Robotics and 3D printing, Africa's new found love in innovation

Granted, there were advances made in healthcare, mobile, and smart applications but not as much as the robots that were basically crawling around the feet of onlookers at the venue for the 2017 IPA in Accra, Ghana.

For a continent that has so much been associated with poverty and sickness, innovations in healthcare was a good point to note as Teledokta provides a doctor over the internet. There were inventions to also aid in avoiding fire outbreaks that come with the use of LPG gas for cooking as the Smart Gas App and Fire Alert Network System caught the eye of many.

However, robotics and 3D printers – everywhere.

The wave of 3D printers across the world is gradually exploring the capabilities of what can actually be created through 3D printing as prototypes show limitless avenues including the future of Real Estates.

Irrespective of the job cuts robots might cause in the near future, the world is still aiming to make discoveries and Africa is right up there.

Video Capturing Robot, as the symbol on their boot, displayed captured attention upon first look with its sleek modeling.

“People want to know what is happening in their absence. Want to who came to your house at night or places where you weren’t,” co-founder Cedrick Kileta tells Business Insider about their robot that captures video.

The wireless connection to control the robot is made through Bluetooth and an app, Robot Controller which can be found on the Google Play Store.

“There are also places where a human can’t access at certain times. Like when there’s a fire outbreak. These are the scenarios and problems we want to solve. So we can have the robot go and gather information. The robot just gets there and deliver your information to you wirelessly,” Chiedozie Odazie, the other co-founder adds to his partner’s point.

Of course, an innovation always comes with its own challenges and for Cedrick and Chiedozie, the story is no different. The trials for these co-founders, however, are the same things that keep them focused on plans for the future.

“We aim to make it smaller. That’s our challenge in robotics. We want to get it into confined places and also make it less complex. We also want to make it water proof, go under the see and a lot more,” Chiedozie adds as part of the plans moving forward with the Video Capturing Robots.

Another prototype of a robot was the Robotic Lawn Mower which efficiently cuts your grass and is both environmental friendly.

Createch, a creative technological start-up also combines Legos and other electronic components to make robots.

While these robotic inventions continue to spring up across the African continent, Pasgid Robotics wants to pass the spirit of making on to the next and future generation.

Led by founder and CEO Gideon Mensah, Pasgid Robotics is teaching how to make robots from a very simple stage to the more complex part of creatively coding its functions.

Passion is a key role for being part of Pasgid Robotics’ mission of training Africa’s next robot genius, a trait that is shared by a co-founder of Klaks Technology Limited, Kweku Mensah Emmanuel, who is into creating 3D printers, another tech vibe in Africa.

Talking about how he and co-founders Loic Avegnon, Kobina Abakah Paintsil, Ama Agyaponmaa Amponsah and Isaac Nyankum turned their love and passion for electronics into a 3D printing business, Kweku Mensah told Business Insider:

“We worked on a lot of electronics back at the university but people looked on them as inferior because they didn’t look catchy. They weren’t really nice and appealing people.

“When we decided to find a way to make it nice, the cost was too much. That was when creating a 3D printer came to mind.

“Designing our 3D printer, we had to adapt to the materials we had around.”

Klaks Technology Limited prides itself on making use of the electronic waste in Ghana despite the challenges they sometimes face.

“The motors and cables (for the 3D) are what we usually get from e-waste. Sometimes it’s difficult to get the motors from e-waste and have to import them. However, most of the motors in our 3D printers are from e-waste.”

However, as challenging as this may be, selling a 3D printer which takes approximately 14 days to create at a price of USD 500 could eventually be worth these co-founders’ time.

Aside from looking to produce more in a reduced time frame, Klaks Technology Limited aims to move from the skeletal model into another phase of semi-covered models.

The market for 3D printers is continuously rising on the graph with most of the innovators at the Innovation Prize for Africa 2017 planning on creating their materials for their projects through 3D printing.

Who knows, the future might have robots assembling these after the print.

Africa might be late to the game, but this new love of the continent for robotics and 3D printing could be the next step to hitting the limit.

Robotics and 3D printing, Africa's new found love in innovation

Africa seems to have a new love spot for robotics and 3D printers. At least that’s what the Innovation Prize for Africa Awards Marketplace showed.

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