September 2019:
BotsIQ closes team registration and kicks off the school year with a Teacher Professional Development Day that provides technical and programmatic assistance to BotsIQ teachers and core student team members. Teams also receive a stipend for participating in BotsIQ. These funds may be used to purchase tools, equipment or materials to create their 15-lb combat robot (bot).
October 2019 – February 2020:
BotsIQ teams work at their schools to design, machine, build, and assemble their bots. Teams evaluate designs and document their findings for their competition binders. Also during this time, teams meet with their manufacturing industry advisors to tour a manufacturing facility and interview at least one professional from the company. Teams from underserved areas are able to apply for additional funding support to cover expenses related to transportation to visit their industry partner.
March 2020:
Teams attend their first competition and test their creations. After the event, teams return to their schools with their findings and repair and modify their bots for the final competition.
April 2020:
Teams attend the BotsIQ Finals Competition, facing the largest test of their engineering design work, and vying for the Grand Champion trophy. Since the Finals Competition is a double elimination event, teams are constantly diagnosing and repairing problems that come up throughout the competition. Documentation binders containing safety plans, engineering drawing, and system descriptions are collected and evaluated by judges.
