Innovation comes out of great human ingenuity and very personal passions’ – Megan Smith
Megan Smith wouldn’t have expected 9th-grade students from schools in rural Karnataka to exemplify this quote. The innovation champions - Abhishek, Sanketha, Kishan, Vaishak, Manish and Shashank have resolved major community issues by designing wonders in the ATL labs that have been set up as a part of the Adoption of Atal Tinkering Lab (ATL) program. ATL gives students from different schools a space where they can tinker and use the knowledge of STEM to solve real-life problems. ATLs teach computational thinking, rapid calculations, knowledge of measurements and much more. They give students a space to apply their creativity and curiosity and nurture a design-thinking mind set. Moreover, students learn the importance of observation. It was this skill that spurred them to identify problems in the community and develop innovative solutions.
These students from different schools showcased their innovative solutions at the science competitions held at block and district levels. They bagged multiple awards and appreciation. The students from a supported school, located in Udupi, also showcased their creativity. One of their inventions was a PIR-based Security System for Homes buzzer, which can sense and indicate if there is any human movement near the sensor location. It can help to prevent thefts at home. Another one is the Gas Leakage Alarm for Home Kitchens, which alerts residents and helps them avert a major domestic crisis. The third one is the Sun Tracking Solar Panel System, which tracks and absorbs solar energy, and converts it into electrical energy. The Gas Leakage Alarm for Home Kitchens and Sun Tracking Solar Panel System both won first place. The PIR-based Security System for Homes secured second place.
Additionally, there is another set of students – Shamantha and Marudesh from the ATL adoption program-supported schools located in Tumkur. They designed a model for the Bank Security system and secured third place. The two girl teams of the ATL adoption program supported schools located in Belagavi bagged first and second place in RoboKranti – an inter-school competition. Vaishnavi and Rutika designed the Farmer Assist Robot that assists in the farming process & Dhanashree and Soujanya designed the Smart Robotic Shopping Cart that helps by increasing the speed of the billing process. However, the highlights were the 6 different kinds of humanoid robots developed by the students from supported schools of Belgaum. The first is the Humanoid robot designed by Vinayak and Koushik that could act as a mentor and answer questions raised by the students. The second and third ones were the Animatronic Eye designed by Nitin and Vijay & the Robotic Hand designed by Tanvi and Sukhi, which work together to help learners understand the function of the human eye and the hand. Adarsh designed the fourth robot - the Baby Security System, which could help Accolade for Innovations 78 parents to prevent babies from crawling out of their homes. The fifth one is the Talking Plant designed by Babalu and Renuka, which could act as a reminder to water plants. Finally, the sixth one is the CNC Plotter designed by Keerti and Pallavi, a multipurpose device that assists with everyday activities.
38 schools in rural Karnataka have been adopted under the ATL programs and the supported schools are assimilating the culture of innovation and making the most of it. Learning Links Foundation is fortunate to be a part of this revolution.
