Purple Shovel. Photo provided by Awesome Ottawa.
November’s Awesome Ottawa award goes to community-based robotics team Merge Robotics to support purple shovels – the team’s colour – for clearing snow from Kanata bus shelters.
“This would be extremely beneficial to the community when there are snowstorms,” says project manager Mélanie Taylor, “as bus stops are often the last areas that get plowed.”
“People with mobility issues have to climb over a snow mound to get to the bus,” she continues. “And considering the number of people who wear running shoes in the winter, this issue also affects more people than expected.”
“By adding purple shovels to bus stops, combined with generosity from local volunteers, we can greatly reduce the surrounding snow mounds,” says Mélanie. “By reducing such barriers, we can help make bussing more feasible and accessible for our community.”
Merge Robotics is a team of 40 students that participates in the FIRST Robotics Competition. Joined by industry mentors, they build a robot from scratch, each year, in only eight weeks.
About Awesome Ottawa
Awesome Ottawa is part of a global movement of self-organizing chapters forwarding the interest of awesome in the universe, $1,000 at a time. At each chapter, ten or so “trustees” each contribute $100 every month, and review short applications received online to decide on the recipient of the pooled funds — usually a local project, but occasionally a particularly awesome one far away from home. Globally, more than $7 million has already been awarded – $183,000 of that by Awesome Ottawa.
For more information, visit awesomeottawa.ca.
