Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics Team Wins National Spirit of Innovation Award in the Aerospace Exploration Category
Phoenix Area High School Students Demonstrates Excellence in Science and Technology.
Student members of the Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics team from Central Phoenix won the Conrad Foundation’s Spirit of Innovation Awards in the Aerospace Exploration Category in a national science and technology competition that gathered some of the best high school students in the nation.
The students participating in this project are Jonathan Harris, Norma Irigoyen, David Olivaros, Bianca Rodriguez and Eduardo Fernandez. The head mentor of the team is Faridodin (Fredi) Lajvardi.
The Falcons belong to the Carl Hayden Community High School which serves mainly underprivileged children in the Central Phoenix Corridor.
The Conrad Foundation challenges students and mentors to create innovative products that employ science and technology to solve real life problems, and can be later marketed. This year the foundation accepted submission for the science competition on the following categories: Aerospace Exploration, Renewable Energy, Green Schools and Space Nutrition.
The Falcons created an EVROV (Extra Vehicular Remotely Operated Vehicle) robot that astronauts could operate via WiFi. This robot will perform tasks in space without the need for the astronauts to leave the safety of the spacecraft. It can also be an extra set of eyes and hands to repair machines in space performing simple mechanical tasks. For this EVROV the Falcons developed a 3 dimensional viewing system that will provide astronauts greater depth and accurate vision of the tasks to perform. The robot can be used for visual inspection in outer space quickly and cheaply.
The development of the 3-D viewing system on the ROV was done with components donated by Intel Corp and uses Intel processors.
The Falcons not only developed the working prototype of the EVROV but backed up their creation with the technical documents necessary for later construction and possible commercialization.
The prize for the Aerospace Category involves $5000 to prepare for a national presentation in September before a team of aerospace experts to determine the feasibility of their invention. The team has also been invited by the Conrad Foundation to attend a national science fair on the Mall in Washington, DC as part of an exhibit by the Foundation, plus more national functions to be scheduled.
As part of the presentations, participant students had the opportunity to network with engineers, scientist, inventors and astronauts.
The Carl Hayden’s Falcons had the pleasure to meet Anioushe Ansari the first Iranian-American in space, among other personalities.
The Falcons have an intense schedule of presentations and national competitions and this week will leave to Atlanta to participate in the FIRST robotics National Championships.
For more information on the Conrad’s Foundation go to http://www.conradawards.org/
For more information on the Carl Hayden Falcon Robotics’ project go to http://falconroboticsteam842.web.officelive.com/SpiritofInnovationAwards.aspx
For more information on the 3D Vision System go: http://download.intel.com/design/intarch/papers/323097.pdf
For a video on the 3D Vision System go to: http://tinyurl.com/yz2ofn9
