New kids on the block

S Arun, a Class 6 student saw the troubles his mother had to undergo while cleaning dust from under the bed and other hard-to-reach areas. He wanted to help. He had learnt how to make a remote control car in his robotics class in school and had an idea of modifying it to suit her. “I decided to attach a mop-like structure at the rear of the robot. This will help clean places where hands cannot reach,” says Arun. He plans to attach a camera to guide users on where the machine is going for which he is consulting his teachers. 

Kedar Kulkarni, who started Lema Labs that conduct Kaizen Robotics Program for students, says, “Things are way different from when we started in 2010. To start with, the cost of the kits. Earlier, a kit would cost Rs 25,000 – 30,000. Now, they are available for Rs 3,000 onwards. If you search hard, there are cheaper versions available.” Kedar says  once introduced, the children cannot stay away from robotics. “Unlike other subjects taught in schools, here you see things materialise. Every child has played with a remote control car at some point of time. Imagine the excitement of the child when taught to make it from  scratch. It only takes two to three days to make them.” He further adds, “When we design the courses for the school children, we see what they are taught in school and accordingly design what to teach for every school.” 

Most schools and training institutions start the training for children from Class 2 onwards, where they are taught the basics. For instance, Asuvathaman of AET School of Robotics says, “We have the first level of training from Class 2 to Class 5, where we use Lego Mindstorms. The kit contains software and hardware to create customisable, programmable robots. For Class 5 onwards, they are taught about Arduino Robots that has two processors, each for two boards. Class 6 – 12 move to the intermediate level and those who are extremely good move to the advance level where they are taught about highly sophisticated robots, such as mind-censors.” 

Though there is a lot of buzz, experts say that it will take a few more years to see the technology finding a place in our day-to-day activities. “Today technology is available to control light and phone switches from a phone. Though that’s fancy, people still prefer a manual switchboard. Currently, such technologies are expensive. However, over a period of time prices fall,” says Kedar.