NKN hosts robotics summer camp

Microplastics are a global environmental issue that particularly impact coastal communities. There aren’t a lot of ways to remove small pieces of plastic from our environment so our team decided to attempt to tackle a collection device.

If microplastics are removed by hand the process is pretty onerous - requiring a lot of dull hand labor and this made it a good candidate to tackle as a summer camp project for the NKN Robotics team. This program was focused on helping the nine students who attended learn collaborative skills together and become stronger engineers and programmers.

Students built a microplastics sifting robot with the goal of being able to sift larger (>5mm) microplastics from dry sand on the beach. Their solution involved designing and building a 24-inch tank tread chassis, a plow sifter with star shaped scoops that propelled sand into a trailer with a screened base. All aspects of this design required multiple iterations, from quick duct tape applications to CAD modeled propellers.

Students worked together on tasks to design and build the robot, program and test the functionality of the different solutions they came up with, and document their experiences. Older students spent significant time helping younger students gain skills. Two new programmers learned Onbot Java which will help the team significantly when competition season starts in September. All nine students earned .25 high school credit for the work they did during summer camp.

The event culminated in a beach party celebration of the final robot design nicknamed both “Sandy the Sand Eater,” and “Dave the Devourer.” Whenever the team attempted a vote on a single name for the robot, participants would find themselves switching sides until there was a tie. Eventually, we decided that there was no reason that the robot couldn’t have two names. Hopefully, this level of indecision will not follow the team into the upcoming season.

Students worked hard, and played hard - lots of snacks were consumed, especially at the end of camp celebration on the beach. Most of the participants’ families were able to attend including parents, siblings and visiting extended family.

Team coaches and mentors James Johansen, Kirk Dickey and Evan Solley brought their knowledge and experience throughout the two weeks - this camp would not have been possible or successful without their support. Many thanks to the Tillamook County Creamery Association, The Eugene Schmuck Foundation and NWRESD STEMhub for providing grant funding to support this summer program.

In addition, the team is grateful to the Rockaway Beach Public Works Department which delivered sand for the “testing sandbox” so that we didn’t have to go to the beach every time a prototype needed testing. Not only did they drop the sand off - but they picked it up at the end of camp too.

Thank you all for your contributions to the team. It was a blast.