FREDERICK NORONHA
Some months ago, an online message informed us about a young student, still in only his Class 10, who has been active in robotics. Sai Pranav Gandhi, the son of agricultural assistant director Saieesh and NIO scientist Aparna Gandhi, has his own website, and was then working on a book of his own.
Sai Pranav has since come out with his book. The 158-page all-colour ‘Play to Purpose: Stepping into the World of Robotics’ describes itself as a book for students, parents, teachers and mentors. It is, and works rather well for someone curious about this field.
In eight chapters, the young lad introduces us to STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Math), the innovation and competition around it, and a lot more. In quick succession, we are told about concepts which few outside the field might otherwise get to know. Next we move on to technical skills and tools. Robots, design, electronics and sensors, coding for robotics, and tools for “tech titans” are the focus here. In the last section, the reference is to GitHub and LaTeX. (Since this reviewer has long used LyX, a simpler frontend for LaTeX, for book formatting work, stress on LaTeX seems more than valid.)
Soft skills have been described as the strategic side of robotics. Then, there are mentors and guides who have helped the young author too. Among these have been Aadiv Shah, Ronav Jaiswal, Kanish Thiagarajan, and Aarrav Anil.
The sixth chapter looks into the future. But it is the seventh, which focuses on sparking a STEM movement in Goa, that is rather intriguing and insightful. Also, one with a lot of promise even as Goa seeks to move forward on this front.
Sai Pranav assures us: “Robotics isn’t reserved for the top students or the ones with the fanciest gadgets. It’s for anyone who’s curious enough to ask ‘how’, bold enough to try, and brave enough to fail. You don’t need the best robot on Day One. You just need to begin.”
Most seniors, who grew up in other times, might have missed the significance of the World STEM and Robotics Olympiad, which was held in its regional shape in 2024 in Goa, with over 90 teams participating, we’re told.
There is a hint of a new Goa taking shape, at least on the tech front, and among those with access to such ideas. In the acknowledgements we read (apart from the young author’s family), names like Robo Fun Lab, Maker’s Asylum, support from his school (Sharada Mandir, in this case), Anay Kamat, Vicente Toscano’s Tech Splash, Dattaprasad Shetkar’s TEDx, among other mentors and encouragers of young talent. Codeavour, organised in Goa too, is noted too.
“Goa is buzzing with STEM activity. We’re not just participating in events anymore; we’re organising them… Together, they [supportive individuals and organisations] helped organise major events like Codeavour and WSRO in Goa,” the author tells us.
He tells his own experiences when he first opened a LEGO EV3 kit (which helps build and program robots using LEGO bricks, motors and sensors), and his parents and he struggled their way through. Robots have been defined as programmable machines capable of carrying out tasks, either automatically or under human control. Some mimic human or animal actions.
“My dad helped me build, my mom guided me with the code, and together we watched YouTube videos late into the night, trying to figure out how to make a robot follow a line or sort coloured blocks. It wasn’t easy. There were days when nothing worked–when the robot spun in circles or refused to move at all.”
This book throws up various related tech concepts. GitHub, as mentioned above, is the platform where “people can write, store, and share code online”. (Incidentally, Microsoft’s purchase of GitHub in 2018 caused disquiet among quite a few of its hardcore users because developers feared the platform for open collaboration would drift toward corporate control and data-harvesting ambitions. Many techies then shifted to GitLab, seen as more tinkerer-friendly.)
We get a look at CAD, the tool for “designing before building”. Kinematics is the branch of physics that studies motion of objects.
There’s also considerable information about awards, competitions and championships related to the field. The experiences our young author went through, in robotics competitions, is also worth reading about.
Some of the pointers are tech-focussed, might be beyond the reach of a general audience, but well suited for those this book is targeted at.
For some time now, Goa has been pushing for robotics and programming education among school children. The Coding and Robotics Education in Schools (CARES) has been underway here. It aims to take coding, computational and design thinking into the middle-school (Class 6-8) curriculum. The in house coding platform (GOVIN IDE), competitions like Goa Codes, and bootcamps like Pratham Robotics Club have gained some focus. Robotics workshops in schools and STEM challenges like Sankalpana have also separately come up.
The question is whether this can spread far enough, and effectively enough, to build scalable change. Concerned officials say yes. STEM has a valuable role to play, not just to create the image of modernity, soft power and global power posturing, but to hopefully make a difference in fields the country (and state) actually needs it the most. Time will tell. This goes beyond political optics.
One can also see a continuity between the current trends and earlier initiatives in Goa, often small, driven by groups or even individuals, and with little to no support. This State has been home to initiatives like FabLab Goa and QuriousMind, makerspaces, electronic initiatives and co-working hubs.
The Goa Science Centre has been active here for some time, and could do with more participation and attention from the wider society. It has been helpful in encouraging science-focussed events in the past as well.
Goa has seen its Linux ILUG and FOSS (Free and Open Source Software) networks, HAM (amateur radio) and DX-ing initiatives, even attempts at setting up radio (first via experimental broadcasts by radio amateurs), among others. There has been some tradition of local experimentation, which sometimes gets mentioned in passing. We need to appreciate such new initiatives, as the younger generation takes things to new highs. And remember the past too.
The book, one such useful effort, is created in a colourful and easy-to-read format.
Sai Pranav points out that his book is suitable for students “dreaming of building robots”, besides for teachers looking out for ways to introduce STEM in classrooms, and parents guiding young innovators. You can contact the author via his site for the book.
