October 25, 2025

Robot Design and Innovation Project Planning

This week, our FLL team officially split into two focused task forces — one dedicated to robot design, and the other to the innovation project. The energy in the room was contagious. Both groups dove deep into their respective challenges, iterating, testing, and imagining how to bring their ideas to life.

The innovation team continued refining their idea — a new kind of sandbag designed to protect archaeological sites from erosion. The concept may sound simple, but their experiments showed it’s anything but.

They compared two absorbent materials:

• Sodium Polyacrylate (SP): absorbs water within hours but loses it quickly.

• Orbeez: slower to absorb (it takes days) but much better at retaining moisture.

To simulate real-world conditions, the team used fans to mimic wind and found that SP dried out faster than expected. This sparked a creative conversation — what if color could be used as a design variable? A black sandbag, for example, could help absorb heat and speed up drying when needed.

To communicate their idea visually, the innovation team began planning a diorama of an archaeological dig site. They debated materials: should they go for real sand and dirt to make it feel authentic, or LEGO bricks for clarity and easy setup?

A breakthrough idea emerged — what if the display showed both sides of the story? One half illustrating a site without protection, the other with their improved sandbag system. The visual contrast could make their solution instantly clear.

Water was briefly considered for realism, but practicality (and mess) won the argument. The team decided on two separate demos instead: one to show how sandbags are made, and another to show how they’re used.

Leon, Olivia, and Brandon volunteered to lead this part of the project.

Meanwhile, the robot design group leaned into a “slow and steady” philosophy — focusing on precision and reliability rather than speed alone. Their robot’s base is simple but powerful, with color-coded attachments that each serve a unique function.

Some standout innovations:

• Completing multiple missions from a single position

• Smart use of passive attachments to simplify execution

• Color sensors that trigger different programs automatically

• Broadcast programming that allows several operations to run simultaneously

Each team member has been responsible for iterating on specific attachments — and it’s showing in the results. The robot’s performance is increasingly consistent, mission after mission.

The team also began mapping out their presentation strategy. They agreed on a poster-board format with minimal text and strong visuals, supported by live demos. A partial game board setup will help judges see the robot’s mechanics up close.

Their script will be organized around the judging rubric, ensuring every criterion is covered. They plan to share before-and-after design iterations and personal stories about what they learned along the way. The goal: to make the presentation not just informative, but authentic.

Jason and Reina are curating key images from their documentation, while others work on crafting a smooth narrative flow with a manageable number of speakers.

The team left the meeting with clear action items:

• Build the dig site diorama (Leon, Olivia, Brandon)

• Prepare poster boards and select key visuals (Jason, Reina, Wanying)

• Continue refining the presentation script, organized by rubric sections

• Complete the engineering design notebook

• Conduct further testing on SP vs. Orbeez materials

• Bring individual robot components to the next session for integration
  
  

Watch our latest YouTube Shorts here. Subscribe to our YouTube channel, and you’ll never miss our coolest inventions!