Team Marker Fun

By Karina

Task: Create the Team Marker

Last week, we decided to take up the task of creating the team marker, a simple project that would surely be overlooked, but can score a significant amount of points. We wanted the marker to be meaningful to the Iron Reign, but also follow the team marker rules. To start, we made a list of ideas:

Last season, Ducky (as seen in idea #4) brought Iron Reign good luck whenever the drivers squeezed them, and so we knew that we wanted to incorporate Ducky into whatever the final product would be. Some team members suggested fusing together multiple rubber duckies to fit the dimensions in the rule book. I had a better idea. I thought, "Why not put Ducky in a box?" However, trapping Ducky in a box would prevent us from ever squishing Ducky again (as long as they are trapped in the box). But then an even better idea came up: "Why not put Ducky in a cage?" And so we got to work making a cage for Ducky, one that we could release them from or reach in to whenever we need a squish for good luck.

We cut two pieces of 3.5 inch x 3.5 inch polycarb to serve as the ceiling and floor of the cage. Then we used 8 standoffs, in pairs of two at each corner of the cage, to serve as the bars. To not waste anymore standoffs, we used zipties as the cage bars. Additionally, the flexibility of the zipties allow us to squeeze Ducky out of the cage from in between the bars. In the end, Ducky looked like the most happy prisoner we've ever seen:

Next Steps

With the team marker built, we need to test how well it does its job (staying in one piece for the duration of a match hopefully). It's survived many nights now in the our coach's house, which is no small feat, with all the children running about and constantly misplacing things. Once we have an intake system working for the minerals, we will need to test how compatible it is with Ducky in a Cage. Lastly, we need to decorate Ducky's cage, including our team's number (6832).