4546
SNAKEBYTE
COMMUNITY OUTREACH
2021-2022
nxp
February 2nd, 2022
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Our team met up with an employee of NXP, a company that designs silicon which is modified by customers to fit their own needs. During the presentation, he explained the certain precausions that the company needed to take to ensure its efficiency in any scenario. He also went into depth on how NXP uses EQ, also known as Edge Intelligence, which learns to identify objects while going through a vigorous training process.
Atlassian
January 26th, 2022
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Our team met with Atlassian, a software development company that helps companies like Tesla and many other big name brands with high quality software. We learned lots about what it was like to work with international group, as atlassian has many teams around the world. The meeting taught us about the fast pace environment of a top software company, and how it is important to share your knowledge with people you work with so everyone can grow together.
Wellaware
November 22nd, 2021
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We met with representatives of the non-profit WellAware. Over the course of the presentation, we learned about the engineering behind the company's water wells. The experience was a great opportunity to learn about the ways engineering contributes to the world community --in this case through building water wells for rural African villages.
Mythic
November 10th, 2021
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We met with a software engineer to hear about the process behind Mythic computer chips. Over the course of the presentation, the team learned about the engineering processes that goes into designing the chips, and what functions the chips are designed to do. Furthermore, Mythic provided us even more valuable insight as to how efficiency in software can be attained.
KUKA
aUGUST 3RD, 2021
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The team got to see the applications of robotics in industry. With the help of some engineers behind the project, we got to take a dive into the world of precision robotics! Most excitingly, the team learned about the company’s Bavarian history.
TEXAS INSTRUMENTS
July 22th, 2021
We got to hear the details behind Texas Instruments' control systems from one of their client instructors. Throughout the visit, we learned more about IOTs or "Internet of Things", which is devices with sensors or other forms of data collection which is then shared over the internet to other devices--as well as some poignant life advice!
Headspring
JuLY 14th, 2021
We have toured Headspring in person for 3 years and virtually for 1 year. This year, during our virtual tour, we were able to be introduced to many of the employees that work there, and received a presentation on the processes and work of their software development and marketing departments.
INTEGROMAT
June 24th, 2021
We had met with Integromat in the past, and this time, we were able to introduce our rookies to the company and receive a demonstration on how their software was able to help us in the past. Last year we make a custom automation program that automatically emails companies based on what we input in Google Sheets. The program automatically watches the Google Sheets for new rows (companies) that we manually put in from searching on the internet and sends a custom email.
2020-2021
Well aware
november 19th, 2020
The team met online with representatives of the Austin-based non-profit WellAware. Over the course of the presentation, the team learned about the engineering behind the company's water wells. The experience served as a great opportunity to learn about the ways engineering contributes to the world community --in this case through the example of building water wells for rural African villages.
Headspring
November 13th, 2020
Due to the restrictive nature of the pandemic, this year's visit to Headspring was done over Zoom. During our virtual tour, we received advice regarding our robot's CAD as well as presentation on the processes and work of their software development and marketing departments.
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NXP beijing
November 2nd, 2020
On Novemeber 2nd, the team had the privilege of attending an informational presentation on TSN from the NXP lab in Beijing, China. Since it was the office's first interaction with FIRST, we started things off with a demonstration of both our robot and our game before the visit transitioned into a tour and explanation of NXP's lab.
2019 - 2020
Wellaware
october 29TH, 2019
We invited the company WellAware to come speak to our team and others about the work that they’re doing in Africa and how the skills that we are learning in robotics are allowing them to complete this work. Our team, and 6 other FTC teams attended, learning the practical applications of engineering notebooks and STEM education in modern civil engineering projects.
thinkery MUSEUM
october 26TH, 2019
This October, we were invited to the Halloween Hootenanny by our local museum, the Thinkery. This was a great opportunity to reach a wide variety of people from the Austin Area. At the event, we demonstrated various science experiments, and showed off our robot while also letting attendees drive it. At this event, we got to connect with a lot of kids, and our hope is that through our event we've opened up their minds to the possibility of pursuing STEM activities and occupations in the future.
headspring
october 11TH, 2019
We took a tour of Headspring, a local software company, on Friday, October 11th in order to get exposure to how software plays into the real market and learn about more jobs in the STEM field and how to achieve them. 4 engineers taught us about their jobs, what they do in them, and which majors/minors they took in order to get into that job. The marketing executive then showed us around their office space, described each team, and the duties of each subgroup. We also introduced the company to the FIRST organization and showed them our CAD in order to promote STEM and our team values.
applied research labs
SEPTEMBER 21st, 2019
We went to tour the Applied Research Labs to learn about how the software we use for our robot is being used in the real world. Our tour guide showed us how they research high frequency acoustics, high resolution sonar, as well as ionospheric. We then sat down with some of their engineers to get professional input on our CAD designs, game strategy, and job life.
NEPRIS
SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2019
On September 16th, we held a nationwide educational video conference aimed towards those were interested in STEM. We explained our team, our robot, and how they could get involved in the program. The video conference consisted of an “About the team” section as well as an open question seminar about what FIRST is and how to get involved. During this video conference we reached twelve classrooms and received one comment on how one teacher has used our lesson to help start a STEM program at her elementary school.
girls in tech steamapalooza
SEPTEMBER 16TH, 2019
We had the opportunity to be featured in the STEAMPalooza event, “Girls in STEM” hosted by DELL. This event involved many meaningful interactions with young, aspiring female engineers. In our booth, we talked about our team, demonstrated our robot, and showed participants various science experiments. We also communicated with many DELL employees about future internships and work life.
fll mentoring
june 13 - august 8, 2019
Our team helped mentor 6 FLL teams from Laura Bush Elementary School over the summer. We met with these teams over the course of 5 days which lasted 7 hours each. We started off the day by introducing our team, what Viperbots is all about, and what we do in FTC. Then, we split the teams into groups of two. Within these groups, we helped them assemble LEGO Mindstorm kits for the season. When the kits were finished, they could finally test their robots in action and if they ran into problems, we were happy to give them advice as to how to fix the problem.
2018 - 2019
PUREWRX OFFICE VISIT
SEPTEMBER 27TH, 2018
The team met with the CEO and CTO of PureWrx where they discussed the building blocks into owning a STEM business, and the struggles that come with it. They talked about the history of their company and their plans for their 26-person startup company. We were able to get a tour of their storage facility and the hardware that they manufacture and sell. Finally, we gave a presentation of what our team does during the season, and how we incorporate that into FIRST values. They were able to give us advice for the future and in turn we spread information about STEM in Robotics.
CARINGO OFFICE VISIT
AUGUST 9TH, 2018
Our team was able to visit the Caringo office and meet with the engineers behind the company. The company gave us a tour of their storage facility and explained the specs needed to run their devices. They allowed us to attend one of their engineering meetings where they discussed their communication process and how they organized their ideas. It gave us insight into a company’s team organization, helping us improve our performance in Robotics. Near the end, we presented a slideshow about our team and robot to give them information about the FTC competition.
FLL Summer WorkshopS
6/15, 6/29, 7/13, 7/27, 8/3, 8/10 - 2018
Our team hosted and mentored younger kids in our community that participated in the First LEGO League. The kids learned the fundamental values of teamwork while also learning how to build robots using Legos. They started by following steps to build working machines such as helicopters and planes that were powered by motors. The kids later wired and connected their machines to a computer where they practiced the fundamental blocks of programming.
Having 4546 Viperbot mentors assist with the elementary students during multiple events allowed the kids to gain a greater understanding in how the higher levels of FIRST competition operate, and what they have to look forward to in the future.
2017 - 2018
FLL Summer Workshop
August 25th, 2017
Towards the end of the summer, members of the team volunteered at the Laura Bush Elementary School (LWBE) First Lego League (FLL) Summer Workshop. Viperbot mentors assisted the young students in preparing a “base bot” as they prepared for a school year geared towards successful competition. 4546 members engaged with the future STEM professionals wherein we provided support in how to correctly use motors, batteries, wheels, etc.. In addition, we helped team mentors in setting up the FLL game field for the annual challenge.
Having 4546 Viperbot mentors attend and speak with the elementary students during this four-hour event allowed the kids to gain a greater understanding in how the higher levels of FIRST competition operate, and what they have to look forward to in the future.
FLL BUILD DAY
OCTOBER 6TH, 2017
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The team attended an event hosted by Central Texas FIRST LEGO League in building LEGO field sets for First LEGO League competitions. Hosted at Arm corporate offices, the team was also able to gain an idea of what a professional work environment could entail. The team helped out with building things like a water tank to help out with the challenges for the FLL teams, and by doing this event we had a fun experience overall because we got to build our team chemistry.
FLL MENTORING
OCTOBER 27TH, 2017
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Our team partnered with one of Laura Welch Bush Elementary’s FLL robotics teams: Supermassive Black Holes. We facilitated their software and hardware designs along with teaching them how to formally present a business their idea in front of a panel of judges. It was a phenomenal experience, as we were able to apply our FIRST knowledge and work with bright students.
FLL SCRIMMAGE
NOVEMBER 11TH, 2017
Our team went to the FLL Scrimmage, where we helped the team we were mentoring, Supermassive Blackholes, fix software and hardware issues and practice their presentations. We also helped set up materials needed during the scrimmage and provided support and encouragement to the future leaders in STEM.
ENGINEER GUEST SPEAKER:
WELL AWARE
NOVEMBER 11TH, 2017
On October 31st, our team invited an engineer from the non-profit organization, Well-Aware, to come talk to the Viperbots organization about their goals and the amazing things they have accomplished so far. It was a wonderful experience and we were very fortunate to be a part of raising awareness and spreading knowledge about places deprived of clean drinking water.
HELPING TO E-NABLE THE FUTURE
NOVEMBER 11TH, 2017
Following our outreach concept of Build-a-Hand, we decided to make a prosthetic hand of our own through the E-NABLE organization to be sent out to a user in need. We began by choosing a design that would be the most beneficial to the average user. After some research, we decided (from a multitude of designs) that the Phoenix Hand V2 served as the most practical for daily usage with a lightweight yet strong structure. This model is especially helpful for smaller children, being as it was one of the smaller designs, resulting in great user-compatibility. After selecting the design and downloading all the necessary CAD files, we began the 3D printing, a modular process that took about 8 hours.
After an hour of constructing the components, the prosthetic hand was complete and ready to be shipped off for quality assurance. We recently sent the completed product to the E-NABLE community, where it will be provided to someone in need. We plan on repeating this process more to make a big impact on the community in need.