Questionable Design Choices

2023 FLL SUPERPOWERED – Team Eureka (#51206)2023 - Solapsis

Overview

Season Captain: Talos

**Innovation Project: SOLAPSIS Robot: Spark 4**

🔥 About Our Season

In the 2023 FIRST LEGO League SUPERPOWERED season, Team Eureka (#51206) set out to understand one of the world’s most critical challenges: energy creation, storage, and distribution, and how the lack of energy devastates people during disasters.

As Team Captain, I led our engineering, robot design, electronics integration, build iterations, and overall technical strategy.

Our season was built on five pillars:

  • Identify the real-world energy problem

  • Design a practical and scalable solution

  • Create prototypes and engineering models

  • Iterate with testing and expert feedback

  • Communicate our work to judges and community

🌍 INNOVATION PROJECT: SOLAPSIS

Why We Chose This Problem

Millions of people are displaced every year by natural disasters, war, conflict, and extreme weather. According to global agencies, 17.2 million people are displaced annually by natural disasters and 10.8 million by conflicts.

Displaced families typically receive basic tents and supplies — but no electricity, no communication, no medical power, and no way for volunteers to coordinate help.

Our goal:

Create a sustainable, portable energy and communication solution that restores dignity, safety, and continuity of life.

🔎 Research & Discovery

Our research phase included:

  • Interviews with energy professionals (MIT Energy Initiative, U.S. DOE, ERCOT)

  • Studying global energy crises across Europe, Asia, and the U.S.

  • A large energy-use survey across 1600 recipients, with 150+ responses

  • Field research into FEMA and Red Cross emergency guidelines

Through this work, we identified the core issue:

Displaced people lack dependable energy and connectivity during the most critical moments of their lives.

⚡ Our Solution — SOLAPSIS

SOLAPSIS is a solar-powered, portable shelter system with integrated backup storage, communication tools, and a Disaster Help Dashboard (DHD) that connects survivors with volunteers in real time.

Key Components

  • Solar-powered shelter with lightweight, deployable panels

  • Electronics enclosure with power distribution

  • Backup battery with 2–3 days of reserve

  • Power outlets for medical devices, lighting, and personal electronics

  • Wireless hotspot for communication

  • Smart “Disaster Help Dashboard” for volunteer coordination

What I Built

As the team’s electronics and systems designer, I:

  • Designed the full electronic block system for Solapsis

  • Selected and integrated solar panels, battery systems, and regulators

  • Built the working prototype (shelter model, solar rig, LED system, connectivity module)

  • Created the digital dashboard mock-up

⚙️ Prototype Metrics

(Page 19)

  • 20 watts per sq. ft. production

  • 5 hours of average sunlight/day

  • 60 sq. ft. solar shelter = 6,000 Wh/day

  • 1.2 kWh battery charges in ~1 hour

  • Supports:

    • medical devices

    • lights

    • communication modules

🔄 Testing & Iteration

We iterated through multiple versions:

  • Upgraded panels and batteries

  • Tested 24-hour charge/discharge cycles

  • Integrated Red Cross/FEMA emergency guidelines

  • Improved structural layout

  • Built skits, simulations, and field-testing logs

🌟 Impact

SOLAPSIS provides:

  • Reliable renewable energy

  • Lighting and power for safety

  • Medical support

  • Connectivity

  • Volunteer coordination

  • Dignity and continuity of life

Our project contributes toward supporting the 70+ million displaced people worldwide.

🤖 ROBOT GAME — SPARK 4

Overview

For the robot game, I was the Lead Robot Designer, responsible for:

  • CAD modeling in Bricklink Studio

  • Full robot chassis design

  • All 5 interchangeable arms

  • Mechanical optimization

  • Sensor alignment & stability

  • Strategy alignment with coding team

I engineered the robot across four major iterations, culminating in the competition robot, Spark 4.

🧠 Strategy & Planning

Our strategy involved:

  • Full mat analysis with digraph modeling for route optimization

  • Compact robot footprint for tight navigation

  • Multi-mission arm design to reduce time

  • Sensor-driven alignment (gyro + color sensor)

🔧 Robot Features

Spark 4 — Supercompact Bot

  • Two high-torque motors

  • Color sensor + Gyro stabilizing

  • Tight motor packaging

  • Flat wall-alignment panel for position accuracy

Interchangeable Arms (All designed by me)

  • Arm 1: Slope + precision aligner

  • Arm 2: One-way trap arm

  • Arm 3: Mission latch arm

  • Arm 4: “Giraffe” long-reach arm

  • Arm 5: Passive square aligner (auto 90°)

Each arm was optimized for:

  • Low weight

  • High stiffness

  • Smooth mission execution

  • Fast “Latch & Go” switching

💻 Coding Framework

While I focused on mechanical systems, our code team (with my integration help) used:

  • Navigation modules

  • Mission blocks

  • Error-correction algorithms

  • Gyro recalibration

  • Message/Broadcast systems for coordination

The team executed 400+ test cases across unit, regression, and mission tests.

🏆 Performance

  • 13 missions in 2:30 minutes

  • 290 points — best run

  • Only 4 pit stops required

This ranked among our team’s best performances and demonstrated the power of the Spark 4 system.

👨‍✈️ My Leadership as Team Captain

During the 2023 season I:

  • Led all engineering workstreams

  • Designed the complete robot & all arms

  • Built the Solapsis electronics system

  • Guided team strategy for innovation + robot game

  • Coordinated research, testing, and documentation

  • Managed team presentations for judging

  • Kept the team focused, organized, and motivated

🎉 Team Journey

Our season timeline (pages 55–56):

  • Sep 2022: Began research & brainstorming

  • Nov 2022: Early robot prototypes (Spark 1–2)

  • Jan 2023: Advanced arms and coding systems

  • Feb 2023: Final testing & competition day

  • Mar 2023: Project presentations and documentation

⭐ Conclusion

The 2023 SUPERPOWERED season was foundational for me as an engineer and maker. It combined:

  • Mechanical engineering

  • CAD modeling

  • Electronics design

  • Renewable energy systems

  • Robotics

  • Innovation research

  • Leadership & teamwork

This season shaped my identity as an engineer who learns by building — and builds to improve the world.

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