On May 2nd, 10 members from Commack FEC took a field trip to NYIT for their showcase competition. The objective of the competition was to bring in cool, interesting stuff that students in your school built as well as present and demonstrate it. For Commack, this was an important day. Many of the students worked vigorously on their projects in advance to make it the best it can be to possibly win the competition. 1st, 2nd, and 3rd place prizes consisted of a cash prizes from NYIT.
The first Commack project was entitled "Jerry Seinfish the Animated Clown Fish". 4 students, Scott, Andrew, Matt, and Kim worked very hard to create this animated, joke telling fish. Jerry Seinfish started out as a stuffed clown fish. By taking out his stuffing and inserting a skeleton along with wires, Jerry became animated. Along with the animation, he was able to talk, and tell jokes. Jerry told Jerry Seinfeld jokes which relates to the reason why the clown fish's name is Jerry 'Seinfish.' To add an environment and to make the whole view of Jerry more appealing, he was placed inside a fish tank which was decorated with rocks and plastic seaweed. Overall, the animatronics group did outstanding in the contest. When the judges and all of the other students saw Jerry Seinfish and his presentation, they couldn't help but smile. The animatronics group took first place out of the whole competition. The most exciting part was that they received $1,000 for taking first place!
The second Commack project was entitled "A Mode Configurable Robot." The group members, Anthony, Binoy, and I, created a robot with three modes; follow the wall, remote control, and wander. With the use of the VEX PIC Microcontroller along with many different sensors, we were able to create this robot. Two out of the three modes were autonomous; follow the wall and wander. Remote control was not autonomous because the operation of the robot depended on the human who was controlling the remote control. The different sensors used in this project assisted in helping the robot move around and function safely in its environment. In the competition, we received the "Excellence in Engineering" award.
The third and last Commack project was entitiled the "Automatic Height Sensor." Danny, Mei, and Matt created a sensor that when you stand underneath it, it automatically senses your height. Once you stood underneath, your height would appear at the top. This is a very smart idea because it could become very useful and popular in the future. For example, at amusement parks, when you have to have your height measured to get onto certain rides, with the help of the height sensor, it will be more efficient because it measures your height without having to touch anything or push any buttons. The Automatic Height Sensor received the "Innovation" award.
The NYIT showcase competition was a cool event to see what projects other schools came up with. Many of the other schools built robots, but some had other, different projects as well. Below are the links to watch videos of each project along with pictures:
"Jerry Seinfish the Animated Clown Fish"
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=5UP49NFmSLI&feature=plcp
"Mode Configurable Robot"
"Automatic Height Sensor"
Thanks for reading! Hope you enjoy!
~Ashley
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