Students of University of Lagos (UNILAG) have produced an automated trash bin and an attendance system.
Coordinator of Artificial Intelligence and Robotic Laboratory of UNILAG Dr Chika Yinka-Banjo said this at the Undergraduate Robotics Challenge powered by Coderina.
She said: “The students came out with a robot that could pick up trash and go and discard it. The other is an undergraduate attendance system, using fingerprints, to eliminate fraud and both are things that impact the university and country positively.”
Yinka-Banjo said 226 pupils and undergraduates had been trained in the institution’s Summer Coding and Robotic Programme since inception in 2018.
She added that primary school pupils between 8 and 16 within the university community were part of the programme.
Yinka-Banjo called for support and assistance to make the experience more exciting for young learners.
“We are trying to catch these children young,” she said.
Vice Chancellor Prof. Oluwatoyin Ogundipe said initially the plan was to bring only young females from 13 and below and train them on coding and robotic programming, but it was expanded to include undergraduate students and younger boys.
He stressed the need to expose youths to artificial intelligence.
“The other level is for primary school children around the university. It is part of our Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). Some of them now work with companies, such as Microsoft, and others as programmers,” he said.