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UAE: Students develop virtual doctor to create Covid awareness

Dubai - Virtual doctor can check students’ temperature, alert officials if symptoms detected, dispense sanitizers

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A Dubai school has created a robot that can act as a virtual doctor and help create Covid-19 awareness.

The unique robot developed by students from Dubai Carmel School can check students’ body temperatures, dispense sanitizing hand rubs, interact with students and send an alert to school authorities in case a student displays any Covid-19 symptoms.

It can also be programmed for conducting awareness classes for the students, encourage their creativity and increase reusing and recycling.

Maram Munzer, Malak Issam and Irfan Rami, students from Grade 10 and 11, have spent three months completing the project.

Munzeer, a co-developer of the robot said: “Most of the students make robots by buying parts from the shop and assembling it. Sourcing the components to build a prototype for a robot is no longer a challenge. However such robots will only work according to the program made by its makers. But in our robot, we can make changes to the program as needed and therefore use it for different tasks.”

Rami said this robot was different from other similar projects, as the concept of 3Rs- ‘Reduce, Reuse, Recycle’ was used effectively in the construction of the robot.

“We designed most of the parts using recycled scrap items. Scrap water cans, steel cans, utensils, water bottles, mixer grinder parts, boxes, aluminum drying racks, etc. are the major components used for creating the structure of this robot. Apart from that, we used abandoned electronic devices such as tab displays, processors, speakers, cameras, and sensors acquired from our school labs. So the component purchase (ultimately the cost) is limited to a thermometer and some stationery items.”

Instead of opting for any external help, students used knowledge they had gained from the Cambridge IGCSE ICT curriculum and applied it effectively, naming their robot Dr Robot Carmali.

Besides being a Covid-19 warrior, the robot can also be used to conduct stress-free exams, record students’ attendance at schools and give other instructions.

Jolly P Joy, the Innovation Coordinator for this project, says, “It was a different experiment to apply the knowledge they got from the IGCSE curriculum component they were studying, in their real life. I have never heard of another robot being created using the knowledge gained from the ICT textbook in Cambridge. We will soon be building two new robots that we intend to give to our school heads who helped make this project a reality.”

Explaining how school curriculums can be used to develop student creativity and critical thinking, integrating the concept of 3R and innovation, Maya Alhawary Chairwoman of Board of Governors and Director of Planning said, “I’m very proud of our students take on this project, serving humanity at the time of Covid-19 and at the same time serving their minds and fueling their efforts and their energies into something that is very useful. It is up to our generation today to take on the lead for artificial intelligence, mastering the skills that would further humanity.”

nandini@khaleejtimes.com

• Dubai