Kids and teenagers aged 5-16 showcased some of their inventions at the Young Inventors Tech Expo 2018.

The event was organised by the Young Inventors summer camp 2018 Centre for Tech in Lagos on Friday.

The Tech Expo which was organised to exhibit inventions from students that attended the Tech Summer Camp was attended by dignitaries including a representative of the Minister for Science and Technology and a representative of the Deputy Governor of Lagos State.

It witnessed a number of exhibitions ranging from electrical machines, 2D and 3D games animations, among others.

One of the outstanding inventions from the young inventors is a smart walkway light built by a team of nine; two girls and seven boys namely Adekanola Opolola 14, Thato Olayinka 11, Imade Micheal 13, Abaronye Chidera 13, Nwiwu Emmanuel 14, Agbeluyi Opeyemi 14, Omo Imisioluwa 13, Kola Olaoluwa 13, Ifedolapo Elegunde 13, and Osunde Joseph 10. The smart walkway, through inbuilt sensors, senses obstruction around the Led area and causes the light to come on and go off when the obstruction is removed. According to team members, it enables the lights last longer.

Another innovation is the automatic irrigation system built by a team of seven; two girls and five boys namely Agbara Jewel 13, Adeoye Bezalel 13, Adebodunrin Thomas 9, Kenechukwu Iluanusi 9, Abdullah Subair 13, Agoro Abdulraman 12, and Afolabi Ayodeji 13. The water sensor is placed in the soil and once it detects inadequate water in the soil, it automatically pumps water into the soil and once the water level is adequate, the pump automatically stops working.

More innovations

A much smaller team, comprising Newton Enebha, 15, and Itohan Enebha. 9, invented a Smart Cloth line which senses when clothes are dry and pushes it down the line. It also detects downpour and automatically folds the line into a shelter and unfolds the line once it detects that the shelter roof is dry.

According to the inventors, they hope it solves the issue of worrying about clothes on the spread during the rainy season.

A smart cooking gas built was by a team of eight: Garuba Timilehin, 13, Mosopeoluwa Shina, 14, Osinuga Ayomide, 15, Aniekan John 16, Nkechi Chukwuma, 14 and Anoko Dafe, 14. The smart cooking gas not only converts gas from kilogramme to percentage, it also sends a notification through Bluetooth to the converter app on a mobile phone as the gas per cent level drops below a particular point.

A tag-based vending machine by a team of six; five boys and a girl, Temitope Johnson 12, Marvelous Samuel 14, Olojede Moyosore 14, Nwosu Jathniel 12, Abaronye Akachi 14, and Mmesomachi Ufuomadu 11 was also showcased. The machine reads registered cards like school I. D card and staff I. D cards to vend products from the vending machine.

An innovation of security locks is the I-MARS system developed by a team of nine from the Abuja summer camp. The Intruder Motion Activated Remote System (I-MARS) is designed to detect movements within the house after lockdown which triggers an alarm and alerts the owner of the house through SMS. It also enables the user to control lighting in the house and the features that can be modified. The system was developed by Daniel Emmanuel, 14, Abolade Mahdi, 11, Yimika, 10, Sudais, 9, Tobi, 10, Tolu, 10, Mobolaji, 13, Chukwuemeka, 10 and Abdul, 10.

Another team of two – Nurudeen Hussein, 11, and Mayomikun Soneye. 12 – developed a solar tracker built to rotate solar panels towards the direction of the sun in other to maximize trapping of solar energy. It rotates and follows the direction of the sun from sunrise to sunset.

A number of solo projects were also exhibited and assessed by panellists to determine who is awarded a prize for their invention.

Some of the projects included a smart walking stick developed by Abubakar Ahmed 13, which vibrates when it detects obstruction; a fire safety system by Archer Judah 13, which detects smoke and gas and sends off an alarm immediately as well as turning on a red light once it detects gas saturation and keeps the alarm on until the saturation stops and also sprays water and sends off an alarm when it detects a fire. Judah said his fire alarm system is unique because it also detects gas saturation and not only sends off an alarm but has a light signal for the deaf to see and be alerted of the danger.

The awards

11-year-old Oluwademilade Adelakun won the award for best animation. He made a 3D presentation titled ‘Project Nigeria’ with a message to keep hope alive.

The award for developing the Best Game went to 10-year-old Orakwe El-Nathan with a game titled ‘Flappy Adventure,’ built around getting a bird to eat insects.

The overall best solo project was awarded to 13-year-old Archer Judah for his fire safety system.

Speaking on what inspired the project, Judah said he thought of the rates at which fire outbreaks occur in Nigeria and thought he should build a fire system of his own.

“The house I once lived in, there was a gas shop in front of the house and one day, gas started leaking and before the fire service got to know, everything had burnt down so I thought of adding a gas sensor to detect gas leaks so that fires can not only be put out but also prevented,” the teenager said.

“The LED lights is to ensure that a deaf person is also alerted on time of the danger. I’m looking to improve the aesthetics, add more features and ready it for installation in houses. It also uses solar panel so you don’t need to have light in your house for it to work.”

Mike Mbon, the co-founder of Center 4 Tech, said the company is “convinced beyond doubt that in the nearest future, Nigeria will become a country where big ideas have come out from, that one day technology will be born out of Africa and Nigeria and our youths will become not just consumers of technology but also producers of technology.”

“Major Technology companies in the work like Microsoft, Facebook, Twitter and others have one thing in common, they were all started when their founders were young and this is a major reason for the young inventors tech expo. “

(PREMIUMTIMES)