Prototype Side Overviews

Bill of Materials

Various Tool Overviews

Various Tools & Display Screens

It was important to learn about archaeology and the challenges archaeologists face in exploring and analyzing sites. We identified a few major problems and researched them using FIRST materials, watched a webinar by History Colorado, and searched online for more information. From the webinar, we noticed that archaeologists spend a lot of time walking in general to locate potential sites for future exploration, which leaves less time for analyzing and studying the sites once they are found. Once we had this information, we decided our project should focus on making archaeological work more efficient. We brainstormed some ideas at first, but had to scrap them because they were too involved. We valued the extra information we gathered and the learning experience it gave us about other challenges in archaeology. 

After looking into different ideas, we decided to create the Multi-Tasker, an all-in-one toolbox that can perform multiple functions to help archaeologists explore and analyze potential dig sites. This tool could save time and energy, support users with health concerns, and reduce the impact humans have on sensitive areas. To our knowledge, a project like this has never been done before. The next step was the planning process.

We created a planning sheet to collect all of our ideas for the Multi-Tasker. This included sketches of the toolbox, which functions we wanted to include, notes from our research, and initial design ideas. All of the planning and concept work was done on Canva first, which allowed us to organize our thoughts visually, experiment with layouts, and refine the overall design before creating a more detailed model. Once we were satisfied with our Canva prototype, we moved our design into Tinkercad to build a 3D model of the Multi-Tasker. The whole team contributed to both versions of the prototype, collaborating on improvements, adjustments, and new ideas. This sheet was updated and edited over several weeks as we refined our ideas and prepared both prototypes for presentation, making sure the Multi-Tasker was functional, efficient, and easy to understand.

Take a look at our ideas!

Version 2 of the Prototype

For the future, our team hopes to turn the Multi-Tasker into a reality with the guidance and support of experts from Mammoth Cave and other archaeological professionals. We plan to continue sharing our project and spreading the word with these experts, getting their feedback and ideas to make the toolbox as useful and effective as possible. Ultimately, we hope to inspire other students who are curious about archaeology and problem-solving to explore their own ideas and possibly create tools or projects of their own. Our goal is to make the Multi-Tasker a real, functional tool that can help archaeologists work more efficiently while opening the door for anyone to explore and learn about the past.

We are so proud of what our team accomplished with the Multi-Tasker. Our field trip to Mammoth Cave was an incredible opportunity to investigate real archaeological sites and share our prototype with experts in real time. The best part was seeing our design come to life when we were able to 3D print our Tinkercad model, which was a completely new experience for our team. We learned so much from the feedback of professionals like Bailey Lambert from the Kentucky Archaeological Survey, Mammoth Cave rangers, technology coaches, and Jasmine Saxon from Skype a Scientist, and we are excited that our project was featured on WBKO’s “Good News” segment, helping spread the word to students and teams across our community.

The most rewarding part of this project was being able to collaborate, test, and improve our ideas while sharing them with experts and peers. We are so excited about the impact the Multi-Tasker could have on students, archaeologists, and future innovators, and we hope it inspires others to explore, design, and create tools to solve real-world problems.