Trash can robot: High School Robotics initiative

Abstract

This paper, written by students on the Rockwall High School (Texas) Robotics Team, describes how we developed a remote-controlled, "talking" trash can robot for greater public exposure for our team and for greater practical experience in robotic construction and design. We were motivated by the FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) emphasis on fostering enthusiasm in the technological field on a competitive level. We used this framework in a non-competition setting to design, build, and test our trash can robot. After the construction and troubleshooting were completed, we demonstrated the trash can robot to our community, stimulating local interest in FIRST and robotics in general. We learned important real-world engineering concepts from this project and inspired fellow students with an enthusiasm for computer science, engineering, and technology.

Modular robot used as a beach cleaner

“…Some works developed at DAS served as inspiration for the project, as Douglas Bertol's master's degree dissertation: Contributions to the Development and Making of a Wheeled Mobile Robot [2], which served as guide during the project, answering some questions and presenting solutions to recurrent problems (and certifying some decisions taken on this project). Several other robotics projects and scientific papers were important to the present project: instead of starting from scratch, works as Balch's [3] inspired the specific claw design used; Fudge's [4] work presented some ideas for the storage compartment (and the robot itself) and confirmed that this work was on the right track.…”

KRISYS: A Low-Cost, High-Impact Recruiting, and

“…One such example is the increasing growth of the number of programs targeted at grade school and high school students in the area of robotics. 4,5,6 Robotics programs are a particularly good way to reach children and adolescents for several reasons:…”