Two Nigerian kids have made what could be considered a wild dream of individuals to have a robot to help them with house chores come true by creating their robots using coding skills.
Fathia Abdullahi and Oluwatobiloba Nsikakabasi Owolola are 12 years old and have been coding for only a year or two. However, they have already used their knowledge to build robots that can perform useful tasks at home.
Fathia’s robot is a clothes-folding machine that can fold a T-shirt in three seconds. She said she designed it because she wanted to make her weekends easier. “I made the T-shirt folder because there are too many clothes to fold on Saturdays and Sundays when you wash a lot,” she told BBC News.
Oluwatobiloba’s robot is a grabber that can sense nearby objects and move them to another position. He said he started coding when he was 10 and found it interesting. “I programmed it to identify the object, grab it, and take it to another position,” he said.
Fathia and Oluwatobiloba learnt coding at Code Kids in Lagos, Nigeria’s largest city. The centre teaches children how to code using Lego robotics kits and software. The aim is to inspire Africa’s next generation of innovators and problem-solvers.
Coding is the process of writing instructions for computers to perform tasks. It creates websites, apps, games, animations, and more. Coding is also essential for developing artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics, which will have many future applications and opportunities.
According to the World Economic Forum, Africa has the youngest population in the world, with more than 60% of its people under 25. By 2030, Africa will have the largest workforce, with more than 1.1 billion people. However, many will need new skills to compete in the digital economy.
