Why can't I 'get' my rosrun parameters?

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I have a node that should be able to run other nodes. It has a basic method of doing so using

system("rosrun myproject Robot robotname:='Botty'");

This should set the parameter robotname to 'Botty'. In my Robot node file, I have this code that should retrieve that parameter:

std::string robotname;
n.getParam("robotname", robotname);
ROS_INFO(robotname.c_str());

However, nothing is printed. When I execute rosparam list, the corresponding parameter is /RobotNode1/robotname. What am I doing wrong? I think that rosparam list output might be a good hint - is there a way to set that parameter when executing rosrun without referencing RobotNode1?

[edit] n is a NodeHandle.