Based on the feedback given to each Technical Team at our Mid Grant Technical Review, we have made significant progress on improving our next prototype. Below, each team describes the progress they have made in building their second prototype: Materials Team One of the most critical decisions made due to our feedback and test plans was selecting the material that would be used in the final prototype. Of the two materials used on our first prototype, 420 Denier Cloth and WeatherMax, we decided that Weathermax would suit our needs best due to its water repellency, insulating qualities, and durability. According to the design specifications, WeatherMax is a 100% solution dyed polyester that incorporates UV resistant characteristics for long-term color and strength retention along with excellent breathablity and abrasion resistance. The HydroMAX finish of the material is water repellent, mildew and oil resistant, has anti-microbial properties and a minimum UV resistance of 1000 hours but only weighs 6.5 oz./sq. yard due to the use of a filament rather than a spun yarn like acrylic fabrics. In addition to these qualitites, we perfected our methods when it came to sewing the tent. We did extensive amounts of research as to which stitches would be best fitted for our purpose. We followed the guidance that was found in this research, as well as tweaked a few minor sewing errors we encountered through the process of making our first prototype. Most importantly, we’ve taken various precautions to ensure little to no mistakes are made while sewing, giving us a smoother process and better quality stitching. In short, we took into consideration the various problem areas we found and worked on improving them to make sure we have maximum durability and functionality in our final tent. Solar Power Team At MGTR, the Solar team had the codes for the PIR sensor and LED light and countdown timer working separately. Since then we’ve integrated the code for the PIR sensor, UV-C (blue LEDs we’re using in place of actual UV-C LED lights), and countdown timer. With regards to the countdown timer, we have stopped using it and are now working on integrating our code for the LCD display and PIR sensor and UV-C lights. As previously mentioned, our team was only using a single LED light with our PIR sensor at MGTR, but we have since soldered white LED lights and blue LED lights (acting as our UV-C lights) onto separate stripboards to accommodate the design we have come up with for our final prototype. Moreover, we decided that we needed a case to house all the wires, battery, Arduinos, USB ports, push button, sensor, and lights. We are currently started a 3D design for our case because our team will 3D print it. Additionally, our team is also working on integrating our PIR sensor and UV-C lights code with our LCD display code to get them to work together. We are also working on connecting our white LED lights to a switch so that the user is able to get light whenever they need it and to not risk them confusing the UV-C light button and regular white LEDs and turning on the UV-C instead because that is very perilous. More recently, we ordered a logic level and got it to make our LEDs brighter because the Arduino would take all the power and leave our lights very dim. Structures Team Since our Mid Grant Technical Review, Structure’s team has applied itself to ameliorate our first prototype. One of our first steps was to make decision on what would happen to the fiberglass rods we were using for our first prototype. As a team, we came to the conclusion that we had two options for the fiberglass poles, we either cut the poles to a shorter length or we can leave the poles that we currently had. We decided that we would keep the current fiberglass poles, 13 feet with a ¼ diameter, to facilitate the process of developing our final prototype. We also had to make a decision on the tent clips that are used at the bottom of the fiberglass rods. We then came to conclusion that instead of developing new clips, we should just add a safety feature to the tent in general so that it can be safer for the occupants to open. The next step we took was breaking into two smaller groups in order to complete the goals that we had set. Two members from our team worked on refining the backpack for the tent. First we drew out an outline of what the backpack would look like and then they worked on cutting the material. Right after this process, they started sewing it together and they also added the rolling capability, which was one of the requirements for our backpack. The other 2 person group worked on enhancing the lap table, which was an added feature to our tent. The first step we took was deciding what materials we would be using, including the base and the material to cover it. We then worked on sewing polyester onto the base and adding velcro onto it since the lap table will be attached onto a part of the tent. Furthermore, we also added a plastic mirror sheet, which was a feature that we agreed our lap table should include.
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Thanks to generosity of our community, we've reached our $15,000 goal on GoFundMe! Over 200 people joined together to give us the necessary funds we need to get to MIT. We hope to make you all proud when we present our invention aimed at helping the homeless population of Los Angeles.
Just today, we were able to purchase our plane tickets to Boston! Only 62 days until take off! For many of our girls, it will be their first time on a plane and the first time leaving home. The girls have been working all throughout their Spring Break to finish their invention in time for EurekaFest, and your words of inspiration and generous donations provide the motivation we need to get there! On Friday February 15th, the DIY Girls presented their prototype to their school, San Fernando Math/ Science and Technology Magnet. This presentation served us as great practice for our upcoming presentations. During our school presentation, we got experience as to how to speak in front of a crowd, hold a microphone correctly, and overcoming stage nervousness. We had such a supportive crowd that day, that we felt as if we were at home. Nonetheless, we still got evanescent moments of nervousness, but we were able to push through and finish in victory. During our school presentation, we brought awareness to homelessness as well as possible solutions to help out the homeless community. We felt it was very important for the students at our school to understand the gravity of the situation and how they can help out.
This past Wednesday Mr. Ford Roosevelt, the President of Project GRAD, came to visit our DIY Girls InvenTeam to see how the prototype was coming along. We had such an amazing time with Mr. Roosevelt and were even more excited to hear that some of his friends attended our Mid- Year Technical Review.
Mr. Roosevelt is the President and CEO of Project Grad Los Angeles, an organization that has been working to raise the college graduation rate in a high-need region of the county by helping students and families navigate the path to and through college (projectgradla.org). He came to encourage us to aim high and never lose sight of our goal. During our talk, we spoke about our prototype and what we want to include for the next prototype. We also discussed what colleges the senior girls had applied to and what colleges the junior girls would like to apply to. It was truly an amazing experience to speak with Mr. Roosevelt and it was even more exciting to hear that he supported our cause. We hope to see Mr. Roosevelt and his friends soon! At our Mid Grant Technical Review, we presented our first prototype to a group of engineers from the MIT Club of Southern California, teachers, family members, and government officials, which included Congressman Tony Cardenas and California Secretary of State Alex Padilla. The goal was to inform them about our invention and receive feedback on areas that we could improve. This was accomplished before our presentation when people had the opportunity to learn about our team's roles and pose questions about our individual contributions to the invention.
By the time the event was over, everyone in the audience, especially our family members, expressed surprise and deference at discovering what we've been tirelessly working on for months. As a team, we received a lot of positive feedback about our presentation and how well-spoken we all were. We also received feedback for each part of the project, as described below: Structures The Structure Team presented the overall process we went through to decided on our final tent design. We displayed the "spider-like mechanism" that made up the supporting structure of the first tent we had purchased. In doing this, we were showing our viewers the different possible designs that we had originally considered for our tent. Alongside this "spider-like mechanism" we presented carbon fiber poles that we had originally purchased to test out different types of pole material for our tent. We also displayed a 3D printer along with the 3D printed clips that we had created on Tinkercad to demonstrate one step we had taken within our process. Our team received a lot of helpful feedback that will definitely be taken into consideration in the next steps of our process. One of these pieces of feedback was to try ordering the tent clips needed for our tent to disassemble, instead of 3D printing, and possibly using a stronger material for them. We also received feedback to include a picture demonstration about how our tent assembles and disassembles. Our team will definitely be using the feedback we received at MGTR. We will be looking into different materials we could use to print our tent clips and also do research to see if we can perhaps find a company that has a professional 3D printer. The Structure team has also discussed on how we will approach using the feedback we received in regards to including a visual representation on how to assemble and disassemble our tent. Materials At our Mid Grant Technical Review, the materials team presented our first prototype. We had the opportunity to showcase our tent and explain the process of selecting its fabric as well as the sewing. We received great feedback from our visitors; for example, many were impressed of what we had done and how we successfully put together a tent. Others asked us intriguing questions and gave us suggestions that we want to take into account. One being that since we are going to improve our first prototype and make another, we should take as much information as we can by testing its capabilities. We can do this by condensing its size to the point where it may break and flooding it with water to test its maximum capacities. We want to use this feedback to better our prototype. Solar Power The solar power team presented our part of the project, which included a solar panel that charges LED lights, a phone charger, and our UVC LED light safety features. In displaying our safety features, we were also able to display our codes, a seven segment timer, and a passive infrared sensor. Our team got positive feedback from the people that we talked to. They thought that the safety features were very intricate. Some of the feedback we received included how to check if our UVC lights are able to sanitize and where all the solar panel components will be stored. They also asked how long it takes to charge the LED light bulb and how long it takes to sanitize the tent using the UV lights. We will use this to develop our project by creating test plans for our UV lights and by using it to decide how many components will hold all of our features. During MGTR, I felt as if all our hard work was being recognized and paid off. Being able to socialize with the people before the presentation made it even easier as everyone approached us easily and we were able to answer questions more freely. We are so thankful for all those people who gave us tips and advised us as to what we could improve on. Because of this, we are able to gain a different perspective on our prototype based on the comments we received. This lead me to feel determined to improve our prototype. After experiencing MGTR, I'm even more excited and motivated to help the homeless population of Los Angeles. We realized just how big a deal what we're doing is, and how it can affect many people’s lives for the better. We were never aware of how proud we are making our community by helping create an invention that’s directed to helping the homeless population. Up to that moment, everything had felt like a school project, but afterwards, it started to feel like we were solving a real-world problem. This invention isn’t just important for our school but also our community! I can’t wait until we start making our second prototype and further improve our invention. We are thrilled to go to MIT in June! I can't wait to show even more people what we put our sweat, blood, and tears into. This last month has been very important for all teams as the deadline for the first prototype is January 8, 2017. Since school let out for Winter Break, our team has been meeting every weekday for 3 hours a day. We have made a lot of progress towards building our prototype.
Below are some of the accomplishments from each team. Solar Panel Team This month the solar panel team has made a lot of progress in regards to their prototype. We created our first prototype in which a solar panel charges a single battery. We also used a soldering iron to build a solar panel connected to a USB port using a breadboard. We wanted to be able to charge a cell phone from solar power to see if we can incorporate this in our invention. While making these prototypes, we learned a lot about electricity and physics! We experimentally discovered how a diode and a resistor affect current and learned about Ohm’s Law. We also got the chance to speak to an electrical engineer, Luis Luna, who provided advice on how to approach the project. Structures Team In the past month structures team has been working very hard to learn about different tent structures and styles. After weeks of research, we ordered two different tents with different structures so that we would be able to see which structure best met our needs. After debating and seeing the pros and cons of both tents we were able to finalize the design and materials of our tent’s structure. Most importantly, we have narrowed our choices for the poles that are going to be used for the tent. Throughout this month we have been able to accomplish our goal of ordering the material needed to build the structure of our prototype. Materials team Our materials team has been working very closely on testing fabrics that would best fit our tent. We first believed kevlar, carbon fiber, or polyester will suit our tent but after running our test plans, we saw that the kevlar wasn't water repellent and polyester was too stiff for the flexible structure we had planned. We explored other options where we ordered sample packs of fabrics that would fit into our criteria of water repellency, durability, and insulating. This lead us to order nylon, 420D cloth, and WeatherMax cloth. We performed a durability test and water repellency on these fabrics and we are currently in the process of selecting WeatherMax or 420D cloth for our tent because nylon was a weaker fabric. We have also decided that the base of our tent will have a foam padding to support the homeless with cushion instead of a hard cement floor. In the next two weeks, we plan to to have our fabric set and and order all the materials for our final prototype. We also expect to receive our materials for our first prototype that way we can focus on sewing and the dimensions of our tent. We are excited to receive our sewing machine this week! On Monday, November 17, 2016, our team had the privilege of meeting Leigh Estabrooks, the Invention Education Officer for the Lemelson-MIT Program. We started our meeting with an exercise: we all introduced ourselves and mentioned what major we wish to pursue in college. Mrs. Estabrooks proceeded to discuss our team’s project. After reading the judges’ comments from our application, such as choosing the ideal person the tent was going to be used by, she gave us her own suggestions for what to use and do to implement the features we want on our backpack. For example, she advised the Solar Panel team to research other forms of renewable energy, like salt.
Most importantly, she reminded us that we needed to narrow our vision and make sure to realize that our tent isn’t supposed to solve homelessness everywhere; we need to focus on finding a solution for dealing with homelessness in LA. Our Structures team finally received their first tent! The team was momentarily shocked when they discovered that the instructions were in another language. However, they didn’t let this deter them and proceeded to work together to try and figure out how to assemble and disassemble it. Subsequently, all four of them were tasked with erecting and deconstructing it alone.
At lunchtime, the team got into a 15-seater van and rode through LA traffic to get to USC for a presentation by Gregory Kloehn, an artist and contractor from Oakland, CA who started constructing and giving homes to people in need. He now runs the Homeless Homes Project, which works to use ingenuity and discarded material on the street to build homes for the homeless. After showing us pictures and telling us a little more about his project, our team was introduced to R. Scott Mitchell, an Assistant Professor in the Practice of Architecture, and his graduate students who presented us the 5 shelters they designed and built with materials found on the streets of LA. We were able to step in and see how comfortable and spacious these homes were. Professor Mitchell then offered to show us the two robots his students use for projects. Two of our teammates, Aracely and Daniela, got to use the smaller robot. Overall, we were all very happy and thankful to have met these individuals who are working towards the same goal: giving people in need a little bit of hope.
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