High power bills inspire boys to build 'solar robot'

Abu Dhabi - The robot's creators - Indian brothers in grade 6 and 5 - said they came up with the idea after seeing their father spending a lot of money on the electricity bills

A robot that tracks the movements of the sun using ambient lights mode to maximise energy and produce more electricity was among those presented by UAE students at a robotics competition in Abu Dhabi.
The robot's creators - Indian brothers in grade 6 and 5 - said they came up with the idea after seeing their father spending a lot of money on the electricity bills.
The World Robot Olympiad (WRO) organised by the Abu Dhabi Education Council (Adec) tasked students from Grade 1 to Grade 12 to construct and programme robots to solve a particular challenge in two minutes.
The students were expected to come up with innovative solutions using robotics technology to create 'sustainabots', which are robots for sustainability.
The brothers, Aadi Vishal Veoma, 11, and Aarush Vishal Veoma, 9, from the Gems Modern Academy in Dubai created the 'MachineKraft', a robot with trackers that direct solar panels or models towards the sun.
"The devices change their orientation throughout the day to follow the sun's path to maximise the capture of energy. The photovolcanic cell tracker helps minimise the angle of incidence (the angle that a ray of light makes with a line perpendicular to the surface) between the incoming light and the panel, which increases the amount of energy the installation produces," Aadi explained to Khaleej Times. "Concentrated solar photovoltaics have optics that directly accept sunlight."
"Our solar tracker is programmed to angle the solar panel in the direction of maximum sunlight. This will ensure that the maximum energy is obtained. This can happen only through the panel being able to track sunlight since the sun rises from the east and sets in the west. The movement of the sun during the day varies at different times of the day," said Aarush.
The students explained that the programme uses a lot of switches and variables. "We have only used a large motor one closer sensor," said Aadi. "We have used the compare block to compare the different readings. Then in the switches, it compares which has the greatest reading. The robot chooses the greatest reading and then gets stationed there."
The robot can stop at five different places each of a difference of 50 degrees.
According to the brothers, there is one colour sensor that tracks the sunlight. The energy that is consumed by the solar panel can be used to power motors and LED lights.
A robot cleaner
Other robots at the competition included 'The cleaner', which was created by three Emirati boys from Al Seddique School in Liwa, Abu Dhabi. The robot picks up objects and throws them in the garbage bins.
Emirati mother Mona Abdullah, whose two kids from Sharjah schools participated in the robotics competition, said such events are very helpful to students.
"Both my daughter and son were so excited to participate in these competitions. I believe they can help motivate them into becoming innovators and big thinkers," she said.
The two-day competition attracted 400 teams comprising 1,200 students from public and private schools across the country. The top teams chosen by the Adec will represent the UAE at the World Robot Olympiad in Costa Rica this year.
ismail@khaleejtimes.com
How the boys built their solar robot
Aadi Vishal Veoma and Aarush Vishal Veoma said they spent one month working on their robot that can track movements of the sun. The materials used on the robot cost them Dh6,000. Their robot was among those shortlisted for the second round of the competitions on Tuesday.
"The boys came up with this brilliant idea. They almost did everything on their own and we just guided them on a few things," said Raina, the boys' teacher who supervised their robotic programme. "The children of today just need empowerment and that's all."