We put a twist on the traditional groundbreaking by designing a fully mechanical steampunk-esque bike-powered shovel.

A representation of Cambridge building from farms and pastures into Harvard University and Massachusetts Institute of Technology, the time when Cambridge was home to massive candy manufacturers such as N.E.C.C.O. and Tootsie Roll, into what we know Cambridge is today, home to Biotech headquarters for the world and other huge companies like Genzyme and Novartis, and a view into the future of Cambridge, DivcoWest's North Point.

I am currently designing and building the way the stairs move up and down. I am also working on the overall design and layout of the project. I will be working on the final iteration of my project tomorrow, which requires a lot of assembling and a lot of wood :)

A automated model of a building that comes from the ground and starts growing the same way a normal building will(first the structure and then the walls). 

Right now we are working on the mechanism that we will use to move the floors up and also the mechanism to wrap the building around, our plan for tomorrow is to design and cut the box where everything is going to fit inside, also cut the walls that are made out of felt and attach the magnets to the side off the building.

The scene starts with multiple cute miniature robots popping out of the ground, and a towering  dancing robot emerges to a song. 

Currently, we have built all of the robots. Right now we are working on attaching everything (the bodies and heads) to the servos (motors); the top half moves up and down, but it is too heavy for the bottom to move. Tomorrow we will work on connecting all of the wires, writing the code for the different servos, and making walls to surround the bodies based on their movement. 

A remote controlled wheel that takes up the shape of Sonic The Hedgehog's Spin Dash that would roll around on the dirt and also dig holes. As of right now, we're working on our final iteration. The first half of our 3D sonic ball is complete and now we're laser cutting the other half. We are going to glue the pieces together, and then insert the motors and other mechanical parts into the hollow inside. One of the last steps to finish our sonic ball is to add the head and feet into middle between the two halves of the ball. This way, when the sonic stops spinning, the head and feet will pop out. Once we assemble all of the pieces together, we can test out the softwares and arduinos and see if it connects to the remote.

 Adorable moles are popping up in the middle of the groundbreaking, stealing the ceremonial shovels and creating a Whack - a - Mole inspired war. 

We have the main mole and its mechanism laser cut and finished. There is another mole that needs to be laser cut, but we have the file.  We are working on the coding for the Mole to pop up and down, and finishing the mechanism that pulls the shovel down. We still need to create boxes to protect both of the mechanisms. We also need to lay out the whole thing so that we can show the story of how it works. We will also try to figure out how the hard hat will work.  

The Ant:  A fun and interactive approach to groundbreaking.

I have been working all week on a fully-functioning prototype of The Ant.  So far, I have a remote-controllable set of wheels, a few legs which are not hooked up, and a bridge for all these things to mounted on.  I have part of a model of the shell, which should be finished by the end of the week.  In addition, I have a few computer models (pictured) of wheel houses and the like.

Tomorrow I must stop work at noon, but by then I should have several if not all the legs mounted, and a large part of the shell.