Raghavendra Bisht and Ronit Gupta of class X of Amity International School, Pushp Vihar won the Bronze Medal in the Physics category for their project titled “A Robotic Device to assist Visually Challenged in Navigation” during the 8th APCYS 2019 held in Yakutsk, Russia. The duo also bagged a Special Award for Best Research and were the only Indian representatives who were shortlisted out of around 400 projects registered online from India and out of 70 projects from 22 countries from across the globe. Practical use and feasibility of their model that was ascertained after experimentation done on 15 visually impaired students won them the Special Award for Best Research.

The project, developed by the students within two months using resources available at the school, is an Obstacle Detecting Device for people with visual impairment. The device, created in the form of a Bag Pack, detects obstacles within a range of 100 cms and rings a buzzer to let the user know of an impending hurdle. Developed using ARDINO Technology and sensors along with robotics kit, the revolutionary creation comes with the advantage of being light weight, cost effective and is extremely user friendly and stands apart from the usual sticks associated with a person with visual impairment.

Sharing his thoughts about the concept, Raghavendra Bisht, partner in the projects said, “We wanted to help the people who are visually challenged as it is difficult for them to walk with a stick. This bag pack will help in their smoother movement.”. His partner Ronit, who wishes to be an air force pilot in the future, shared that they plan to further work upon the project. “We will try and improve the functionality of our project, and if possible, further reduce the cost,” shared Ronit.

Students from 22 countries participated in this event, which was held from October 14 to October 20, 2019 at Yakutsk, Russia and hosted by the Sakha Junior Science Academy in collaboration with various institutions. Participating students delivered an oral and a poster presentation of their project that were in the areas of life sciences, physical sciences, computer science, and mathematics. By participating in this event, students were introduced to a more systematic form of thinking. Visiting teams were also introduced to the culture of hosting and participating countries via cultural performances, show, and share sessions, and excursions.

APCYS 2019 was organized with an aim to promote scientific research exchange between students and to provide them with opportunities to share their research on a global platform. Students from various schools from across the world participated in the conference that provided them a platform for cultural exchange and also had opportunities to collaborate and exchange ideas with peers.