With an early closing for all schools and educational institutions, it’s an in house vacation for most children. While most kids are busy playing board games and annoying their siblings, for 4th grader, Alok Dev, a student of the Govindapuram Kendriya Vidyalaya, it was time to create a robot!
Alok who has been interested in robotics since the age of 7, has created a mini-robot that can automatically dispense hand sanitiser!
“I love robotics and have been passionate about it for a long time. That’s how I approached Savad sir who runs a robotics training centre called Rotech Edu near my house to learn how to create one on my own,” explains Alok.
After understanding the basics of robotics, Alok has created a range of robots that carries out various functions, out of which the EV3 hand sanitiser has gained popularity with the recent COVID-19 breakout.
“Right now everyone is trying their best to fight the coronavirus by keeping their hands clean. So instead of touching the bottle, I thought why not create a robot that can automatically sense the presence of the hand and dispense sanitiser for you,” explains Alok.
Alok’s dad, Danish, had got him a Lego Ev3 Mind Storm kit which he used to make this handy robot.
“An ultra sensor, an arm processor and my lego kit are all I needed to make this tiny robot. It didn’t take much time since I knew what I wanted to create beforehand. Regular experimenting with the kit can go on for hours though.” says Alok.
“It’s nice to see him make the most of this holiday time and create things that are useful. Moreover, he’s not up to any monkey business which is a great relief for me,” laughs mother, Poornima.
“He’s been watching the news with us for the past few weeks and understood that the coronavirus was a serious epidemic. That’s when he came up with the idea of making a sanitiser dispensing robot,” she adds. Alok also has a YouTube channel of his own called ‘AkkuTech’ where he posts videos of his new inventions.
Before this, Alok had created a ‘grab robot’ which can hold and carry things from one place to another.
Although his parents had sent him for dance and skating lessons alongside robotics, they eventually had to stop sending him for both because his mind was completely set on robotics.
“If he’s not seen creating robots, he’s probably watching others create robots on Youtube or watching gadget reviews. The passion he has for it is truly amazing to see,” says Poornima.
“Next I want to create a robot that can fold clothes and since it’s sort of a vacation now, I have enough time to experiment as well,” smiles Alok. “My dream is to become a robotics scientist when I grow up and create robots that can make life easier for humans,” he concludes.
In times like these when the whole world is looking for solutions, it is young minds like Alok that keep us inspired!
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(Edited by Saiqua Sultan)