BT Young Scientist
In Castletroy College, BT Young Scientist is among a range of extracurricular activities that students can partake in. It is an annual school students’ science competition. If you have an interest in science or any innovative ideas, you can attend the BTYS meetings in the school. They are held during lunchtime on Tuesdays in Room 37.
The exhibition is held in the RDS in Dublin. Our students have had great success over the years. This year, 4 projects were accepted. As a school, we are very proud to support all those involved in this excellent exhibition.
2019 - 2020 Entries:
James O Malley and Cathal O Mara (Junior Technology category)
Title: Bin Buddy - A SMART Sorting Bin
Winners of Environmental Protection Agency special prize and Overall Runner-up Group
Created 'Bin Buddy', a smart sorting bin that recognises and sorts waste into recyclables and compost. The boys created a data set of more than 22,000 images and used code to train the bin to recognise recyclables and compostable waste. The bin comes equipped with a camera to snap a picture of the waste. That image is then sent to a Raspberry Pi computer and, using image recognition software, can move a chute at the bottom of the bin. Two motors connected move the chute in the direction of the correct waste bin and drop the trap door; and the piece of waste falls into the correct compartment in the bin.
Orna Collins (Junior Chemical, Physical and Mathematical category)
Title: A Plastic for Our Planet - Toward a Sustainable Biodegradable
Winner of 2nd place in Junior Chemical, Physical and Mathematical category
Create a sustainable biodegradable - a plastic for our planet. Orna created a bioplastic entirely from food waste and contrasted this bioplastic to blended bioplastic films from two other start sources (potato starch and corn starch). Glycerol was used as a plasticiser to decrease the plasticity and viscosity of the material; and egg shell ground and coffee grounds were used as biofillers to increase the strength and elasticity of the material. The mechanical properties of the bioplastics produced were examined under the following categories - tensile strength, degree of stiffness, water absorption and biodegradability.
Orna was selected from over 10,000 students as the winner of the Broadcom MASTERS at the 2019 Sci-Fest National Final and as a result will take her project to Anaheim, California in May where she will exhibit and compete against students from all over the world at the International Science and Engineering Fair.
Joe Kelly (Intermediate Technology category)
Title: C.B.A. - Crash Barrier Ambulance
Designed and 3D printed model of an ambulance which mounts the crash barrier to get to an accident on the motorway quicker, if it is blocked by traffic or other obstacles. The ambulance has been designed with adaptations which allow it to drive, if necessary along the barrier on the central reservation of a motorway. The prototype has been designed with the use of hydraulics to raise the ambulance high enough so as to travel over the central barrier. A 3D printed model has been created to show how this would work. This design would require the adaptation of a standard ambulance to allow it to be raised and lowered by 1.2m when required.
Liam O Mara (Intermediate Technology category)
Title: VAR AI - Efficient Intelligent Decisions
Highly commended and Display ribbon
An AI based video assisted refereeing system that removes ambiguity from refereeing decisions using pose estimation to understand interactions between hurlers during a tackle. The VAR AI system has three main components; the tackle classifier, the user interface and the referee’s smart wrist watch. To create the tackle classifier, firstly a dataset consisting of high tackles and accepted tackles was compiled using points generated by a human pose estimation algorithm. The interface passes an image into a python classifier program which returns a decision. A radio frequency transceiver attached to the referees wrist watch and the interface allows two-way communication to send a decision on a tackle, request attention, overrule or flag a potential concussion.