Robot made by young adolescents steals the show at the 16th Mumbai marathon

Youngsters, who are part of NGO Salaam Bombay Foundation’s skills@school programme, co-created a unique robot Armaan 
Mumbai: 19th January’20: On Sunday, as the city ran in full force at the 16th Mumbai Marathon, a small group of adolescents from NGO Salaam Bombay Foundation exuded a different kind of happiness.
The youngsters were delighted because their creation held pride of place at the Salaam Bombay Foundation cheering zone near Churchgate station. Armaan – the robot the adolescents helped co-create – raised his bionic arm in an exuberant welcome. The bionic arm is what the young group created with some guidance from robotics experts. 


The story of this creation is inspiring for several reasons. The adolescents belong to resource-poor backgrounds and live in tiny homes in the city’s slums. They go to government schools and making ends meet is a daily challenge. Robotics is not within their purview and a future in AI is unheard of. Moreover, the financial resources required to acquire these skills are far beyond their means which in itself proves a major impediment in many of these talented youngsters not getting the chance they deserve.
But Salaam Bombay Foundation and Pune based IndiaFirst Robotics partnered to give these adolescents the chance they deserved.   The group is a part of Salaam Bombay Foundation’s skills@school programme which equips children with vocational skills that make them more employable, giving them a proper chance at getting real jobs and breaking their cycle of poverty. Robotics is one such initiative under the skills@school programme.
The Robotics programme is currently being implemented by Salaam Bombay Foundation in Mumbai, Kolkata and Bengaluru. What began with just 32 students, today has 188 boys and 189 girls – testimony to how the course is also helping bridge the gender gap in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) education that generally exists in India.
Engineering the bionic arm required learning the basics of robotics from structure building to grip mechanism; from logic of movement to power sources.  Interestingly, while the Mumbai Marathon has always managed to stand out for being the largest marathon in Asia, this was the first time a robot was a part of the event!
Armaan’s creation is a perfect example of how youngsters from resource-poor backgrounds, can shine when provided with access to the right kind of knowledge and opportunity. It also shows that in today’s technology-driven world, it is crucial to prepare students – especially those from lesser privileged backgrounds -- for the future with appropriate 21st century skills.
Aditi Parikh, VP, Communications, Salaam Bombay Foundation, said, “Salaam Bombay Foundation as an organisation believes in giving talented but resource poor adolescents an opportunity to explore the various fields that interest them. We wish to give them a chance to hone skills in areas that they have talent in. Unfortunately, these are areas that are often completely out of reach for these adolescents and their families. This means that their dreams are squashed even before they have begun to take shape.”
Omkar Pasalkar who worked on the project could hardly mask his excitement. He said, “I am so happy that I could work on Armaan. Before we started working on the bionic arm, I had no idea about robotics, much less that I could ever achieve something like this. This is like a dream come true.”
Omkar’s enthusiasm was contagious as he shared his creation with visitors to the Salaam Bombay cheering zone. The zone saw several visitors queuing up to catch a glimpse of Armaan after word of mouth made it a popular attraction. Most were full of praises for the young students of Salaam Bombay Foundation and were awed by what they had accomplished despite their limiting circumstances.
Said a visitor, “My friends told me about this robot at Salaam Bombay Foundation’s booth and my curiosity was piqued. It’s so great that these students have actually managed to work on a robotics project, it’s such a fantastic accomplishment. Kudos to them!”
Besides Armaan, students from the skills@school programme Robotics project have worked on several other innovations too. They have created a Hospital Robot that assists isolated patients suffering from contagious diseases, a Talking and Translator Robot that can translate the English language into 11 Indian and 4 foreign languages, a Wi-Fi-controlled car that can be used for tasks where humans aren’t available, an IOT-based voice controlled smart home automation system, a smart dustbin, a mini Bluetooth and powerbank, amongst others.  
On Sunday, 15 other youth from Salaam Bombay Foundation walked in the NGO’s contingent while 24 more displayed their dancing skills at the cheering zone, cheering the runners. The children had company on stage in the form of a Sanbot who was programmed to dance along with them.

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