The Purple Gears – Cranking Out Innovation

By Kim Wierman

How do you lift batons from a vertical dispenser without using your hands?

If you’re the Purple Gears, a seven student team from Raleigh, N.C., taking part in this year’s FIRST Tech Challenge, you design, build and apply to patent a foldable forklift.

Team 2901 – as they’re officially known – encountered the baton problem while preparing for the 2011 FTC challenge “Get Over It,” one of four annual robotics FIRST contests famed inventor Deam Kamen founded in 1989.

The Cardinal Gibbons High School students and coach John Toebes all had a hand in developing the patent-pending foldable forklift invention.

“Like all good inventions,” says Toebes, “the foldable forklift came out of the need to solve a number of constraints during this year’s competition, one of which was how to get batons out of a vertical dispenser.”

FIRST competitions limit the size and type of materials teams can use. Their robot had to fit within an 18-inch cube at the beginning of the competition. But to perform successfully, a baton

needed to be raised more than 24 inches.

A foldable forklift would fit within the size limitations and also give the team the ability to rotate the baton into the right position.

Before the design could work, however, team members had to experiment with idler wheels, chain and gear placement and cutting techniques to align the parts for smooth movement.

Toebes says the patent-application process has been relatively smooth thanks to Haynes and Boone, one of the world’s top international patent firms.

Attorneys at the firm recognized the value of the invention and offered to help.

Members of Team 2901 are: Ariana Keeling, Sarah Dyer, Stefano Fenu, Sean Lanier, Marc Celestini, Lauren Keeling and Erin Dyer.

The Purple Gears demonstrated the attributes of the foldable forklift via detailed videos and drawings that showcased its novel components. Haynes and Boone then prepared the patent application.

Toebes says the foldable forklift represents “a new way of thinking about a problem and offers a novel solution that didn’t exist previously.”

He says although each member of the team played an important part in creating the tool, team member Sarah Dyer was the first to suggest they could use an arm to rotate a baton once it was picked up.

Team Captain Ariana Keeling and teammate Sean Lanier suggested a different lifting mechanism for the baton, which ultimately evolved into the forklift design.

The team worked through a number of problems ─ including stabilizing the lift and eliminating one chain ─ before they refined the design and ultimately filed for a patent.

“FIRST shows students how to experiment, innovate and help one another,” says Toebes. “They also learn valuable lessons like time management and working within real-world conditions.”

“In addition to the foldable forklift project, we’ve participated in community events that showcase the FTC program, worked with our school to help attract new students and have been able to reach out to and learn from other teams,” Dyer says. “The skills I’ve acquired are invaluable and are ones I will use throughout my life.”

Through FIRST, team members also learned how to hone their technical skills such as how to machine parts, cut aluminum and run a drill press.

“This year we’ve learned to use a milling machine and Creo, CAD software from PTC,” says Sean Lanier. “I entered in some of the side panels for our robot and used the machine to cut them out. Marc (Celestini) used a wizard on the machine to etch the team number into the side panel.”

“Our goal is to create lifelong interest in science and engineering for students,”

says Robin Saitz, senior vice president of solutions marketing and communications at PTC and a FIRST executive sponsor.

“Team 2901 has the curiosity, ingenuity and passion to push ideas into reality ─ becoming tomorrow’s innovations. PTC is proud to provide financial resources, technology and product design and collaboration software to students worldwide to help build that pipeline of future engineers and leaders.”

About FIRST

FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology) is a non-profit organization devoted to helping young people discover a passion for science, engineering, technology, and math. FIRST Tech Challenge (FTC) is one of the organization’s four programs that culminate in an annual international robotics competition where teams gain self-confidence, develop life skills, and nurture an affinity for the STEM disciplines. There are more than 210,000 youth and over 90,000 mentors, coaches, and volunteers from 56 countries involved with the organization. Visit http://www.usfirst.org/

Editor’s note: This article appears in the July 2011 print edition

Not a subscriber!? Click here now!

IVLogo