Think out-of-the-box with Bibox

This innovative kit helps grasp principles of science and translates them into devices to tackle real-world problems.

Bluetooth-controlled rolling bot

Can you recollect the days where many of us hated science lessons in school and wished we were at home watching our favourite TV shows?

Only innovative learning can equip students with a creative thinking, scientific temper, besides an analytical mindset. One such methodology of imparting knowledge, based on research and solving real-world problems, is ‘innovation ecosystem’.

Sandeep Senan, a technologist and innovator with a passion to imbibe scientific temper among students, tells us about his Bengaluru-based, Government of India partly-funded venture, Bibox (Brain-in-a-box).

How did this idea strikeyou?

As a five-year-old, I was always was tinkering with toys and rudimentary gadgets. During my second year of engineering, I rekindled my old passion to create. As I progressed through my engineering and projects, I felt the need to enable kids to dream and execute their ideas. BiBox is an easy-to-use, programmable electronic platform, an innovative kit that helps students build smart machines, robots and other real-world gadgets.

Its hardware component is the electronic brain and a software aspect is used to program the logic into the electronic brain. A plug-and-play system, it is open and scalable, enabling users to attach external components to learn and create real-world projects such as traffic lights, asthma detector and drip irrigation systems, among others.

What does the kit comprise and how does it help students?

BiBox consists of a hardware board along with basic components like motors, sensors and LEDs. It has a USB cable, light, distance, sound, heat and bend sensor elements, battery, peripheral tray, L clamp and so on.

So, all students have to do is think of an interesting project, components needed and plan how to connect them together using BiBox. Then, they have to assemble the hardware accordingly using the BiBox Kit components and material lying around in their house and use the Bisoft App to create the project blueprint using the simple drag and drop interface.

How have kids been responding to this initiative?

We have 25,000 students using this programme now. Kids are inquisitive on how to build and apply. They push me to help them build what they wanted to.