ZTE Phone Bracket for Tetrix - FIRST Tech Challenge

thingiverse

This was part of an after school FIRST Tech Challenge Robotics Club. The students had limited time and equipment. I provided assistance in guiding them through the process of Design Thinking. The goal was to create a bracket that would hold a USB adapter tight against the ZTE phone they had been using to control their robot. This was a good exercise to explain the reverse engineering process. It helped students observe existing items and how to model a new part to serve a need. The students noticed that the usb connection on the ZTE were getting a lot of wear and tear. The connection and cables were getting a lot of use because of students connecting the phones to computers to upload the scripts and then they would connect them back up to the robot controller. The classroom had plenty of 90 degree usb connectors, but they were not getting used because of the weak connection. I worked with a few students to use calipers to model the brackets in Sketchup Make. For the phone clips I scanned them on a flatbed scanner showing students alternative ways to get digital data into Skechup. From there I traced the edge and modeled the curves. Have students devise a way to recreate a different way to secure phones to their FTC robot. Even though the model has been built and fits the phones just fine, this could be adapted for other types of phones. It is a great exercise to help students develop Design Thinking Skills (Empathize, Define, Ideate, Prototype, Test = https://dschool.stanford.edu/.). It helps if students already have a background in 3D modeling. The ones I was mentoring during this afternoon session (10th & 11th grade), could have used some extra guidance on the process. Materials Needed: * Phone used to control the FTC Robot * Tetrix part * Digital Caliper * Modeling materials (cardboard, foam, wood, glue / hot glue gun, sketchpad) * 90 degree Micro USB to USB adapters to fit on the phone bracket Skills Learned: * Surface Modeling * Critical Thinking * Collaboration * Creativity * Communication * Design Thinking Duration of Lesson: 90 minutes Preparation: If you have a different phone you could download the USB Phone Bracket so that students could "remix" the model to fit the USB connector location on a different phone. Rubric and Assessment: 4Cs Rubric and NGSS Connections: A. Collaboration (E6, M5, E7): * Student always demonstrates an ability to work with others and encourages others to participate. * Student sometimes demonstrates an ability to work with others. * Student rarely demonstrates an ability to work with others. * Student does not wish to work with others. B. Communication (S8, E2, E3, M3 & E4, E5): * Student always demonstrates strong communication skills in the terminology presented in the lesson. * Student sometimes demonstrates strong communication skills in the terminology presented in the lesson. * Student demonstrates a basic understanding of terminology and has difficulty communicating key concepts. * Student does not have an understanding of terminology and needs assistance in explaining key concepts. C. Creativity (E6, S1, S3, S4, S6, Additionally M4, S2, S5): * The design approach contains strong design qualities that represent a thoughtful approach to solving the design challenge. * The design approach contains average design qualities that solved the design challenge. * The design approach solved the design challenge absent of additional design considerations. * A clear and cohesive design approach was absent in the model. D. Critical Thinking (E6, M5, M6, M7, M8, S1, S3, S4, S6): * The student demonstrated a strong work flow process in the project addressing all the design objectives. * The student demonstrated an average work flow process in the project addressing few the design objectives. * The student demonstrated a weak work flow process in the project addressing only one design objective. * The student did not demonstrate a work flow process and addressed non of the design objectives. References: Learning Sketchup = https://i.materialise.com/blog/first-3d-model-in-sketchup-tutorial/ Sketchup Make download = https://www.sketchup.com/download FIRST Tech Challenge information = http://www.firstinspires.org/robotics/ftc 90 deg Micro USB to USB adapters to fit on the phone bracket = https://www.amazon.com/Allytech-Micro-USB-Adapter-Smartphones-Keyboards/dp/B019K57FKI/ref=sr_1_11?ie=UTF8&qid=1488591776&sr=8-11&keywords=90+degree+micro+usb+adapter+right+angle Tetrix Robotics = https://www.tetrixrobotics.com/ ZTE Phone Information = http://ftcforum.usfirst.org/showthread.php?4184-Why-not-buy-the-ZTE-Speed-Phones-at-80-for-two-rather-than-268