some stories on the season
performance.
Meetings and
workshops PSSO Robotics arranges a weekend (Wednesday & Thursday)
workshop and meeting for the teams to collaborate with each other. The
team needs to arrange their own meetings - at PSSO facility, at their
school, or at their home. For how long? And how many time per week? It
is up to the coach and the team. A new team may need to have more
frequent and longer meetings initially. The team has the liberty to
decide about the amount of effort they want to put in.
Note PSSO Robotics recommends that the
team arrange their budget by themselves not by their parents or
school. First make your team, select your coach, and then call a
meeting on how can be the budget arranged. Accept charity only
from team members, offer a service or a product to raise your
funds, arrange a play, or game at your school to make money.
PSSO Robotics will
provide workshop question-and-answer sessions on all weekends. the team
must attend the workshop at-least once a week to show progress, to share
their learning, and to help others learn.
The Tournament The tournament is
divided into sub-events. Teams participate in sub-events and earn points
to qualify for the championship tournament. Beside this, small events
would be produced so that children practice in preparation for the final
contest.
Skirmish
Tournament
– It is a small event executed at PSSO facility and Malls. There is
no judging or any award for this kind of tournament; this is for
practice and for boosting energy.
Qualifying
Tournament – It is an event
produced just before the final battle. In this event teams earn
points and qualify for the final competition. Qualifying tournaments
do involve judging.
Championship
Tournament – It is the final
and the largest tournament of the season. There are rules,
evaluations, and awards. The team must qualify the qualifying
tournament to participate in the final championship.
Location: Prince Salman Science
Oasis, opposite KACST (King Abdulaziz City for Science and Technology)
residency, King Abdullah Road, Riyadh.
Contact: Fazal Hadi Saif
Program Manager
PSSO Robotics
Prince Salman Science Oasis
Phone # 2814477
Fax # 2811780
E-mail: hadi@psso.org.sa
