Hanalani team again wins robotics tourney

A Hanalani Schools robotics team became champion of the International Botball Tournament for the second year in a row.

The Mililani school competed last weekend against 64 teams from places around the world, including Qatar, Austria, Poland and the mainland, during the Global Conference of Educational Robotics in Orange County, Calif.

"None of Hanalani’s team members are seniors, so I look forward to see what the team will bring to the competition next year," said Jimmy Miller, Hawaii’s botball program coordinator.

Hanalani’s botball coach is Chenfu Chiang, and the team went into the competition as the first-place overall winner of the 2011 Hawaii Regional Botball Tournament.

The 2011 Global Conference on Educational Robotics is an annual event in which middle school and high school students, educators, robotics enthusiasts and professionals gather to discuss technology-related ideas and enjoy a robot tournament.

Botball involves students in a team-oriented robotics competition based on national science education standards.