08/07/2012
To help celebrate the 2012 FIRST LEGO League (FLL) World Festival in St Louis, Mo., USA, this NXTLOG challenge theme was FOOD FACTOR! The challenge was to develop a robot that can be used to innovate the food industry. Everything from helping grow and pick food fresh from the farm to how it can be safely transported, stored, served, and even turned into renewable energy! This challenge brought forth many creative projects, with some NXTLOGgers submitting more than one. Make sure to visit, comment, rate, and get inspired by all the entries by searching the tag "foodfactor."
Here are the winners:
FOOD PRODUCTION AWARD:
This award is for the user who creates a pioneering robot that upgrades how we grow and produce our food.
Garden Helper 4 in 1
Created by:
idkwhoyouare
This Monster Truck robot does it all! It tills, plants, waters and pushes the soil back, a must for any modern farm. idkwhoyouare provides great close up shots of the various jobs this robot does, but we would LOVE to see a video of the Garden Helper 4 in 1 in action.
FOOD SAFETY AWARD:
This award goes to the robot that best screens and/or protects what we eat and when we eat it.
The contanimation-b-gone 2000!
Created by: servo270
A creatively crafted NXTLOG narrated by Billy Brick from Japan explains how the contanimation-b-gone 2000 works. It's a sorting machine that can determine contamination in crates of food at a rate of two crates every three seconds. A color sensor checks the crates chemical signature and determines where each crate should be sorted (contaminated/non-contaminated). servo270 designed a T-Bone sorting system (called that becuase of it's T shape) that simplifies sorting with no gears. It is a gravity-fed system, using motors to tilt the channels to feed and sort bricks accordingly. We hope to use a machine like this in the future to keep our food safe!
FOOD SERVICE AWARD:
This award is presented to the robotic device that shows how we can serve (deliver) food safely and efficiently.
Utility Half Track(food factor)
Created by: han-solo-ninja13
The purpose of the Utility Half Track robot is to transport food and water safely and efficiently to far away and remote places. It's a large vehicle that can move easily over many terrains which is needed when moving supplies in remote regions. The NXTLOG is highly detailed explaining how the robot was engineered, and han-solo-ninja13 includes a video of the vehile in action on a separate NXTLOG. han-solo-ninja13 claims this project took a month to build. Great work!
FOODIE AWARD:
This is a wild card award for the most innovative and creative of all food related robots!
Sandstorm Instant Sandwich
Created by: SprinkleOtter
SprinkleOtter submitted five (5) projects to this challenge, but the Sandstorm Instant Sandwich was an instant judges favorite. We have never seen an automated sandwich maker before, and never imagined one with so many appendages! Hopefully we can see a contraption like this in our school cafeterias. We could have a robotic show at school everyday that also helps keep our sandwiches safe to eat. We really hope to see a video of the Instant Sandwich bot in action soon. Congrats SprinkleOtter!
HONORABLE MENTION(S)
Many robots submitted to this building challenge were not considered for awards becuase they were missing .rbt program files. Please don't forget to read the rules and award criteria! Some of the contenders are honorably mentioned here, as well as projects that DID follow all the award criteria!
Melon Factory (all 4 parts)
Created by: sparra_mc
Potato Cleaner
Created by: princezachary777
Butter-Bot
Created by: 1nxtmonster
Bagit Bot
Created by: waitpuppy2
THE WIND-UP MIXER (FOODFACTOR)
Created by: stormtrooper1611
Fruit Scanner (FOOD FACTOR)
Created by: BotBuilder587
Grow a garden - AUTOmatically!
Created by: bluehat8