CAD, OutreachBy Nate Laverdure

Accessible archery

This spring, Triple Helix once again partnered with a Virginia Commonwealth University occupational therapy doctoral student to develop assistive devices for people in the Hampton Roads region. The team created this accessible bow mount for Camp Bruce McCoy, a residential summer camp for adults with a brain injury in Chesapeake, Virginia.  This device will enable single-arm operation of a recurve bow which will be mounted in the shooting gallery at the camp.  The team provided both right-handed and left-handed versions of the bow mount to the camp.

The bow mount is fabricated from laminated sheets of 1/4″ clear polycarbonate.  Triple Helix cuts this material on our 80-watt laser cutter, but these parts can alternatively be fabricated with more common shop tools (e.g. jigsaw, hand drill).  The bow mount enables the user to aim the bow in both the azimuth and elevation directions before shooting an arrow.  The bow can be installed at any height, enabling archery practice for both standing and seated users.

STEP file

NewsletterBy Nate Laverdure

Newsletter: Triple Helix: Finalists and EI Award winners in Northern VA!

Triple Helix Robotics were two-time medalists at the FIRST Chesapeake district tournament held this weekend in Haymarket, VA.

Of the 38 teams competing, Triple Helix was ranked 4th at the conclusion of qualifying rounds, demonstrating top-tier Power Cell scoring capability in both the teleoperated and autonomous modes of play, as well as the ability to balance out alliance partner robots when hanging from the Generator Switch.  Triple Helix was proud to be the first overall pick of the alliance selections, where the top 8 ranked teams choose their two partners to play with in the elimination rounds.  Together with partners 623 and 686, our alliance proceeded through to the final rounds, where we eventually lost to the high-powered 2nd seed alliance of 4472, 1895, and 2421.

Our team was awarded the Engineering Inspiration award, which FIRST considers a 2nd highest honor, but Triple Helix considers a top honor. The award recognizes our team for our work advancing STEM in our community in interesting and effective ways. The judging process for EI is somewhat inscrutable, but it’s probably reflective of an overall impression that the entire corps of judges got from their interactions our entire team over the course of the event, including our Chairman’s Award and Dean’s List interviews as well as many many visits to our pit.

Based on our great performance in Haymarket, we have clinched our berth at the District Championship at the Hampton Coliseum in early April.

For the first time in the team history, Triple Helix can now say that we’re entering somewhat of a home stand, as we look forward to playing our next two events close to home, starting with our next event at Churchland HS in Portsmouth on March 14-15.  We invite everyone to come visit the event to cheer us on!

Nate

AwardsBy Natalie Bretton

Woodie Flowers submission 2020

Triple Helix students are proud to publish this Woodie Flowers Award nominating essay for our mentor Wendy Bretton.

Wendy Bretton first joined Triple Helix four years ago as a software mentor, but her impact on the team has been much larger than that. As a professional software engineer for over 20 years, Mrs. Bretton has an incredible amount of knowledge that she is willing to share with both students and mentors alike. She has created an atmosphere on the software subteam where everyone’s input is valuable. Because of this, it is rare to see Mrs. Bretton without at least one or two students by her side. She is constantly encouraging members to take on different tasks and learn more.

Mrs. Bretton has always been devoted to promoting STEM, even long before she joined Triple Helix. As a mother of two, when her kids were in elementary school she heard about FLL, and after finding out that no one at their school wanted to start a team, she started one herself. This FLL team has been to state championships countless times and is still going strong. Mrs. Bretton even has her own website that shares a variety of STEM topics, activities, and ideas. She is often contacted by new parents asking how to get their children involved in STEM. Her devotion and dedication to promoting STEM has had a tremendous effect on those around her.

Interestingly enough, when Mrs. Bretton first joined Triple Helix, she was not expecting to become the software lead, however, she quickly became an asset to the team by taking over the lead position when the previous software mentor left. Not only did she keep the software subteam afloat, but she implemented a structured, well-documented framework that allows students to begin contributing from day one by following procedures shared in Google Keep notes. Mrs. Bretton focuses on ensuring that every student has an equal opportunity to participate. Carson, one of the youngest members on the team says, “Mrs. Bretton makes sure everyone has a task regardless of their experience level.”

Mrs. Bretton strives to ensure that all students are able to express their creativity. She encourages teamwork throughout the subteam, and because of this, students are often found working together on the code. Long after a meeting ends, Mrs. Bretton will be looking over all of the altered code and integrating it into a stable baseline so that testing can start at the next meeting. This system guarantees that all the students can actively participate in writing the code. She even managed to implement this practice with last year’s robot – the most complicated robot the team has made.

In conclusion, Mrs. Bretton is more than just the team’s software mentor. She not only works alongside the students, but also provides life advice, support, and even rides to meetings. Liz, one of the team’s alumni, states, “Her positive energy truly bleeds out into everything that she does.” To sum it up, Mrs. Bretton’s passion for promoting STEM has created many lifelong learners, gracious professionals, and thoughtful citizens who continue to be active in the STEM community.

NewsletterBy Nate Laverdure

Newsletter: Triple Helix Robotics early build season update

It’s nearing the end of Week 1 of this year’s build season and the team is off to a great start.  We’ve spent some time absorbing the new game challenge, chosen a gameplay strategy, and 

This year’s game looks great, with several new types of interactive game elements, some tricky strategic tradeoffs, and a nailbiting endgame.  It should be a fun game to watch and play.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gmiYWTmFRVE

Errata from December newsletter
Triple Helix aims to compete at the FIRST Chesapeake District Championship sponsored by Newport News Shipbuilding on April 3-5 at the Hampton Coliseum in Hampton, VA.

Triple Helix sweatshirts now available in our web store
For a limited time, we are gathering orders for this season’s Triple Helix hoodies to be delivered prior to the competitions!  Orders must be in by the January 20th deadline.https://store.iifound.org/product/sweatshirt/

Field construction at the Peninsula STEM Gym is underway
At our shared robotics practice facility, we have built full-scale wooden mockups of the Power Port (the goal) and the Trench (a robot tunnel that also holds a colored spinning Control Panel wheel).  We can still use additional help constructing these mockup game elements; this requires only basic woodworking skills.

The Peninsula STEM Gym will also host a robot pre-inspection day on February 22nd.  All local teams are invited.  This event is a great opportunity for teams and volunteer Robot Inspectors to prepare for the first round of competitions.

Our VCU Occupational Therapy doctoral student has begin their capstone practicum semester
For the 2nd year, Triple Helix and Intentional Innovation Foundation welcomes to our team a student from the occupational therapy doctoral program at Virginia Commonwealth University.  For their semester-long capstone “Doctoral Experiential Component” (DEC), this student will join us as a mentor while also learning the skills and tools at the intersection between therapy and engineering.  Together we’ll be extending the previous work of last year’s student, completing some awesome assistive technology projects, and establishing strong connections between our robotics team and the local allied health community.  Welcome Sierra Taylor Wolf!

–
Nate Laverdure
Head coach, Triple Helix Robotics
President, Intentional Innovation Foundation