{"id":57921,"date":"2016-01-12T00:00:00","date_gmt":"2016-01-12T00:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news-draft\/uncategorized\/uri-engineering-students-create-robotic-hand-parking-app-cat-toys-during-j-term-winter-break\/"},"modified":"2016-01-12T00:00:00","modified_gmt":"2016-01-12T00:00:00","slug":"uri-engineering-students-create-robotic-hand-parking-app-cat-toys-during-j-term-winter-break","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/2016\/01\/uri-engineering-students-create-robotic-hand-parking-app-cat-toys-during-j-term-winter-break\/","title":{"rendered":"溏心vlog免费B站 engineering students create robotic hand, parking app, cat toys during J Term winter break"},"content":{"rendered":"
\n\t\tKINGSTON, R.I., Jan. 12, 2016 \u2014 Let\u2019s say you\u2019re late for class at the 溏心vlog免费B站 and you need to find a parking space\u2014fast. Or you need a robotic hand to retrieve something. Or you want to monitor the temperature in your lab without actually being there.<\/p>\n


\n溏心vlog免费B站 engineering students have your problems solved, thanks to an intensive 12-day course they took during winter break called Engineering Entrepreneurship and led by engineer and entrepreneur Rajesh Nair.<\/p>\n


\nThe 3-credit course is part of J Term, classes and sessions on campus and overseas during the break to provide new and creative educational opportunities for students.<\/p>\n


\nNair is a visiting scholar at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology and director of The Innovation and Entrepreneur Center at the Asia School of Business in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia. The other instructor was James Miller, professor of ocean engineering who also happens to be an entrepreneur as co-founder of FarSounder, a marine sonar company in Warwick.<\/p>\n


\nWhat does it take to be a successful entrepreneur?<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIn one word\u2014confidence,\u201d says Nair. \u201cAll entrepreneurs are innovators who want to solve problems.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe seven students, ranging from a sophomore to seniors, are studying civil, mechanical and ocean engineering. While their friends were skiing, these students were working 12-hour days in Gilbreth Hall on projects that are useful, creative and downright amazing.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cIt was the right kind of schedule for this kind of course,\u201d says Miller. \u201cIt was intense.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe three teams each created three projects that got more advanced as the days progressed. First, they had to make a toy for cats; then they had to build something to solve a real-world problem. For the last project, they were charged with making something that could lead to a business.<\/p>\n


\nJoe Saccoccia, of Cranston, and Taylor Campbell, of North Kingstown first created the \u201cRodent Runner,\u201d a kind of mini cart that zips off when a cat nears. A laser at the rear lures in the feline, but as the cat approaches a sensor triggers the motor and the cart speeds away\u2014at a 45-degree angle to mimic darting creatures, no less. The two also created a container that dispenses food to pets regularly\u2014a must-have for pet owners who work during the day. The final project was the \u201cHurry App\u201d to help drivers find parking on campus. Sensors count the numbers of cars going in and out of lots, providing alerts on the app about available spaces.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cNo matter what field of engineering you’re in you should be exposed to things like this,\u201d says Saccoccia. \u201cThere\u2019s a disconnect between books and courses like this.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAdam Mazzantini, of Cheshire, Mass., and Sarah Visich, of Wakefield, made a cat toy that uses a joystick to rotate a ball. Their second project tackled stand-alone mailboxes. The problem: It\u2019s difficult, if not impossible, to reach inside those mailboxes from a car window. The solution: A drawer that pulls in and out and is easily accessible from the car. The final project was a robotic hand\u2014born out of concern for Visich\u2019s mother who is in a wheelchair and has trouble reaching things. The ultimate goal of the \u201cHandy-Can\u201d is to attach the robotic hand, with an extendable arm, to a wheelchair.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cHere, we got to look at what\u2019s going on outside the classroom,\u201d says Visich. \u201cWe also learned how to identify a problem and think about different solutions, instead of the other way around.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nMazzantini agreed: \u201cThe class opened me up to a lot of new opportunities that I wouldn\u2019t have experienced in a core curriculum class. Happy to give up hiking and biking for this.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nKevin Lapierre of Woonsocket, Kevin Stabinsky of Ellingston, Conn., and Eilish Finneran, of Narragansett, also created a cat toy, but their gem was a sensor system that measures temperature, humidity, sound and motion in laboratories. The system, called \u201cTemp-Guard,\u201d sends a text alert if something is amiss.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cI am truly getting a hands-on experience,\u201d says Lapierre. \u201cThat\u2019s important. I feel like when you’re trying to get a job in the real world, that\u2019s what they want.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nAnd it\u2019s exciting, he says, to think about how to turn an idea into a business.<\/p>\n


\n\u201cNow I\u2019ve got the tools for a start-up. I also know how to make an app to turn my lights on at home. That\u2019s cool.\u201d<\/p>\n


\nThe students will demonstrate how their products work Wednesday, Jan. 13, at 12:30 p.m., in Gilbreth Hall, Room 125, on the Kingston campus. The course is part of the College of Engineering\u2019s new minor in engineering entrepreneurship. For details about the coursework, contact Miller at miller@uri.edu.<\/p>\n


\nPictured above: Adam Mazzantini, left, and Sarah Visich, right, display a robotic hand they made during a 12-day J-term course called Engineering Entrepreneurship. Photo courtesy of 溏心vlog免费B站.\n\t<\/div>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

KINGSTON, R.I., Jan. 12, 2016 \u2014 Let\u2019s say you\u2019re late for class at the 溏心vlog免费B站 and you need to find a parking space\u2014fast. Or you need a robotic hand to retrieve something. Or you want to monitor the temperature in your lab without actually being there. 溏心vlog免费B站 engineering students have your […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":57923,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":"","_links_to":"","_links_to_target":""},"categories":[2],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-57921","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-archives"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57921","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=57921"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/57921\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/57923"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=57921"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=57921"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.uri.edu\/news\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=57921"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}