RePlay for kids is an amazing non-profit that repairs electronic toys for children. They specialize in making adaptive toys for kids with motor disabilities.

To help Replay this year, we modified toys to add an easy-to-actuate button into the circuit. The button is connected to a 3.5mm audio jack, which is plugged into the toy. Replay makes their own buttons by 3d printing the housing and soldering the wires to the audio jack. The large button makes it easy for kids with motor disabilities to activate the toy. Replay then distributes the toys to kids in need. They have said that the children love the independence that comes from being able to play with their toys be themselves!

Our team was split throughout the different roles of the competition. We had a few people who were score-keepers, a few who were queue tables, and a few who were judges. Firestone High School also let us set up a table to show off our robot and talk to the students about our team.

The B-STEM club is a group of students from in Akron who are interested in STEM. We went to their school to help teach them about electronics, and how to solder circuits. We helped them put together a simple circuit that they could take home and use.

The team went to a local elementary school to talk to the kids about what we do in engineering and robotics. We talked about careers related to engineering, and how they can get involved in STEM. We also showed them how to make their own vibratory-movement robots at home and trace their paths over paper with markers.