Students program two autonomous robots in agriculture-themed challenge

The popular Botball programming competition for high school students took place March 3 at CMU-Q, resulting in a win for the Lebanese School. This year’s theme called for students to use robotics to assist a mock agricultural operation. Tariq bin Ziad Secondary School for Boys placed second.

Held each year at CMU-Q, the annual Botball competition is an opportunity for high school students to expand their skills in programming and computer science. CMU-Q students and faculty members help organize the event.

Ossama Ali, a junior in the Information Systems Program, participated in Botball four times when he was in high school. Now at CMU-Q, this is his third year as a student organizer: “The high schoolers do a lot of coding, and they learn how to use different ways to approach a problem. It provides a good opportunity for them to talk to the professors and current students and learn more about CMU-Q.”

Damian Dourado, director of pre-college programs at CMU-Q and the organizer of Botball, explained the learning component of the competition: “We first hold a workshop for students and teachers to introduce the challenge and familiarize them with the robots and equipment. By the time they compete, the students know what they are doing. They are very enthusiastic about what is a pretty tough exercise in computer science.”