My robotics team is an eclectic collection of students from AP and IB students to students with special needs. We are one of the oldest teams in South Carolina. In recent years my team has increased from 17 to 48 students. They attend not only my school, but also schools from adjacent school districts and a few home schooled students. With this degree of diversity, you could almost suspect the team to be fragmented. However, the team is very much like a family, with everyone supporting one another.
The team does more than build robots.
They learn the soft-skills that are important in college and future careers. They learn how to work together, communicate their ideas in ways that others can understand, and they learn to listen to others. During competitions, they recognize that they need to cooperate with other teams to build a winning alliance.
My Project
During a robotics competition, the excitement is on the field and the drive team is the star of the show. Another exciting part of a robotics team is the pit crew. They service the robot between matches (very much like NASCAR or Formula 1 racing). Yet, there is a less glamorous task that is crucial to a team: scouting. During qualifying matches, a trained group of students critically rate, rate, and judge other team’s robots. Their data is forwarded to a lead scout who analyzes the data using a spreadsheet. Balancing a laptop while juggling data can become frustrating to the lead scout. A padded, angled lap desk reduces the stress of adjusting your knees to maintain a computer in your lap.
Most of the arenas in which we compete do not provide conveniently placed AC outlets for teams to maintain a fully charged laptop.
The lead scout is continuously adjusting data. This will drain even the most efficient laptop battery. An external battery that can recharge the laptop is necessary to prevent a lag in scouting. In the future, the team hopes to transition from using paper to collect scouting data to using a tablet. When we make this transition, we will need an external battery that can also handle the drain of charging not only a laptop, but also several tablets.
MAXOAK 50000mAh 5/12/20v Portable Charger External Battery Power Bank for Laptop & Notebook–Most of Sony Dell Hp Toshiba Samsung Lenovo Acer IBM NEC Mobile,Tablet(not for Apple Laptop)
• Amazon Business
$129.99
1
$129.99
Lap Desk 91485 LapGear Deluxe Laptop , - Silver Carbon (Fits upto 17.3" Laptop)
• Amazon Business
$39.59
1
$39.59
Materials cost
$169.58
Vendor shipping charges
FREE
Sales tax
$11.96
3rd party payment processing fee
$2.54
Fulfillment labor & materials
$30.00
Total project cost
$214.08
Suggested donation to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
$37.78
Total project goal
$251.86
How we calculate what's needed
Total project goal
$251.86
3 Donors
-$243.04
Donations toward project cost
-$214.08
Donations to help DonorsChoose reach more classrooms
DonorsChoose is the most trusted classroom funding site for teachers.
As a teacher-founded nonprofit, we're trusted by thousands of teachers and supporters across the country. This classroom request for funding was created by Mr. Johnson and reviewed by the DonorsChoose team.
