CCDS InvenTeam December Blog

              The Cincinnati Country Day School InvenTeam has been hard at work in the earlier stages of the invention process. Quick recap going into December—we have created a device to test the invention and began ordering the required materials. From a communications standpoint, we have worked with local news reporters, reached out to our community to share our achievements, and began working on a logo after meeting with graphic designers in our community. 

              To start off the month of December, we had to prepare for our internal tech review with Mr. Hernandez, our InvenTeams-appointed advisor. In this meeting, we discussed what we had done so far and talked about our methods of scheduling meetings, coming up with ideas, budgeting, etc. We also got advice from Mr. Hernandez on the technical aspects of our invention and the most efficient way to move forward. One of the main takeaways from the internal tech review was that our goal with this invention is to create a proof-of-concept prototype and we can modify existing things to achieve this. 

Technical Team

              With the points from the internal tech review meetings in mind, the technical team got to work on the invention. To ensure everyone’s mind is on the same page from a technical perspective, the team organized an activity for everyone to work on. The team used breadboards and Arduino kits to prototype an aspect of our invention. The main idea behind it was for every team member to create a working circuit to power an LED light. Following this activity, the technical team then used this circuit-making process to prototype the first phase of our invention after designing a custom circuit board to achieve this complex task—the team built a proof-of-concept soldered circuit that contains LEDs and resistors, which is controlled by a microcontroller with code. 

              Additionally, the technical team created a proof-of-concept for the second phase of our invention using relatively low-powered components compared to what will be used in the final invention. Lastly, the technical team, working with members of other teams, began researching and pursuing an exciting new addition to the invention using artificial intelligence to alert the biker. The team has already purchased and received a developmental board to collect, process, and utilize information from the road. 

Communications

              As we developed the technical side of our project the communications team focused on how to represent the invention through branding. After we researched graphic design last month, we were able to finalize our logo in December. Following the development of our logo, we created materials such as business cards, a brochure, and invitations for the mid-grant technical review. We sent these graphic designs back to LMIT, received feedback, finalized them, and began ordering the designs. The communications team also planned for the mid-grant technical review by meeting with members of our school to discuss the layout and fundraising for this event. Through creating a design for our team, and planning for the mid-grant technical review the communications team made large strides in the month of December. 

Moving Forward

              Overall, as the year comes to a close the CCDS InvenTeam made increasing progress on our first major deadline, the mid-grant technical review, as well as the long-term goal of creating an invention that realizes our goal of helping bikers. The development of our idea to include AI sets the invention up as a unique product and our foray into learning circuitry prepared us for the actualization of our idea in the next few months. An actualization spearheaded by the materials the communications team has created this month.