Maybe you havnt been told that Nigerians now develops, not that alone but also invent, not too long ago we told you about a nigeria that invented a gas-powered iron probably you missed that, you read it here. Interestingly another Nigerian one Ishola Babatunde Isaac who is an Inventor, Roboticist, Researcher,
Electrical Engineer, and Software developer invented or should i say built a robot.
He developed a system that allows students to control real laboratory
equipment over the internet. The remote labs are a great substitute for
experimentation in Nigerian university given the chronic underfunding of
higher institutions of learning, we get to see about 10 students
clustered around a piece of lab equipment. With the remote labs, this
problem is eliminated as only one equipment is needed regardless the
number of students as students only get to access the lab remotely (over
the internet) but without the time and space restriction associated
with the conventional labs. Babatunde has developed several remote and
virtual laboratories currently being used by students of OAU,
contributed software suite to ease development for the iLab development
team and has trained several students and staffs of OAU, UI and Bells
University.
As an emerging Roboticist, his research interest lies in the area of
Robotic. You will probably never find a better robotics enthusiast in
Nigeria though most of his works are independent robotics research.
Leveraging on the Massive Open Online Course, he has learnt the basics
of robotics systems since courses are not been offered on this subject
in Nigeria Universities. He has since been part of a number of robot
projects. These include a locally fabricated Humanoid (looks and walks
like humans) robot; Autonomous rover (vehicle that drives itself using
camera as input and Artificial Intelligence); Robotic Arm used in an
automated remote laboratory for a civil engineering experiment. Robotics
is a highly theoretical field and so he bridges the gap by taking
advantage of the Massive Open Online Course to take courses in that
domain.
Driven by similar motivation for rehabilitation technology, He has
earlier designed a motion capture suit that could help Stroke patients
in their recovery process. This was achieved by capturing the motion of
wearer using motion sensors attached to the suit…the same technology
could be used in animation industry (in place of Kinect) to capture an
actor's motion and saved as a BVH, BIP or STP file for realistic
animation, it’s indeed a much better solution than Kinect.
"I look forward to developing robotic
systems as solution to unique challenges being faced in Nigeria in areas
as agriculture, medicine, rehabilitation among other. I am a firm
believer that the problem being faced by a nation can only be solved
effectively by resident of that nation as only they can fully experience
in the unique challenges around - Ishola Babatunde Isaac "
Ishola Babatunde sure has a few feathers to his hat. He won the
Microsoft Nigeria’s Most Innovative Student Award during the Microsoft
Imagine Cup Nigeria in 2011; Winner of the Education category of Samsung
Apps Developers’ Content (2010) and came third overall in Nigeria. With
such rare combination of a good academic standing and practical
expertise, Babatunde is definitely an inspiration to many young
engineering students. But when asked where he gets his inspiration, he
simply has this to say "But there is a spirit in man: and the
inspiration of the Almighty giveth them understanding”-job 32:8" Labels: global tech news
