BISON BOTS
Challenge. Build. Compete. Create.
About BisonBots
Started in 2013 with 12 third and fourth graders, BisonBots has grown into the largest grade-school robotics program in the state of Illinois - right here at St Mary School! The purpose of BisonBots is to teach students STEM principles in a fun and supportive environment. We encourage all students to participate even if they've never thought of themselves as "robotics kids" or strong in STEM. Learn a little bit more about what to expect at BisonBots below or contact us with any questions. We hope you join us!
Students
Building and driving robots is FUN! You don't need any previous experience to join robotics. We just ask that every student comes with a positive attitude, willingness to try new things and a creative mindset.
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Often a design idea doesn't work out exactly as a student hopes it will. That's OK! The purpose of robotics is to problem-solve, learn from our mistakes and adjust or improve from them.
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BisonBots hopes to instill a life-long interest in STEM activities for each student through a fun and interactive program.
Class
BisonBots is STUDENT-CENTRIC experience. Coaches are there to teach, guide and encourage students but is the kids themselves who develop a game strategy, design their robot, build, drive, experiment and improve their bots. They typically work in teams of 2-4 and generally choose to start with a base robot design that is built through instruction books and then create modifications to achieve their desired goals.
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Class is typically 90 min long, with the first 30-45 min spent on learning concepts and the rest of the time dedicated to building and testing robots.
Competitions
At the end of the season, we host an intra-mural competition for all teams to show off their robots and compete for prizes.
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Each game has unique challenges and points scoring system that the teams design their robots to compete in and work on all season. In competition, two teams play on the same field and collectively try to score as many points together as possible in 60 seconds. Drivers must switch at 30 seconds. Multiple rounds are played swapping out teams and the team with the highest point total in the end is the winner.
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Learn more about the various games that students play.