And the Winners of Our Grants Are...
After tallying the student votes from the live pitch event and our committee scores, we have selected the winners of our spring 2016 student project development grants.
Polina Brodsky – RoboZoo
The goal of RoboZoo is to introduce middle school students to programming, engineering and teamwork through a hackathon in which they design and build robotic animals. They will do this by holding a 2 day make-a-thon for middle school students, where they will build a robot petting zoo. Students will be introduced to programming in Scratch with a sample project. Then in groups of three, students will receive microcontrollers, actuators, sensors, craft supplies and boxes to create their robotic animal that can interact with others.
They will use the grant to fund supplies for the robotic animals, 3D printing for components and lunch for the students.
Katherine Beigel - Hyperaccumulator Robot
The Hyperaccumulator Robot is a remotely operated robotic heavy metal accumulator designed to decontaminate water. Its design is based on ‘hyperaccumulators,’ which are plants that can accumulate heavy metals from their soil environment into their biomass. It would be a useful addition to brown field and polluted site remediation. Ultimately, the goal is for the robot to promote accessibility and usability by citizen scientists who want to participate in ecological restoration.
The grant will provide access to 3D printing, technological support and funds for the materials.
Peter Hollander – Talaria VR
Talaria is an unobtrusive wearable device that senses walking motion, directly translating that motion into movement in virtual reality. You are able to strap the device onto your heels. When the user walks in place, it translates that into in-game movement at the appropriate direction and speed.
The grant will help continue the professional development of the product, as well as fund 3D printed parts.
Want to continue to watch the development of these projects? Stay tuned to our website, Twitter(link is external) and Facebook(link is external) for updates.