Tritt Elementary School’s 2nd Grade Target students competed in Georgia Tech’s K-12 InVenture Prize state competition on March 2, 2022. This program is designed to develop entrepreneurs in the community and future world changers. Students identified real world problems and developed a novel solution through the iteration process. In the K-2 division, our “Grabber to Go” team placed 3rd, our “Sturdy Plastic Bag 2000” team placed 2nd and “The Poop Dead-inator” team tied for 1st place along with Kennesaw Elementary School. There were 182 teams that competed at state finals last week. These winning teams will be celebrated and honored at Georgia Tech’s InVenture Prize VIP Day next week. In addition, we are thrilled that our “The Poop Dead-inator” team will have the opportunity to compete in the Annual National Invention Convention in Michigan later this Spring.
Project Descriptions:
1st Place: Poop Dead-inator
Problem: Pet owners are frustrated because they must constantly scoop dog waste from their yard. It is smelly, yucky, and poop bags create extra waste that goes into our landfills. If you leave the pet waste, it takes a long time to decompose on its own and people often step into it creating a larger mess.
Solution: The Poop Dead-inator is a solar powered or battery-operated poop scooper that senses animal waste, collects it, and stores it in a holding tank with chemicals that quickly break up and dissolve the waste. It’s programed by its unique app.
Detailed Description of Invention: This innovative idea allows pet owners to quickly eliminate waste from their yard in a clean and environmentally friendly way. The solar powered automatic or rechargeable battery-operated poop scooper has a sensor underneath that detects waste from your yard. There is an app that allows you to program the areas and boundaries. The poop scooper uses its claw to grab the poop, brings it up, releases at a small slope where it slides into a holding tank with calcium carbonate, calcium hydroxide, and sodium carbonate. These chemicals dissolve the animal waste, eliminating bags and excess trash in our environment.
2nd Place: The Sturdy Plastic Bag 2000
Problem: People need a sturdy plastic bag to hold heavy items.
Solution: The Sturdy Plastic Bag 2000 is a bag that is sturdier due to its strong materials and the bag doesn’t break.
Detailed Description of Invention: The Sturdy Plastic Bag 2000 is a bag that allows homeowners to shop without having their bag break. We replaced it with a sturdier bag because in it we put strong materials. All you have to do is put really heavy things in and it’s done.
3rd Place: Grabber to Go
Problem: Our problem is that shoppers are frustrated because they cannot reach items on high shelves. Due to covid and less employees, it is difficult to find an associate in a timely manner that is available to assist them with retrieving items from the higher shelves.
Solution: The Grabber to Go is a reusable grabber that shoppers pick up on their way into the store. Think of the tree that holds umbrella bags at the entrance of stores. The grabber hooks to their shopping cart while they shop. The Grabber to Go allows shoppers to reach items on the top shelves while shopping, without wasting time to locate an associate to help them. This is especially important now, due to stores being understaffed. When shoppers are leaving the store, they return their Grabber to Go on the stand, where it’s cleaned.
Detailed Description of Invention: The Grabber to Go is an innovative idea that allows shoppers to reach items on the top shelf of stores without wasting time to locate an associate to help them. The lightweight aluminum telescope style grabber has a hook at the end to conveniently hang from your cart. The adjustable pole is 12 inches collapsed and fully extends to 84 inches, allowing you to reach the highest shelf at stores. The grabber is ridged to hold the most slippery items. It rotates and opens to accommodate larger objects. It has a sensor that alerts the shopper if an item is too heavy for the grabber. It has a tight open and close that is activated by the plastic covered handled. The comfort handle is designed so that you will not pinch your skin when using. The Grabber to Go comes in a dual stand to place at the entrance and exit of your store. Upon return of a grabber, the weight activates a spray disinfectant to automatically have the Grabber to Go ready for the next customer.
