Kerala to distribute 12,000 robotic kits to school students

Kochi, May 15 (IANS) Kerala will distribute 12,000 robotic kits to school students under the government's Little KITEs scheme, which provides intense training in five areas, state Education and Labour Minister V. Sivankutty said on Monday.

"Already 9,000 kits have been provided under the five-year-old Little KITEs that trains students in animation, cyber safety, Malayalam computing, hardware and electronics. Soon, we will disburse 3,000 more kits," said Sivankutty after inaugurating a two-day Little KITEs state camp at Kerala Startup Mission (KSUM) near here.

"Once the programme achieves its target of providing awareness to 12 lakh students across the country in robotics technology, Little KITEs will make Kerala the top-most state in this mission. There is special significance to holding this camp in the KSUM premises. For, it gives an opportunity to earn an idea about future employment opportunities and job culture.Sharing their experience adds value to the camp," he added.

The camp has 130 participants, while the exhibition showcases products by students from all the 14 districts of the state.

At the camp, there was Jeslet Joby of Mala town in Thrissur district who has devised spectacles that help the visually-challenged sense obstacles from a certain distance. This can also be used through a wireless system.

K.Sreenand of Kasaragod has introduced a robot that will sprinkle pesticides.

The gadget, with a fire-dousing system that can turn 360 degrees attached to it, also provides a facility enabling collection of information related to agriculture.

Ahmed Rasheed of Malappuram district has invented a small machine that senses the measure of insulin in blood and supplies the metabolism-aiding hormone. The idea is to help diabetics who are on the rise in the state, he points out.

Aghosh K.R. of hilly Wayanad has come up with an animation movie that narrates the story of a tusker named Arikomban that has been keeping people of Kerala on the edge.

The plot revolves around the elephant of Periyar Tiger Reserve consistently returning to Chinnakanal in Idukki district. It is a compilation of four select animation films.

The camp, which concludes on Tuesday, also features products like a sensor-attached walking stick, automatic parking system, Bluetooth wheelchair and automatic railway-gate.

KSUM is the nodal agency of the Kerala government for entrepreneurship development and incubation activities in the state.