It was an amazing night for two Minden High School alumni.
Mallory Pesnell and Connor Heard created projects that received best overall awards at the Louisiana Tech College of Engineering and Science’s First Year Project Showcase. Over 130 of the brightest college freshmen competed by creating prototypes and working devices that solve real world problems.
Heard described his award winning project this way: “The main goal of the project was to create a cheaper alternative to the limited range of braille printers on the market. We used a raspberry and an arduino microprocessor to control the user interface and the physical components. For the actual output we used 3d printed pieces designed to be embossed into braille paper.”
He won 1st place in his division and 3rd place overall.
Pesnell explained, “Our project was a robot that could sense cones placed around it to help make soccer or football practices run smoother. Using a Pixy Camera and servos we were able to align the robot to face the cone and then get a certain distance away based on the width of the object in reference to the camera lens. Once it was where it needed to be, it activated a mechanical arm that grabbed cones using a 3D printed mechanism that works similar to a door latch to grab and hold on to the cones.”
She won 2nd place overall.
The Webster Parish School District is so proud of all of our alumni and the differences they are making in the world.
