STEAM Spotlight: recognizing the spectacular stars of STEAM, chosen by Mr. Young. This edition we are showcasing STEAM I students Cristian Ibarra (sophomore) and Lasse Peters (sophomore) with their Lego robot vending machine.
MB – Mary Beth Wright
CI – Cristian Ibarra
LP – Lasse Peters
Interview: Conducted over Email
MB: Describe your project in your own words.
CI: The project is a Lego Ev3 Candy Dispenser that uses a motion sensor to recognize coins and dispense candies.
LP: After some brainstorming, we came up with the idea to build a Lego vending machine… we only had five days to complete the project, we decided to create a small Candy vending machine instead of something large.
MB: What inspired you to create this project?
CI: What inspired me to do this project was a video that I used to watch around 2017-18 of lego vending machines.
LP: At first, we weren’t sure what to build — we didn’t want to be the thousandth team to make a small Lego car that drives around and follows a line. After some brainstorming, we came up with the idea to build a Lego vending machine.
MB: What materials/methods did you use and how do they relate to STEAM? (Science, Technology, Engineering, Art, Math)
CI: We used the ev3 lego toolset, and lego programming to build the dispenser. It is very useful to get an idea on what engineering and technology building is like.
LP: The vending machine had two main parts: the software, which was the computer program that controlled the machine, and the hardware, which was the Lego structure itself… we started building with the help of YouTube tutorials… once the structure was ready, we worked on programming the small computer that ran the vending machine.
MB: What were some problems/setbacks you came across during your project and how did you overcome them?
CI: One of the problems we faced was that some parts of the set did not work properly, so we had to improvise and go as far as buying new parts to finish the project.
LP: It took a while, and we even had to wait a few classes for some Lego pieces we needed to order.
MB: How did you divide responsibilities between the two of you?
CI: We divided each steps into 4 parts. Where each person did 4 steps, then passed it on to the next person.
MB: What are some ways you would improve your project if you had more time/resources?
CI: I would definitely make it bigger and add more capacity to add more candy. I would also attempt to make it accept other forms of currency such as dollar bills.
MB: What’s the next step? Are you going to continue developing this project or move on to another?
CI: If I have time, I will definitely come back to develop the project even more. But for now, I wish to learn on other skills so that I can build it better.
MB: What did you enjoy most about this project?
CI: I enjoyed that we were creating something that uses not only our creativity. But also our skills in problem solving.
LP: … (it) was really fun and taught us a lot about coding and system design. Steam is a lot of fun because we get to try new things and learn in creative ways. I really enjoyed the project, and our candy vending machine turned out great!
