Mechatronics at JKUAT TechExpo 12.0
I know this update is long overdue — well past nine months, to be exact — but sometimes life takes unexpected turns and priorities shift. Nonetheless, I couldn’t let this experience go unshared, especially when the excitement and insights from the “Mechatronics at JKUATTechExpo 12.0” are still fresh in my mind. So, here I am, finally sharing a glimpse into an event that left a lasting impression.
It’s quite a peculiar feeling, revisiting an event that happened months ago, yet the memories and lessons learned are as vivid as ever. From the moment I started writing about this event, I realized that the passage of time hadn’t dulled the impact it had on me. So, let’s embark on a journey back in time as I recount the thrills, challenges, and camaraderie that defined “Mechatronics at JKUATTechExpo 12.0.”
The JKUAT Tech Expo has always been an event where engineers showcase their talent and skills. Students usually look forward to the event, as it is usually big and worth the buzz. The award for the top project, Ksh 100,000, usually brings out the students’ competitive spirit. People start preparing a whole year in advance so as to win the cash prize. I am proud to have won the JKUAT Tech Expo 10.0, and every year I look forward to winning again. Words can barely express how exhilarating the entire process is.
Mechatronics is usually at the core of Tech Expo. We have our students represent us in different elements of the event. For example, the 12.0 had Mercy Mukiri as an organizing member, Spencer, Gilbert, and Washington as exhibitors, Smith Jilks in the Judges section, and Sammy Oina in the panel section. This is not a comprehensive list, but I have mentioned a few names to show that Mechatronics students are key to the event. The JKUAT Tech Expo is highly indebted to the mechatronics department in more ways than one.
To everyone who is aspiring to be an engineer, please participate in the Tech Expo, it’s a great chance to practically build something you will be proud of and get a feel for the kind of ideas your friends have.
Day 1
This is usually the most important day to gauge yourself, as you are able to see most people’s projects. Teams also present the different projects they have to the present ‘local’ judges and other judges who stream in from as early as 9:00 a.m. to as late as 6:00 p.m.
This is a lesson that I learned the hard way and would like to share with future exhibitors. Please make sure you have a good breakfast and drink enough water throughout the day; you will need it.
Some of the projects that were presented at the JKUAT Tech Expo 12.0 were:
1. Team ForestFlare by Samwel Waweru Kamau, Eddy Kimathi Gituma, Jonathan Wambua Ngei and Julia Wangechi Thaithi.
2. DYNMI Energy by Andrew Kamau Karanja and Migiro Johannes
3. FiNd by George Bange Ogeto and Tonny Maisha Ogeto
George says, “FiNd is a product meant to help students of JKUAT find lost IDs and report found IDs. It is a mobile-based solution using a camera, text recognition technology and alert notifications. It is a free-to-use platform for students at JKUAT. We hope to scale it to include more institutions in the future.”
4. Home care innovator by Zedekiah Karuri Gichuki and James Nyakera
5. Visage by Washington Kigani Kamadi (mechatronics), Valerian Kwamboka Nyerere and Mogire Earl Spencer (mechatronics).
Spencer says, “Visage is a face recognition device that will be used to monitor class attendance by generating digital class attendance records instead of students having to sign hardcopy sheets. Visage is therefore portable and simple to mount in a class. The device comprises a microcomputer and a Raspberry Pi camera. OpenCV is used to provide models for detecting and recognizing faces. At this stage, a database of faces is yet to be created and our face recognition efficiency is at 60% based on the images of people (3 people) we have trained with.”
6. SignSpeak by Mark Mboche Maara (mechatronics)
Mark says, “The first part is an AI (Artificial Intelligence) that can read the hand gestures of someone who is signing and translate them into text. The other part is an open graphics engine that takes text as input and can display a digital character signing the input as sign language.”
7. JuaMota by Safa Osman, Gloria Muli, Washington Kamadi (mechatronics), and I.
Washington says, “Electrical machines are essential in industry, having a high demand because they are dependable and can be safely operated. They are the backbone of industrial applications all over the world. Although these electromechanical devices are extremely reliable, they are prone to a variety of faults. Motor condition monitoring and fault diagnosis are critical on production lines. Early detection of potentially catastrophic faults can significantly reduce maintenance costs and the risk of unexpected failures. To detect faults, vibration, and motor current signature analyses are used. Mechanical faults, such as bearing damage, and electrical faults, such as unbalanced voltage, are some of the areas of interest. The key elements of the Induction Motor fault detection scheme are condition monitoring, signal processing, and data analysis.”
8. Doser by Michael Kimani (mechatronics), Felix Gateru (mechatronics), Washington Kamadi (mechatronics), and Timothy Kipkirui (mechatronics).
Timothy says, “Maize in the form of ugali is the staple food in Kenya. With the increasing price of packaged flour, more people are turning to posho mills as their source of maize flour. One advantage that packaged flour has over maize flour from the posho mill is the fortification that it undergoes
during production, which is a directive of the HO. The flour obtained from the posho mills does not contain such fortification minerals as zinc, which are essential for good health and development.
If not addressed, this may lead to hidden hunger among a large proportion of the population, exposing them to disease and infections. There is a need to develop a system of fortification for posho mills to ensure that all flour contains the required minerals. A doser is a low-cost device meant to integrate with existing posho mills in order to fortify the flour produced.
This device offers a variable quantity of nutrients depending on the amount of flour to be fortified. The design, which makes it easily attached to existing posho mills, will present a wide market for the product as we seek to address hidden hunger and SDG 3 of good health and well-being.”
9. Omicron Robot by Garvins Maraiga (mechatronics), Ruth Naibei, and I.
I say, “The vast majority of mobile platforms available today are non-holonomic. They only have one or two independent degrees of freedom. As a result, its maneuverability is limited, and it frequently requires a lot of space to perform functions like turning and parking. By increasing a vehicle’s degrees of freedom and maneuverability, it can take various complex trajectories that non-holonomic vehicles find difficult or impossible to take.
As a result, this project designs and develops a prototype mobile platform with holonomic and omnidirectional motion using castor wheels. Castors are used to move heavy loads in a variety of industries. Because castor wheels are difficult to control, we intend to introduce Direct Current Motors that will enable castor wheel control. The design will include the selection of direct-current motors and power transmission systems based on the amount of power required to move heavy loads.
The goal of this design is to give casters some form of control. This control will be accomplished by varying motor speed and direction, resulting in varying degrees of motion. This control will be accomplished remotely using hand motion control or a mobile application interface, depending on the application area. This will necessitate sophisticated software development, which will be accomplished through the use of high-level programming languages such as Python and Dart while leveraging low-level capabilities to increase run time.
The goal is to have a prototype mobile platform capable of carrying a load of 40kg at the end of the design and fabrication process. This platform will not require manual control, but will instead be operated remotely via mobile application software or hand motion control.”
10. Cardio Intelligent Monitoring System by Kariithi Anne Wanjiku, Maranga Sarah Nungari, Abraham Korir, and I
Anne says, “Systems for remote ECG monitoring of the heart are becoming widely used medical devices. The quality of the transmission and reception of the ECG signals during the remote procedure has improved over the past few years as more and more cardiac illnesses have been monitored using remote ECG monitoring devices.
However, further difficulties persist. Currently, in Kenya, where this technology isn’t widespread, it is difficult to monitor patients with heart conditions. There are scarce resources available for remote heart monitoring since this technology is still in hospitals and people have to go back to hospitals to get checked.
As a result, it would be prudent to develop a new, non-invasive wireless technology that would address the aforementioned issues while also monitoring the patient’s vital parameters. The proposed biosensor would have a chest unit mounted on the patient’s anterior chest wall and will include an ECG sensor for monitoring the patient’s heart fields. The signals will then be analyzed using machine learning. Have a 3-lead ECG done to check the patient’s heart function. Vitals such as heart rate, temperature, and oxygen saturation will be measured by the limb unit.
If possible, the limb unit should perform a blood gas analysis to determine the pH of the patient’s blood, as well as the carbon dioxide and bicarbonate levels. The limb unit’s parameters will reduce the number of invasive procedures performed on a newborn.”
11. SmartPharmaSys by Huxley Adonijah, Onyango Sunday Rolex Omondi, and Dennis Sammy
12. Nova IoT by Nashon Wigna, Martin Ndung’u, Mercy Ann and Nelly Njeri
13. Carbon Mapper by Allan Wanjala Wafula, Cyrus Kimutai Kiprono, and Joseph Kathucha Munyenze.
14. Nishati Safi — Onyango Jill Amondi and Khamis Mwalwati Muniru. Winners of the JKUATTechExpo 12.0
15. ASTRA TECH by Brian Mburu, Haji Rufai, Suleiman Ali and Douglas Maina
16. The smart Beehive by Danson (mechatronics— dekut), Jeremiah, Shekila and George
17. Biokraft Systems Limited — Mark Njoroge, Sammy Wanakai, Winfred Nyambura and Brian Victor
18. Wheel Clamping Robot by Leonard Maina (mechatronics) and Shekillah Shema (mechatronics)
19. Smart Hydroponics by Gilbert Andanje (mechatronics) and Lilian Wangari Kamau (mechatronics)
Day 2
The day kicks off with exhibitors, the same as the first day. The next session is usually a panel session. This panel discussed “Transforming Innovations into Start-ups”.
Some of the areas of concern were:
1. The process the panelist has taken to get to where they are and what are the key takeaways from their journey.
2. The financial concepts needed to get an innovation to success
3. The thoughts of the panelists on the major reasons startups fail
4. How insurance companies and banks are utilized for the success of a startup.
5. Tips and tricks in terms of resources, either software, human, or capital, that can be leveraged for the success of innovation.
The prize ceremony took place in the afternoon, and Nishati Safi, a solar-powered food cart, took the stage as JKUAT conducted its twelfth tech expo edition. During the two-day expo, “Sign Speak” came in second. The idea, which took third place, uses science and technology to organically eradicate the mites and keep track of the health of the bees.
Takeaway
Prof. Walter Oyawa, director general of the National Commission for Science, Technology, and Innovation (NACOSTI), praised the innovations shown by the students during the Tech Expo’s opening ceremony and asserted that innovation was the key to the transformation of the nation.
However, he conceded that in order for the innovation to advance to the stage of commercialization, concentrated efforts were required to ensure the innovations’ progress and enable Kenya to fulfill its technology and innovation objectives.
Prof. Victoria Ngumi, vice chancellor, requested assistance from the public and private sectors to facilitate the incubation and commercialization of student inventions. She also urged the innovators to actively promote the achievement of the new government’s development goal for the benefit of Kenyans through their innovations.
“Engineering stimulates the mind. Kids get bored easily. They have got to get out and get their hands dirty; make things, dismantle things, fix things. When the schools can offer that, you’ll have an engineer for life.” — Bruce Dickinson
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