Project Description

Project Name: Robotics Kaleidoscope

For my eagle project, I plan to lead the designing and painting of a mural for the Melrose High School Robotics team, the iRaiders. The Robotics team strives to inspire students in math and science by working with community mentors in a robot building challenge. A mural would promote the team by giving them needed exposure (akin to the visibility of a sport teams logo), which would benefit the school and the community involved. The mural will be featured on the entrance to the robotics club area. The entrance is 12 feet high and 16 feet wide. The design project is collaboration between me and the iRaiders team members, along with the approval by the Mayor, Superintendent, and the head of the Robotics team. I plan to coordinate the specific details of the project by talking to local hardware and supply stores personnel to get donations of supplies and advise on how to keep the mural long lasting as well as seek advise on best practices from the art teachers at the High School. I plan to solicit volunteers from multiple sources. The Robotics team, the school art club, fellow scouts, as well as friends and family. After the design is approved, the wall surface would have to be prepped for the image: washed and primed. After it is dried, a sketch will be made and then painted over. The design will be made of solid colors, and basic shapes, so artistic ability will not always be necessary. By early November, I hope to have the project completed with a fully painted mural on the entrance. The principle beneficiaries of the mural will be the High School, the community, and the

Robotics team itself. The mural would benefit the Melrose High School like any sports team or extracurricular activity, by creating school spirit and support. But the Robot team is not just another sports team or extracurricular activity. While promoting teamwork and friendly competition like a sports team, its main goal is to inspire students and faculty in the City of Melrose in the areas of math, science and technology in an environment that nurtures and supports gracious professionalism. Scholarship opportunities are also available for students. So far, since the club was created three years ago, the club has given out over $19,000 in scholarships to Melrose High School Seniors. It also provides opportunities for students to visit companies, who are applying technology to products they make, creating a bridge between the high school experience and industry. Through the club, students are also exposed to colleges, giving them an introduction to the educational world of technology. The club also strives to expand its out reach to girls who are underrepresented in the technology field. Therefore, the mural would not only benefit the High School but as benefit the Melrose High School students themselves. The mural benefits the community in many of the same ways as it does the High School. The Melrose Robotics team does not focus solely on the Melrose High School, but anyone in the community. Although the mural would not provide detailed information on the team, it would put itself out there and help introduce the public to the program. The team has strong connections to the Middle School and its own Lego robotics team. The mural can help introduce the students at a young age to the robot team and to opportunities in math and science. The mural could also introduce adults who do work with technology to the team, and to opportunities as mentors who assist the program. Therefore, the mural would benefit people of all ages. Finally, the mural would benefit the Melrose Robot Team through publicity. The team

currently meets in the back of the high school next to the loading dock. They are almost cut off and ignored by the rest of the school. Publicity through a mural would help the team be noticed. Although the mural is only one step to help the clubs publicity, if successful, it could lead to increased attendance and a higher quality of program.

Currently the entrance, in which the mural is planned to be painted on, is bland and uninteresting. So it is a perfect place to feature it since it will standout on the building and attract attention. The door is 12 feet high and 16 feet wide. There are grooves in the door that will have

to be taken note of when making the design, as well as the sign on the entance. The opening is located on Melrose Street right next to the school drop-off zone. This location is ideal to provide excellent exposure for the program. 3

The first step would be to get permission. I will have to get permission from the Mayor of Melrose, Rob Dolan, and the Superintendent. The next step would be to build the team to help with the mural. I will lead the team, with the advisement of James Horne, the leader of the Robot team. The schools art teacher also volunteered to help with the project. As for workers, I will seek help from my Boyscout troop, the robot club, friends and family. We will need nine volunteers to paint the mural in total. A date would have to be decided upon in order to find out who is available. We have put together a first draft of the design. Starting with the main logo for the robotics team, we simplified it so it can be recreated on the entrance. Each step of its creation, Ive had the advise of James Horne, the Director of the Robotics team, and Cathy Peterson, a former graphic designer. Below is the second draft of the design:

To get a general idea of what the mural will look like on the door, I used Photoshop to plan out how it will look. Below are several mach ups of the mural:

After that, materials, supplies, and tools would have to be gathered. I visited a few local paint stores to figure out which paints to use. The paints were chosen to last long on exterior surfaces. I will start out with an oil-based primer as a base coat. The primer will be white, so it can be used as the background for the design. In order to stick to the metal we will be using oil based primer. To cover the 192 square feet, of the opening, I will need almost a gallon of primer. For paint I plan to use a flat finish exterior latex paint with low luster. I will need seven different colors for the design. We will need 3 ladders and a tarp, as well as other basic supplies. These can be borrowed from my family, volunteers families or the school. The following is a comprehensive list of Materials and Tools needed:

Item Ladder Red Paint Light grey paint Grey paint Dark Grey Paint Dark red paint White primer Tarps Paint holders Brushes Rollers Chalk String Pizzas Water Jug First aid kit

Amount 3 1 1 1 1 1 1 quart quart quart quart quart gallon 2 6 9 9 9 pieces 1 spool 12 1 2

Many Supplies will not need to be bought. Stepladders, drop cloths, cleanup supplies, and staging can be borrowed from my family. The school board has volunteered to donate paint, as well as the art teacher, Ms. Melito. As for the food, the Robot club keeps a fund for food for

there meetings, and has volunteered to use that to donate the money for the food. All the items will be either borrowed or donates, so fundraisers will not be necessary. The painting itself should take two weekends of work. Ideally, these will be the weekends of October 29th and 30th, and November 4th through 5th. The first weekend will be cleaning and priming the mural and maybe some rough sketches of the design. On Saturday we will put down a layer of the white primer, and let it dry overnight. In total, I will need eight other volunteers other than myself. There would be six people painting on the ground level and three on ladders at the top. On Sunday, we would then draw a rid with chalk and begin the sketch. The grid is used so that we can easily copy the design onto the wall. I put a grid on the design (as seen below), and then I would direct the volunteers in sketching the design on the wall using the grid. All materials needed for the project will be acquired the day before.

The next weekend would be the final painting of the image itself. The first day will be primarily the painting of the gears, and the start of the letters, these I refer to as the background colors. If there is enough time, I will lead the volunteers in starting the details. The next day will be primarily the painting of the details. The details are the shading behind the letters, and the slogan. Here is a plan of the workdays:
Weekend 28-Oct 29-Oct Time Throughout day 10:0011:00 Job Gather Materials Volunteers Arrive, bring Materials to Materials needed None None Total Hours 2 1

School 29-Oct 29-Oct 29-Oct 29-Oct 11:0012:00 12:0012:30 12:302:30 2:30-3:00 Clean Wall Lunch Finish Priming Cleanup Volunteers Arrive, bring Materials to School Measure Grid Lunch Draw Sketch Cleanup Wash Cloths, Sponges Food (pizza and drinks) Primer, Buckets, Brushes, Tarp, Ladder None 1 .5 2 0.5

30-Oct 30-Oct 30-Oct 30-Oct 30-Oct

10:0011:00 11:0012:00 12:0012:30 12:302:30 2:30-3:00 Throughout day

None Chalk, measuring tape, ladder, string Chalk, measuring tape, ladder, string Food (pizza and drinks) Chalk, measuring tape, ladder, string

1 1 0.5 2 .5

4-Nov

Gather Materials Volunteers Arrive, bring Materials to School Begin Base Colors Lunch Finish Base Colors and Begin Details Cleanup Volunteers Arrive, bring Materials to School Paint Details Lunch Paint Details Touch ups Cleanup

None

5-Nov 5-Nov 5-Nov 5-Nov 5-Nov

10:0011:00 11:0012:00 12:0012:30 12:302:30 2:30-3:00

None Paint, Buckets, Brushes, Tarp, ladder Food (pizza and drinks) Paint, Buckets, Brushes, Tarp, ladder None

1 1 0.5 2 0.5

6-Nov 6-Nov 6-Nov 6-Nov 6-Nov 6-Nov

10:0011:00 11:0012:00 12:0012:30 12:302:00 2:00-2:30 2:30-3:00

None Paint, Buckets, Brushes, Tarp, ladder Food (pizza and drinks) Paint, Buckets, Brushes, Tarp, ladder Paint, Buckets, Brushes, Tarp, ladder None

1 1 0.5 1.5 .5 0.5

Total

21

In order to ensure safety while carrying out the project, first aid kits will all ways be available, this includes one brought, and one from the robotics room. Water will also be available for the volunteers, and to prevent dehydration. When working, I will make sure to have adult supervision at all times. Since the project is in a parking lot, demarcation of boundaries with orange cones will be set up. A sign will be put up at the entrance to the parking lot saying Slow, Painting in progress so when cars drive by they can avoid the workers. The entire project is estimated to include at most, 272 hours of effort. That includes the designing, the writing of the proposal, the gathering of materials and the completion of the project. Below is a detailed summary of the hours of work. The V3-V9 stands for volunteers that have not been chosen yet. Everything in stage 1 and 2 has already been completed. Of course this is an average, and a more accurate report will be included in the final report.
Man Hours effort

What Stage 1: Planning Meet mayor Plan Plan Talk to Paint Stores Write Proposal Edit Proposal Edit Proposal Edit Proposal Measure Wall Measure Wall Research Design Mural Critique Design Critique Design Critique Design

Who

Cole O'Brien Cole O'Brien James Horne Cole O'Brien Cole O'Brien Paul Murphy James Horne Greg O'Brien Cole O'Brien Greg O'Brien Cole O'Brien Cole O'Brien Cathy Peterson James Horne Greg O'Brien

1 8 3 2 8 1 1 1 1 1 2 6 1 1 1

10

Stage 2: Get Permission Superintendent Joe Talk to School Board Casey Meeting with Joe Casey Cole O'Brien Meeting with Joe Casey James Horne Meeting with Joe Casey Joe Casey Stage 3: Gather Materials Gather materials Cole O'Brien Gather materials James Horne Gather materials Greg O'Brien Stage 4: Prime and Sketch Mural Prime Mural Cole O'Brien Prime Mural V2 Prime Mural V3 Prime Mural V4 Prime Mural V5 Prime Mural V6 Prime Mural V7 Prime Mural V8 Prime Mural V9 Adult Supervision Adult Sketch Mural Cole O'Brien Sketch Mural V2 Sketch Mural V3 Sketch Mural V4 Sketch Mural V5 Sketch Mural V6 Sketch Mural V7 Sketch Mural V8 Sketch Mural V9 Adult Supervision Adult Stage 5: Paint Mural Paint Mural Paint Mural Paint Mural Paint Mural Paint Mural Paint Mural Paint Mural Paint Mural Paint Mural Adult Supervision

2 2 2 2

8 8 8

5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5 5

Cole O'Brien V2 V3 V4 V5 V6 V7 V8 V9 Adult

10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10 10

11

Stage 6: Finish Project Write project report Cole O'Brien Edit project report Paul Murphy Edit project report Greg OBrien 276 hours

4 1 1

Total

13 people

12