Sir Paul McCartney & Kell Robotics at Piedmont Park
ATLANTA, August 6, 2009 – Robotics teams from Carlton J. Kell High School and The Westminster School plan to participate in Piedmont Park Conservancy’s Eco-Village in conjunction with the Green Concert on Saturday, Aug. 15, featuring Sir Paul McCartney. Students from Kell and Westminster are committed to helping concertgoers understand the exciting role that robotics can play in environmental conservation efforts. Kell and Westminster are both part of Georgia FIRST (For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology), a global program created to get students excited about science and technology by enabling them to design and build interactive robots. At the Eco-Village, Kell will demonstrate its trash-collecting robot on Piedmont Park’s Lake Clara Meer. The robot is designed to pick up garbage from bodies of water such as lakes and rivers. Students from Kell Robotics, its 36-member team, spent more than two years building its trash-collecting robot. The Westminster School’s robotics team, the WiredCats, will also bring its award-winning robot to the Eco-Village. This robot loads volleyball-sized balls into a spiral hopper and launches them at a target using auto-tracking. In addition, the WiredCats have teamed up with Call2Recycle to collect old rechargeable batteries and cell phones for recycling. Call2Recycle is a nonprofit program administered by the Rechargeable Battery Recycling Corporation (RBRC), a public service organization dedicated to rechargeable battery recycling. Headquartered in Atlanta, Call2Recycle is the industry’s first and only product stewardship program for rechargeable batteries. Park attendees and concertgoers can bring their old rechargeable batteries and cell phones to the Call2Recycle mobile educational unit on site from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. Members of the Westminster WiredCats team will be on-site to help collect rechargeable batteries and cell phones. Call2Recycle’s unit invites attendees to play interactive games and win prizes while learning how rechargeable battery and cell phone recycling helps conserve natural resources. Green features of the vehicle include cork flooring, CFL lighting, recycled wood and bamboo panels, and biodiesel powered. Proceeds from the cell phones collected on-site at the Green Concert will benefit Georgia FIRST. “The enthusiasm for environmental sustainability from the students from Kell and Westminster – as well as their partner Call2Recycle – has been phenomenal,” said Chris Nelson, executive vice president and COO, Piedmont Park Conservancy. “We're lucky to have partners like Kell, Westminster and Call2Recycle; each of their green initiatives are in line with our goals for maintaining historic Piedmont Park.” In partnership with Piedmont Park Conservancy's Green Market, the Eco-Village will be open on Saturday, Aug. 15, from 9 a.m. until 5 p.m. at the 12th Street gate to Piedmont Park. The Eco-Village is part of The Green Concert and our efforts to get people to live a greener life. Within Georgia FIRST, the Westminster WiredCats have earned the title of the “Green Team” because of its efforts to initiate conservation efforts on campus, at FIRST® events and in the community. For instance, the WiredCats led a campus-wide battery recycling project, which resulted in the collection of more than 200 pounds of batteries. The WiredCats have also implemented aluminum and plastic recycling efforts on-site at FIRST events, including March’s FIRST Robotics Competition Peachtree Regional. Finally, the WiredCats have participated in Earth Day events at Southern Polytechnic University to promote environmental sustainability to Girl Scout troops throughout Georgia.