The Williamston High School InvenTeam was awarded a United States Patent. The team designed a robot that can remove trash from beaches.
It is the second time the team has earned a patent for an original invention.
From the patent abstract:
A robotic system is provided for collecting trash. The robotic system comprises a vehicle, a camera, a trash collection unit, an actuator, and a controller. The vehicle includes a frame and a drive. The camera is coupled to the vehicle to move with the vehicle to capture images of the trash while the vehicle moves along the ground. The trash collection unit is carried by the vehicle to collect the trash. The trash collection unit includes a vacuum pump and a collection conduit. The actuator is operatively coupled to the collection conduit to adjust the position of the collection conduit relative to the vehicle to position the collection conduit adjacent to the trash to collect the trash. The controller is coupled to the drive, the camera, the trash collection unit, and the actuator to coordinate the movement of the vehicle, positioning the collection conduit, and operation of the vacuum pump to collect the trash.
Read the full patent here.
Williamston High School students submitted the documentation for the patent in 2020.
The InvenTeam is a grant-funded STEAM opportunity in partnership with the Massachusetts Institute for Technology (MIT).
Learn about Williamston High School's previous InvenTeam Patent here.
Congratulations to the students and faculty involved with this impressive accomplishment.
