An initiative by First Robotics Competition Team 4118 – Roaring Riptide #FIRSTwithAT #tidalwaveofstem @frcriptide4118 #roaringriptide #MoreThanRobots
Have you heard about the relaunch of our #Tidal Wave of AT Kits?
We have three new kits available! Check out more on our #Tidal Wave of AT Kit Page!
#FIRSTwithAT Open Source Resources – provided by Team 4118
Resource #1 – My Pal Scout – Adapted Toy Switch/Jack Wiring Housing – created by Olivia Tucker, 12th Grade Student, P.K. Yonge (2022)
Resource #2 – Spoon and Fork Stabilizer– created by Ian Faulkner, 12th Grade Student, P.K. Yonge (2022)
Resource #3 – Interact Board – created by Ian Faulkner, 12th Grade Student, P.K. Yonge (2023)
Resource #4 – Head/Neck Support for Gait Trainer – created by Olivia Tucker, 12th Grade Student, P.K. Yonge (2023)
Resource #5 – Puzzles for UF Shands – created by Andrea Ortiz, Olivia Tucker, and Caroline Hartley, P.K. Yonge (2020)
Resource #6 – Walker Drink Attachment – created by Joseph Santiago, 11th Grade, P.K. Yonge (2024)
Resource #7 – Tandem Wheelchair Coupler – created by Olivia Tucker, 12th Grade, P.K. Yonge (2024)
Resource #8 – Revised Version of Spoon and Fork Stabilizer (V2) – by Mack Todd and Tyler Wyatt, 12th Grade, P.K. Yonge (2024)
Backstory of the #FIRSTwithAT Initiative by 4118
In 2015, a mentor from RR and a student team member partnered with Bill Binko, the co-founder of ATMakers.org, to learn more about adapting My Pal Scout Toys when they attended a small workshop in Orlando, Florida. After attending this workshop, the RR mentor and students worked with the Easter Seals of Southeastern PA on a Go Baby Go project, where they created a video guide to adapt a 12-volt Power Wheel Jeep.
ATMakers.org introduces Makers and Assistive Technology (AT) users and give these two communities the tools they need to collaborate.
Source: www.atmakers.org
Taking a Deep Dive into Assistive Technology
Roaring Riptide’s dive into Assistive Technology began in June 2017, when students partnered with a UF Student Organization B.O.T.S. (Building Others Through Stem) to host their first toy adapt-a-thon event. At this event, 10 My Pal Scout toys were finished and delivered to an AT specialist in our surrounding community. In the months after, they were invited to attend their first ever Holiday Toy Adapt-A-Thon at the FACTUR workspace in Orlando, Florida. Along with B.O.T.S. and FIRST FRC Team #5816- GRA-V, Roaring Riptide students adapted over 100 toys for local children in North Central Florida for the holidays. RR has worked with multiple agencies and non-profit organizations to positively impact the lives of children with disabilities at the local, state, national, and international levels.
RR understands the importance of providing these adapted toys – as they give children the ability to independently access and play with their toy – seeing cause and effect – some for the first time in their lives. Completing projects, such as as these, has fostered a sense of empathy, understanding, & passion for helping others.
Expanding the Initiative
At the 2019 Orlando regional, we connected FRC 1902: Exploding Bacon and FRC 5842: Royal Robotics connect with the AT world to further expand Florida FRC teams’ involvement in AT. Our continued work with ATMakers led to RR becoming the first and only high school organization to be an official partner of the Assistive Technology Industry Association (ATIA), and we’ve been invited to their international conference three years in a row. While there, we demonstrated a 12V Jeep Power Wheels adaptation to interested attendees and were able to communicate face-to-face with the parents and kids we directly affect through our work with ATMakers. One of our students also gave a speech about our work in AT and its impacts to a group of AT professionals.
Building Connections
We’ve continued our work in AT through building industry partnerships and collaborating within our local school system. At the 2019 ATiA conference, we connected with the non-profit group, Magic Wheelchair. From this meeting, students of Roaring Riptide contacted Magic Wheelchair because they wanted to help one of the many children on the waitlist for these amazing wheelchair costumes! In 2019, we were paired with Zyler and Zaivion Mason. After months of design and creation, RR hosted a Magic Wheelchair reveal at Rawlings Elementary School, where they delivered two Paw Patrol themed costumes to the brothers on Halloween!
Seeing the impact AT has had on our local community and beyond, RR aims to engage even more FIRST Robotics teams in AT through our #FIRSTwithAT movement. To promote this movement, we have established and now promote this outreach work through our social media accounts @firstwithat on Twitter and @firstwithat2019 on Instagram. We also use specific tagging with #FIRSTwithAT and #TidalWaveofAT being the primary ones used on our social media platforms.
As our team looks to the future, we plan on expanding our AT work and continuing to share STEM with our community. If you, or someone you know, needs assistance with assistive technology, please contact us through our Google Form, linked at the top of this page! We look forward to working with you!