FEMCODERS ROBOTICS : WHEN CHALLENGES RELEASE CREATIVITY

As every other activity that has slowed down, the Femcoders Robotics club created in public schools across Benin were also affected by the coronavirus pandemic. But they decided to find another approach to ensure robotics training continues.

The Femcoders Robotics club seeks to train youths especially girls/women in STEM related domains and robotics,  to foster their passion and interest in problem solving using technology.

Since February 2020, these Robotics clubs training has been taking place online with more than 50 students being trained weekly. Also, another group of 30 students are being trained to build 4 types of competition robots which are to be presented at the end of the year in a robotics exposition.

femCoders Robotics is piloted by Rachael Orumor NGO, the founder Rachael Orumor tells us about this approach.

 

 How do you organize your online robotics work?

We opted for Facebook groups, because with the Facebook free app, the students can use their phones without an internet subscription. This method is the best fit for us since the students ( from public secondary schools) we work with are from humble homes and do not have the financial abilities to afford internet charges.

 

“If you really want to do something, you’ll find a way. If you don’t, you’ll find an excuse.”  By Jim Rohn, sums it up!

How do you monitor the work being done by your students?

Robotics trainers engage students on a daily basis, as they go from ideation to design thinking on problems to be solved, trainers document each team’s progress.
Each team will build their robots after the quarantine period. These robots were donated by our partners Team Inspiration  and Spyder Team robotics teams both located in San Diego, California USA.

What solutions are you developing through the robotics project? 

We currently have about 13 prototypes students are working on, part of which are:
1. Trash collector robot: this robots will help to clean city waste
2. Hand washing robot: this robot will be able to detect the presence of a person’s hand placed to be washed, then it releases soap and water without aid.
3. Thermal robot:  this robot will detect the temperature of a patient before he/she is allowed to make entry in a room filled with people, this ensures necessary measures are taken when the temperature is above normal.

These teams are supervised by the robotics clubs supervisor, Faik Bakary , an Information Systems Engineer, who is assisted by Magnificate Aoudji, an information Systems Engineer), Hermann Aguegue, a Software Engineer among other Robotics trainers at femCoders.

femCoders Robotics has reached over 1500 students in 10 plus training projects across Benin. It’s strength is the ability to bring students from theoretical thinking to practical solution, and this is what makes STEM interesting.

Just like Prisca, a 15 year old girl living in the northern part of Benin. She developed a passion for robotics after her training with femCoders. She believes that STEM related activities have the ability to spark new ideas, creativity and innovative solutions across every other sector.

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