Welcome to Oklahoma BEST. We are a not for profit organization supporting teachers in the areas of science, engineering, mathematics, technology as well as oral, written and public speaking presentation skills, by providing a venue to apply these areas of study.
Did Anyone Say ROBOTS?
Our big event is a robot building competition for middle and high school students. We are a local venue for the national program BEST Robotics. If you are thinking, “Robots, that is too expensive!” or “We couldn’t compete in something that big!” Please read on! It is very cost effective (almost free) and you can do it!
Program Format
This competition focuses on building a remote controlled robot using raw materials (wood, PVC pipe, plastic, metal hardware, etc.) along with a provided remote control & programmable controller (joystick, controller, motors and servos).
In addition to designing and building a robot, the teams document their progress in a notebook and sell their product during a presentation to the judges.
Calendar of Events
The 8 week competition starts early in the fall semester with an in person meeting where the teams will learn about this year’s challenge. Teams also pickup the materials to build a robot. When the 8 weeks is up, teams use their robot to compete for points in a game style competition. Grading of their note books, presentation and interviews also take place. A few teams will advance to the regional event that is held early December.
Location
We are part of BEST Robotics who is located in 17 states. In Oklahoma, there are two venues for BEST. The first is us, OK BEST, located in the Oklahoma City area, the other is in Alva. If you would like to see venues in other states click here.
No Cost! Well Very Little Cost.
At BEST Robotics we want these programs accessible to all. There are no fees to participate. We also provide all the necessary materials to build the robot. The participants will need to provide basic power tools (a beginner team could get by with a drill and jig saw) to create the robot, some basic craft materials like poster board, notebooks for their presentations and team spirit as well as transportation.
Who Can Participate?
This competition is open to public, private and home school students of middle and high school age UPDATE: This competition is now open to kindergarten through high school! Although we do recommend some older students (middle and high school) be the primary portion of the team. The team will need to be associated with a school or home school group. UPDATE: We also welcome community organizations (e.g. Boys & Girls Clubs, Scouts, YMCA, JCC and faith based community groups) in addition to school groups.
Team Size
There is a lot of work to do during the 8 weeks. Having a bigger team will make things much easier. That being said, the size of teams that compete are generally between 4 and 15 students. The actual size is up to you.
Thanks To Our Sponsors!
None of this would be possible with out our sponsors!
Interested? Have question?
Use the form below to contact us!