Teenange tech whiz who is a robot developer
abu dhabi — A young innovator has described how paying less attention to cartoons and his love for electronic toys inspired him to developing robots, electronics and Rubik’s cubes.
Mohamed Faizan Tabassum, a Grade-9 student of GEMS United Indian School, Abu Dhabi, is one of the pupils who took part in the recently concluded Abu Dhabi event “Innovator 2018”, which was part of UAE Innovation Month held from February 1 to 7 2018 at Abu Dhabi Corniche.
The 14-year-old Indian boy has created several robotic projects, which he has presented to his school and at several science festivals in the UAE over the recent years.
And this year, Tabassum came up with “Sustainable Automated Irrigation System” project, which he presented at the Innovator 2018. The system uses humid air, fog/mist as a source for extracting water for irrigating plants in a smart way. It works well for indoor plants, home gardens, rooftop gardens and others.
Tabassum said that his irrigation system project, which uses water from the air and electricity from the sun, is fully automated and supplies water on demand, without any wastage or over-flooding, thereby eliminating the need for manpower — a completely sustainable, environment-friendly, viable, practical and a cost-effective green solution.
He used a water tank, Peltier, heat-sink, water pump, Arduino, soil moisture sensor, water pipe, thermal paste, LCD display screen and a power supply to put together his smart irrigation system.
“Moist air passes through the cool surface of the Peltier and condenses on the cool fins of the heatsink and drips into the reservoir/ water tank. This water is then used for irrigation,” he explained.
“Soil moisture sensor, which is placed in the soil, is used to detect the required level of water or moisture content in the soil. When the water level (moisture content) goes below the required level, it triggers a signal to the Arduino, which is looped in the system.
“The Arduino then triggers a signal to the water pump, which pumps/circulates required amount of water through the pipeline to the soil, when sufficient amount of water is received, the soil moisture sensor sends another signal to the Arduino, which in turn shuts down the water pump. This cycle continues as and when required.”
Tabassum said the idea of creating this system came to his mind when they were driving in a car with his family, which was of course air-conditioned, on a hot and humid day.
“I noticed water condensation taking place on the windscreen and thought to myself that this water could be made use of. The UAE has a very high humidity and my system works perfectly well in this climate,” said Tabassum.
The young man, whose desire is to pursue robotics and become an innovative scientist, explained that from an early age, he was not distracted by television or cartoons.
‘I was attracted mostly to electronic toys and other things. I used to break open the toys and use their