Recent News: February 23rd
Maryland State High School VRC Turning Point Tournament
On February 23rd of 2019 I attended the Maryland State VEX Turning Point Tournament for the season of Turning Point. There I competed with over 60 teams from all across Maryland. This was my second time building and programing the robot completely by myself, but my first time actually attending the competition by myself. However, even though my sister was 191.6 miles away she was still with me in spirit. It was very exciting to be participating in the States competition again!
Participated in the Solo and Ensemble Festival!
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On March 2nd of 2019 I participated in an event called Solo and Ensemble! This would be my sixth year doing the Solo and Ensemble Festival! I'm happy to announce that I received all one's, the highest possible score, in both my solo and duet!! Thank you to all my teachers and my piano accompanist that made this possible! |
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The Team qualified for States!!!
Volvo Group Trucks VRC Turning Point Qualifier 2019
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On February 2nd I attended the Volvo Group Trucks VRC Turning Point Competition! I had so much at the competition, as always it was amazing to see so many other people as passionate to engineering as I was! I loved seeing everyone's unique designs!
The team made it to the semi-finals of the competition however, sadly we weren't able to progress any farther! However we are excited to say that the team did very VERY well in the skills portion of the competition, earning five more points than I originally planned! Can't wait to show the new and improved design at States! I will see you then! |
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The Quantum Bio-dragons won the Judges Award!
On December 1st, The Quantum Bio-Dragons participated in the VRC Rebel Rumble Tournament, and to our wonderful and pleasant surprise, we won the judges award!! I'm beyond grateful to the VRC judges for considering me deserving of this award! Thank you!!! |
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Thank you so much to everyone who came and visited us at out booth at the 2018 New York Makers Faire!!!! |
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Please Check Out Stephanie's 2018 Junior Breakthrough Challenge Video! :)
Welcome to VisteliLabs
An artistic video created by yours truly (Stephanie Vicarte)
We Will be Presenting at the 2018 World Maker Faire in New York!
The two of us will once again be showcasing several new projects we have been working on at the World Maker Faire held in New York! More details will be released the closer it gets to the Maker Faire!
What we will be presenting
We will be presenting 4 different projects.
The first is called the GPS Drivers Log and uses the WIZnet WIZ750SR, Adafruit Ultimate GPS FeatherWing, Adafruit FeatherWing OLED, and Adafruit Feather M0 Adalogger. The purpose of this project is to provide an easier, more convenient way for driving students to log their required driving hours besides the conventional pen-and-paper method. The GPS Drivers Log works by keeping track of a driver’s location, driving speed, and time (through the GPS FeatherWing) and stores that information on an SD card on the Adalogger. Using the LCD display from the OLED, you can view in real time the process of the information being collected and use the navigation buttons to switch between collecting data and transferring it and it also tells you when a secure connection had been established with a satellite. Using the WIZnet, it’s easy to connect the device to a client to upload and transfer the data with an Ethernet connection.
The second project is a robot built entirely from VEX Robotics pieces and is meant to be an Art-bot. It is a remote controlled robot that moves a paintbrush similar to the way a 3D printer operates on the X-Y-Z axis. The paintbrush glides from left to right, top to bottom using a series of linear motion gears and slides attached to the frame of the square robot. The paintbrush can move up and down through the use of a worm gear. Using the joystick to control the movement of the paintbrush, you can paint simple pictures on a canvas!
The third project is one that will make shopping and finding items at the grocery store a much easier chore! The Smart Shopping Cart is a device that provides access to a complete database of the layout of the grocery store which includes the location of all their products and can include a short description of each product, the nutrition facts, cool recipes or tricks on how to use the product, reviews, advertisements, etc… The Smart Shopping Cart is a medium sized touchscreen LCD screen that uses a Raspberry Pi B and can easily be attached to the handle of a shopping cart. The website that holds all of this information was made on Bootstrap Studios.
The fourth project is a game of our own creation called Color Melody. Color Melody is an interactive puzzle game that associates different colors as different notes in a major scale. The player will have to listen for the short pre-recorded melody and then figure out what arrangement of colors will make the desired melody. The player wins when they figure out the correct arrangement. Color Melody works by using an Arduino Uno, a Pixy2 Camera, a DFPlayer Mini, a Stereo 3.7W Class D Audio Amplifier, and a Speaker.
The first is called the GPS Drivers Log and uses the WIZnet WIZ750SR, Adafruit Ultimate GPS FeatherWing, Adafruit FeatherWing OLED, and Adafruit Feather M0 Adalogger. The purpose of this project is to provide an easier, more convenient way for driving students to log their required driving hours besides the conventional pen-and-paper method. The GPS Drivers Log works by keeping track of a driver’s location, driving speed, and time (through the GPS FeatherWing) and stores that information on an SD card on the Adalogger. Using the LCD display from the OLED, you can view in real time the process of the information being collected and use the navigation buttons to switch between collecting data and transferring it and it also tells you when a secure connection had been established with a satellite. Using the WIZnet, it’s easy to connect the device to a client to upload and transfer the data with an Ethernet connection.
The second project is a robot built entirely from VEX Robotics pieces and is meant to be an Art-bot. It is a remote controlled robot that moves a paintbrush similar to the way a 3D printer operates on the X-Y-Z axis. The paintbrush glides from left to right, top to bottom using a series of linear motion gears and slides attached to the frame of the square robot. The paintbrush can move up and down through the use of a worm gear. Using the joystick to control the movement of the paintbrush, you can paint simple pictures on a canvas!
The third project is one that will make shopping and finding items at the grocery store a much easier chore! The Smart Shopping Cart is a device that provides access to a complete database of the layout of the grocery store which includes the location of all their products and can include a short description of each product, the nutrition facts, cool recipes or tricks on how to use the product, reviews, advertisements, etc… The Smart Shopping Cart is a medium sized touchscreen LCD screen that uses a Raspberry Pi B and can easily be attached to the handle of a shopping cart. The website that holds all of this information was made on Bootstrap Studios.
The fourth project is a game of our own creation called Color Melody. Color Melody is an interactive puzzle game that associates different colors as different notes in a major scale. The player will have to listen for the short pre-recorded melody and then figure out what arrangement of colors will make the desired melody. The player wins when they figure out the correct arrangement. Color Melody works by using an Arduino Uno, a Pixy2 Camera, a DFPlayer Mini, a Stereo 3.7W Class D Audio Amplifier, and a Speaker.
If you are planning to go to the World Maker Faire, we can't wait to see you there!!!
Go Check Out our Hackster Projects!
A project we call the GPS Drivers Log to a Hackster.io competition called the Serial to Ethernet contest!
A project we call the Watch Out!!! to a Hackster.io competition called the Unleash the Invisible contest!
A project we call the Two Factor ID to a a Hackster.io competion called the Serial to Ethernet (S2E) contest!
A project that performs Stereo Vision on Netduino has been awarded a prize on the Hackster.io competition Netduino: Connected Things Using C# and .NET!!!
Congratulations and a big thank you to my dad for all of his support and helpful pointers!!!!
Congratulations and a big thank you to my dad for all of his support and helpful pointers!!!!
Please go check out all of our projects for a full description of what we made and don't forget to leave a like! >w^
We Took Part in the SCaN Innovation Boot Camp held at NASA!
Congratulations to Elizabeth for Becoming Valedictorian of her Class of 2018!!
We Were Invited to Participate in the SCaN ARISS Innovation
Challenge held at the NASA Goddard Space Center!
A Quick Thank You to Everyone Who Voted on our Paintings for the
Robotart Challenge! It was Greatly Appreciated!! :)
We Completed the 2018 Robotart Challenge!
We built a robot using VEX pieces to compete in an annual challenge called the Robot Art Competition where teams of students build a robot that can paint/draw a piece of artwork, either manually or autonomously!
Orchestra/Band Trip to Chicago/Cleveland!
From March 19th, 2018 - March 25th, 2018 the Barbara Ingram School for the Arts Band and Orchestra took their bi-annual out of state trip to the Windy City and Cleveland! Read all about their crazy experience here!
A Highlight Reel of Elizabeth's Accomplishments!
This is a short, two minute video Elizabeth put together for her college resume and application that highlights some of her accomplishments in the robotics and engineering fields from grades 8 to 12. This video features footage of the VEX competitions, the Toy 2.0 Challenge, and the 2017 World Maker Faire!
We Received 'Superior' Ratings on our Solo/Ensemble Pieces
On Saturday March 3rd, the two of us played the solo and ensemble pieces we've been preparing at school at the annual Washington County Solo/Ensemble event and received 'Superior' ratings for all of our performances!
We Enjoyed Being in the 2018 Maryland State High School
Championship/ VRC In the Zone!
On February 24, 2018 the Quantum Harmony BioDragons fought hard in the Maryland State VEX Tournament held at Dundalk High School in Baltimore, Maryland.
We Got Surprise Inducted into the Tri-M Music Honor Society!!!
This was such a great surprise and honor for the both of us! Although we didn't sign up to be a part of the society due to our busy schedules, this was something the two of us really wanted to be a part of! It was really nice of our teachers, who are also the society leaders, Mrs.Swanson and Mr.Hollin, to recognize our efforts to contribute as much as we could to helping out the society prior to being inducted! Thank you so much for this honor and opportunity, we will do everything we can to contribute even more to Tri-M! :)
We Just Had Our 2018 All County Concert!
All County is something we do here in Washington County where orchestra and band students who attend high schools from all over the county have the opportunity to perform songs together for the whole community to enjoy! We had our concert last night (2/03/2018) and it went very well! We both really enjoyed the program and since it was Elizabeth's last year playing in All County, she made sure to make the most out of this experience as the orchestra's concertmaster! :)
VEX Volvo Group Trucks Qualifiers - Hagerstown Tournament
Champions!!
Elizabeth and Stephanie with teams 183Z and 183A, the Synobotz, after winning the Hagerstown tournament
VEX BMore Robotic - Have a Dream - VRC Tournament
Champions!!!!
Stephanie and Elizabeth with their robot after winning the Baltimore tournament
We Got to Tour the NASA Goddard Space Flight Center!
Elizabeth and Stephanie with Sara Vilevac, who invited them to take a tour of the Goddard Center
BIG THANK YOU TO THE ARTHUR C. CLARKE FOUNDATION AND
EVERYONE INVOLVED IN THE YOUTH VIDEO CHALLENGE AND THE
UNLEASH IMAGINATION - SHAPE THE FUTURE CONFERENCE THAT
TOOK PLACE ON SATURDAY, DECEMBER 9TH!!!
From December 7th - 9th, 2017, the Vicarte sisters where invited to go to Washington DC to participate in the awards ceremony celebrating the 6 finalists (3 from the age division from 11-14 yrs and 3 for the 15-18 yrs division) as well as attend the Unleash the Imagination - Shape the Future conference featuring prominent figures in the science community such as Kim Stanley Robinson, Bran Ferren, Dava Newman, Buzz Aldrin, and Ellen Stofan, PhD. In addition, we got to see videos of well renowned cellist, Yo-Yo Ma, performing a piece for the Arthur C. Clarke Awards Ceremony Celebration and an award accepting video speech from Stephen Hawking.
Our Imagine the Future Video Earned a Spot in the Top 3 Finalists!!
Our video for the Imagine the Future - Youth Video Challenge hosted by the Arthur C. Clarke Foundation in partnership with KID Museum and Youth Service America was confirmed to be in the top three finalists by email on November 4th, 2017. Both of us were pleasantly/happily surprised and overjoyed.
When we were first introduced to the prompt of "what do you think is a problem in the world that would be solved by 2042?", we knew that we wanted our video to focus on a solution that would be pretty unique compared to other well-known problems. After countless discussions on other topic candidates, cyber-bullying seemed like the problem to tackle as it not only has become such a widespread world-wide problem for people ranging in all age groups, but will also probably continue to become more prominent as technology continues to advance.
We are both happy and thankful to be ranked as a top 3 finalist and look forward to making improvements on our video in the one-to-one master sessions coming up, as well as presenting our video at the Unleash Imagination—Shape the Future Conference in Washington, D.C. on December 9th!
We will keep you updated on our newest improvements to our video and the events of December 9th.
When we were first introduced to the prompt of "what do you think is a problem in the world that would be solved by 2042?", we knew that we wanted our video to focus on a solution that would be pretty unique compared to other well-known problems. After countless discussions on other topic candidates, cyber-bullying seemed like the problem to tackle as it not only has become such a widespread world-wide problem for people ranging in all age groups, but will also probably continue to become more prominent as technology continues to advance.
We are both happy and thankful to be ranked as a top 3 finalist and look forward to making improvements on our video in the one-to-one master sessions coming up, as well as presenting our video at the Unleash Imagination—Shape the Future Conference in Washington, D.C. on December 9th!
We will keep you updated on our newest improvements to our video and the events of December 9th.
THANK YOU 2017 WORLD MAKER FAIRE!!!!! WE HAD SO MUCH FUN BEING A PART OF SUCH A HUGE EVENT!!!!
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We received a total of 4 awards on the second day of the Maker Faire! 3 Editor's Choice awards and one Best in Class awards from 4 different judges. |
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Read about this amazing excerpt from NickNormal, which features us in an Adafruit blog. Thank you so much!!
Anything is possible if you put your mind to it
Check Out Our 2017 World
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This video was made by the two of us (it took us a whole 3 days to write, shoot, and edit) and was sent as part of our application for the 2017 World Maker Faire to be held in New York from September 23rd - 24th.
It was a great honor to be invited to the 2017 Worlds Maker Faire, and we are very excited to attend our first World Maker Faire! We wish to participate not only to showcase our projects, but also to take a closer look at other creative projects and innovative new ideas. |
The Kennedy Center
We were given the amazing opportunity, thanks to the KID Museum (KIDS Museum Exoerience) in May of 2017 to showcase our MEOW project at the annual Arts Summit held at the Kennedy Center in Washington DC! There, we got to meet a lot of amazing people including a professor at MIT and Yo-Yo-Ma, who was the host!
Elizabeth (left), Yo-Yo Ma (center), and Stephanie (right) at the Arts Summit at the Kennedy Center.
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Stephanie (left) and Elizabeth (right) showcasing MEOW at the Kennedy Center (2017).
(left to right) Elizabeth, our mom, and Stephanie took a picture at the photo booth at the Kennedy Center
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Vex 2018-2019 Game: Turning Point
Turning Point is played on a 12' by 12' square field where two alliances, one red and one blue composed of two teams each, compete in matches consisting of a fifteen second Autonomous period, followed by a one minute and forty-five second Driver controlled play. The object of the game is to gain a higher score by strategically flipping caps onto your respective team color, toggling flags, and within the last 30 seconds of the match, parking your robot in its designated scoring zone.
Participated Competitions/Events
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VEX Robotics
Toy 2.0 Challenge Maker Faires Zero Robotics |
Washington County All County Orchestra
Solo/Ensemble Festival Shepherd Prep Orchestra |
Exploring New Possibilities
The Vicarte Sisters
Coming from a family with a background in the arts and engineering, we strive to make use of our talents in the hopes of bringing people together and adding beauty into the world we live in...