Category: Outreach

Coronavirus Face Shields and the IB-2000XL: Update 4/9/20

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Texas Torque has continued to work towards the creation of 3D Printed Face Shields to protect medical personnel from exposure to the coronavirus. So far we’ve provided almost 200 face shields to medical professionals in our community, and we are receiving more plastic soon to create more. Our longtime sponsor Nema Enclosures has started cutting the shields designed by team 148 Robowranglers with their water jet which expedites the creation of these shields to about 230 shields created per day.

We’re also working with sponsor AndyMark who is shipping us pieces of polycarbonate that will be used in the creation of the IB-2000XL. We plan to create our first intubation box over the weekend and deliver it to the hospital on Sunday. Below is the design that we will be using to create these boxes.

IB-2000XL

We are excited to be meeting with ABC13 to spread our cause and message to those in Houston and hopefully spread encouragement during these trying times. Again, we still ask for continued support from our community either through a monetary donation to the GoFundMe link or paypal link below. or by spreading these links and our message through social media or directly to friends and family.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/first-teams-for-ppe-face-shields



 

Intubation Box: IB-2000XL Update 4/8/20

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Texas Torque is pleased to share that the prototype of the student designed intubation box, what we’ve named the IB-2000XL, has been approved. We will begin to manufacture these boxes as soon as Friday and Saturday with our goal still set on the creation of eight intubation boxes. These boxes go over the upper torso of patients and protect medical staff from exposure to the virus as someone inserts an intubation tube and a second person compresses a bag to help them breathe. The patient is then connected to a ventilator. These devices also feature armholes with silicone gaskets and a port to connect suction to the box in order to create enough pressure in the box to remove the virus. We hope that these boxes will provide further protection for medical professionals and reduces their stress during these trying times.

We are thrilled to have received assistance from our community, but we still need continued support. Despite the great support that we’ve already received of $11,000 through our GoFundMe, the devices cost about $200 each and the group has already spent a total of almost $20,000. We hope to continue to medical personnel of our community but cannot do so without the help of our community. We ask those that would like to help to donate at the link below or share this cause to friends and family or on social media so we can continue to work together against the spread of this vicious pandemic.
gf.me/u/xuazry

Coronavirus Masks and Intubation Box: Update 4/6/20

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As the coronavirus epidemic continues, medical staff around the world have been scrambling to find adequate protection equipment to prevent the further spread of the virus. We have been working hard to do our part to help our community during this pandemic  alongside several robotics teams including team 118 Robonauts and team Robowranglers on several projects.

We are very thankful for the support that we’ve received from our community including the Conroe Courier and ABC13. Below is the link to the article from the Conroe Courier:

https://www.yourconroenews.com/neighborhood/moco/news/article/Conroe-ISD-robotics-team-turns-design-skills-into-15176999.php

Although it has just been a few days, we have continued to make substantial progress on our projects. Our lead mentor, Mr. Rippetoe has created a modified design of the Biased Tape Guide that has been very popular on Facebook, especially in the Million Mask Challenge. This modified design has been sent across the country to hundreds of sewing group.

We have also been working with other robotics teams and have provided over 150 3D printed face shields to medical facilities and currently are in the process of making another 300 of these shields. Since these shields are reusable and can be used for hours rather than weeks, the demand for these face shields continues to increase. We hope that as the design for the shields are finalized, we can continue to send these shields across the country.

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We have also been working on designing an intubation box for the staff at Conroe Regional Medical Center. After cutting the parts for the preliminary design on Saturday, the box was put together yesterday. We’ve received feedback on the box and once the necessary modifications have been completed, we plan to make eight of these boxes for their facility.

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If you’d like to help us in our efforts towards our goal of creating 10,000 face shields, we would appreciate donations to the Go Fund Me link below or to the Pay Pal link below.

https://www.gofundme.com/f/first-teams-for-ppe-face-shields




 

Passing of Matthew (Rev) St. Laurent

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                                                                                                                                                                                         IMG_3512
It is with great sadness that we inform you of the passing of Matthew St. Laurent on March 2. He was a member of Texas Torque for four years until he graduated last spring. He was a freshman at the Colorado School of Mines. He is one of a handful of students who made a tremendous impact on Texas Torque. As a junior, he trained a large group of team members to use SolidWorks to design our robots. For his Eagle Scout project, he organized the building of the workbenches we use in our robotics lab. As a senior, he was a fantastic Build Lead and helped us build an extremely competitive robot. He will be deeply missed by his friends and family here at Texas Torque. Rev’s memorial service shall be held at Lord Of Life Lutheran Church this Thursday at 11 am. The viewing will begin at 10 am. In lieu of flowers, the family asks that LEGO kits be brought in to be donated in his LEGOcy. They can either be brought to the memorial service or dropped off at the Robotics Lab at College Park High School to a Texas Torque member between the hours of 9-3 until Thursday.
Please keep Rev’s family in your thoughts as they work through this extremely difficult time.
If you are ever struggling, please talk about it with a trusted family member or friend. Please seek assistance. Don’t suffer silently.
If you are contemplating suicide, call the suicide hotline at 1-800-273-8255 or text The Crisis Text Line by texting HOME to 741741.
If you have any questions about Rev’s funeral, email us at [email protected]
 Lord of Life Lutheran Church
Address: 3801 S Panther Creek Dr, The Woodlands, TX 77381
Rev’s LEGOcy Drive
Address for drop off: 3701 College Park Dr, The Woodlands, TX 77384

FIRST Robotics Competition Kickoff 2020: INFINITE RECHARGE

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On Saturday, January 4, Texas Torque hosted one of the kickoff events of the Houston area for the new 2020 season. Teams viewed a live kickoff show, where they were introduced to the new game manual and field set-up. They also received a speech from the new FIRST president, Lawrence Cohen.

The following video released by FIRST explains this year’s challenge:

Following the kickoff, members of Texas Torque reviewed the new game manual. Current students, mentors, and alumni all worked together as a team to create a vast array of innovative ideas and strategies for this year’s FRC game—Infinite Recharge.

We look forward to the new season, and wish all teams the best of luck!

Bedding Sets Donated to Angel Reach!

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1E4198A2-AF3C-4619-B048-75DBB1562B85On November 14, members from the Texas Torque team delivered over twenty bedding sets to Angel Reach, a non-profit organization that helps young adults transition out of the foster care system. These bedding sets were generously donated from FRC teams attending the 2019 Remix on October 26th, 2019. 

Thank you to all contributors for supporting this great cause!