Community Engineering
We have been using robotics and engineering to help our community ever since we innovated a robotic fire hydrant for our local fire department. Each year, students from Team 1540 have the opportunity to participate in different community engineering projects. Our projects develop solutions to help local communities by partnering with nonprofits, corporate partners, and other FIRST robotics teams. We often submit these projects to competitions like the Conrad Challenge, Clean Tech, and InvenTeam.
BeanBagBot allows individuals affected by spinal cord injuries who are unable to play cornhole. The robot was debuted at the Oregon Spinal Cord Injury Connection’s Cornhole Tournament.
BeanBagBot
Inefficient and water-wasting sprinkler systems are frequently utilized to water lawns and gardens. Many sprinklers oversaturate the ground, resulting in water waste and runoff that contributes to problems including soil erosion and water contamination. This waste of water is a significant problem, as it can have serious environmental and economic consequences. Because water is a limited resource that is becoming increasingly scarce in some locations, wasting it through ineffective irrigation techniques can have a negative influence on the economy by raising water prices and other costs.
FlowSync
Climate Score delivers a tool that helps to address the general issue of climate health by assessing a property’s climate impact. Climate Score provide users with the vital information necessary to make smarter decisions about managing their current property or purchasing a future one.
Climate Score
All across the U.S., over 3 million wheelchair users face the problem of accessibility. Stairs are one of the most common problems with accessibility. SnapRamp is an innovative solution to this. Made of LEGO-like blocks, our ramp is a portable, inexpensive, easy-to-install ramp that solves a common problem among wheelchair users.
SnapRamp
A common task in industrial settings is to open, fill and close zip lock bags with little parts. You’ll often find these tiny bags with things you buy filled with fasteners and such. People with physical or cognitive differences can have difficulty doing this efficiently. ZipBag is an electromechanical device that makes it a snap.
ZipBag
A common problem in the garment industry are the extra threads left over after sewing a seam, called thread tails. Someone has to trim those threads but that can be difficult for people with disabilities. This team created an ingenious 3D-printed shell that integrates an off-the-shelf shaver and portable vacuum into a device that makes this task much quicker.
4T
TaskTime, in many ways, builds off the work of a group of students on team 1540 who were SourceAmerica finalists a couple years ago. The app they designed, nicknamed “JonApp” was built to help Jon, a staff member in Catlin’s media department, catalogue and keep track of the camera equipment. The JonApp was designed and coded specifically to Jon’s needs at the time, and the way in which it was developed didn't allow for easy addition or deletion of new cameras, equipment, tasks, or projects.
TaskTime
WaterWand is an all-in-one mobile water quality monitoring system designed specifically for the nonprofit environmental organization, Surfrider. WaterWand provides an inexpensive and easy-to-use solution for water quality monitoring of oceans, lakes, and rivers. Using WaterWand, environmental nonprofits like Surfrider will be able to monitor the health of aquatic ecosystem, and take action in preserving local ecology and aquatic life. Waterwand was a entrant in the Lexus EcoChallenge.
WaterWand
AbleMail is an email client that works to remove the accessibility barriers that current email clients present for people with cognitive disabilities. AbleMail was a winner of the Congressional App Challenge.
AbleMail
The JonApp is a task oriented app that supports individuals with cognitive or developmental disabilities. It helps them gain independence and become more efficient in the workplace. It was designed for Jon, an individual who works at Catlin Gabel organizing media equipment, and has cognitive disabilities. The Jon App was national winner of the Source America Design Challenge and the Congressional App Challenge.
The JonApp
WashPod provides off-the-grid and transportable laundry and shower facilities to the previously houseless population. WashPod was a winner of the Lexus Eco Challenge.
WashPod
JuiceBox is an efficient and sustainable way to provide electricity to off-the-grid, portable pods for previously homeless people. The JuiceBox was a winner of The Lexus Eco Challenge.
JuiceBox
ScumBot was designed to fight the common problem of eutrophication, where an excessive amount of nutrients and demand for biological oxygen depletes resources in an ecosystem, therefore killing off life in the area. In response, the Catlin Gabel InvenTeam created a fleet of autonomous robots to address this problem.
ScumBot
Water Trotter was designed with an eye for utilizing easy to get and accessible resources, with the intent of not limiting usage due to a lack of materials. Another upside of Water Trotter is that it uses an ultraviolet purification lamp, placed in between the two tires and so that when the tires rotate, it powers the generator to run the UV lamp. The generated light kills the tiny invisible bacteria in the water, thus purifying the water.
