The team, under pressure, is mobilizing its final resources to complete the excavator at all costs. In a race against time, every minute counts: the assembly of the cab is finally complete, the final tests of the Arduino code are underway, the wheels are mounted, and a few gears have been hastily added to ensure a minimum level of mechanical functionality. We’re structuring, adjusting, re-testing… sometimes successfully, often with surprises.

And then, in the final seconds almost like in a movie the project works.

Granted, it’s not exactly the result we expected, nor the one we dreamed of at the beginning of the project. Unfortunately, we had to skip several elements due to lack of time, resources, or technical issues. The excavator is not yet mobile, and the arm, which was supposed to have three joints, only has one or two functional ones. Several parts had to be simplified or replaced with makeshift solutions, and the full 3D printing process couldn't be completed.

Still, this project has taught us discipline, adaptability, time management, but above all, that in any technical project, a flawed but functional prototype is far better than a perfect dream never built.

And who knows… this prototype might just be the beginning. We still have the ambition to finish it entirely in the near future.