Age is just a number, goes a popular quote. Just as fancy qualifications are not a prerequisite to achieving something in life, one does not need to be of a particular age to learn robotics and do wonders in the field. There is so much innovation and research happening around the world that it is mind boggling! This month, here is a look at some prodigies who love experimenting with robots and have begun carving a niche for themselves in the field.
Eva: 10 years
This French girl has proved that she can make a difference through her acute technical acumen. Eva had applied for a PhD-level fellowship to seek help for building robots. In her application to the Paris Summer Innovation Fellowship, she had written, “The streets of Paris are sad. I want to build a robot that will make them happy again. I’ve already starting learning how to code on Thymio robots, but I have trouble making it work. I want to join the programme so the mentors can help me.” Her pitch was shared on Facebook by Kat Borlongan, a founding partner of Five by Five, the organisation which hosts the fellowship. In her reply to Eva, Borlongan confessed that her application inspired her and accepted her application. “Humility and the willingness to learn in order to go beyond our current limitations are at the heart and soul of innovation,” said Borlongan in her letter.
Darsh Patel: 15 years
This robotics enthusiast from Vadodara has designed what every teenager dreams of — his very own version of Iron Man’s Jarvis! Inspired by the Marvel series, Darsh has developed a programme through which he can control the electronic appliances in his room through voice commands. Named Jasper, the prototype can not only control lights, fan and air-conditioner in the room, but also turn on and off music and read out the daily news! Darsh says that Jasper can be controlled from anywhere in the world and has created an Android app as well. To check out Darsh’s “smart room”, visitwww.youtube.com/watch?v=7qj8uoTYdgQ
Bilal Ahmed: 11 years
Hailing from Karachi, Pakistan, Bilal has proved his mettle by building his own drone at the Microsoft Innovation Centre in the city. In the future, he dreams of building a bionic suit that will help paralysed people walk again and allow everyone to do more work with less effort. His talent was noticed by Ozair Belal from Microsoft Innovation Centre at a local robotics competition. Later, Ozair supported him in learning to integrate Raspberry Pi 2 for his robots and drones. According to Microsoft TechNet blog, “Bilal’s drone can fly up to a height of 1,500 feet and is similar to those used by security and defence agencies. It is programmed so that it reduces turbulence and is self-stabilising.”
