SSA students witness India’s first robotics show

Nilakshi Kowar, Ashwani Kumar, and Gulam Saruwar Hussain of Sirenna Technologies conducting a live robotics show at the Srimanta Sankar Academy Guwahati

From GUWAHATI:  Students of Srimanta Sankar Academy Guwahati
became the first lot of students from the North East to witness a live performance
of robots, made and assembled entirely in India, at a programme organised by
Sirenna Technologies which is headquartered in Bangalore. The event took place
at the School auditorium on Tuesday in which about 1,000 students along with
their teachers got a first-hand demonstration of robotics as a school teaching aid.
Ashwani Kumar, Business Development of Sirenna Technologies said, “People go
to schools, then to engineering institutes and eventually go to work in technology
companies. That’s good, except that it’s a linear system and there’s absolutely no
feedback going into the schools back from the technology industry – simply
because there’s nobody taking that knowledge back to the schools. Sirena
Technologies products and solutions are developed to precisely address that –
essentially bridging the gap between schools and technology industry. Sirena
intends to achieve that through its innovative program‘Sirena Knowledge and
Information Programme’ (SKIP), which is designed to offer robotics learning in
schools.”
Two robotic trainers of the Sirenna team Nilakshi Kowar and Gulam Saruwar
Hussain demonstrated the activities of two humanoid robots, Nino 1 & Nino 2,
along with a robotic arm, automated car, robotic snake, robotic plane, and a robotic
all-terrain vehicle.
The trainers informed the audience that students at majority of the schools in Japan
do not carry books or notebooks to the school anymore. They attend schools with
their tablets. In this context, they said, humanoid robots can not only make
classrooms more interesting but also make room for intensive and advanced
learning. Comparing the robots with the computer, the trainers explained that while
the computer cannot think or move, the robot can. Moreover, the robot is equipped
with artificial intelligence and hence it is both smart and sensitive.

Students applauding the performance by robots at the live robotics show conducted
by Sirenna technologies at the Srimanta Sankar Academy Guwahati on Tuesday.

Sirenna has developed more than 70 different models of robots and one of its large
size humanoids, Kempa, works at Bangalore airport guiding passengers about departure times and boarding gates. Both Nino 1 & Nino 2 danced together to the
music of Bollywood potboilers and the kids loved it. The robots also demonstrated
classroom sessions in which they took classes in nursery rhymes, science, and
environment.

students watching with keen observation