Global Courant 2023-05-29 12:48:20
Teenage years are often a time of exploration for young people as they navigate their developing interests and passions. For many, this means consuming or participating in the latest trends in movies, gadgets, and games. However, with tech prodigies and enthusiasts, instead of simply consuming technology, many of them want to create technology. Last year, Africa brought forth many remarkable innovations created by the younger generation. “I want to be able to see, feel and touch my creations,” says Lesley John, a 17-year-old embedded systems developer.
Lesley’s passion for building robots and gadgets started at a young age. At the age of 10, he was already chatting about pursuing a career as a scientist and professor. He would spend hours tinkering with electronics, powered by nothing but his boundless curiosity and a handful of LED batteries. Until his sister told him about embedded systems.
Lesley Jumbo John
While Lesley was interested in robotics and hardware technology, he also had an interest in photo editing. Little did he know that his photo-editing skills had caught the attention of a Bonny Island tech community. “I didn’t even know Bonny Island had a tech community,” he says. One of the startups the tech community had organized contacted him about volunteering at an event they were hosting at the time. After the event, startup founder Lesley and a few other tech enthusiasts asked for their thoughts and suggestions about the event.
Lesley was quick to suggest that the startup was considering exploring hardware technology. “I told him too many tech startups focused on software and web development,” Lesley recalls. Lesley told the startup founder about his interest in robotics. “I never thought he would really consider my thoughts,” he says. But he did. The startup eventually hosted a month-long robotics boot camp where they taught young minds like Lesley basics about robotics. Lesley signed up for the boot camp and when it was over, Lesley and other enthusiasts who performed well were given basic kits.
Building a smart team and a smart trash can
Lesley wasn’t the only boy interested in hardware technology. Two of his friends, 17-year-old Bright Sunday, who has been his classmate since they were both 10, and Blessed, a neighbor who developed an interest in electricity through an apprenticeship at a neighborhood electrical store, also dreamed of construction projects. “When we were little, we talked a lot about building cool gadgets,” Lesley recalls. “One thing we talked about was building a device that could wirelessly change the sound of any speaker device. We had wild ideas and were always eager to meet up and discuss great robots and gadgets that we could build,” he adds.
From LR: Bright Sunday, Lesley John and Blessed.
The smart trash can was the first project Leslie and his team built. On the outside, the Smart Trash Can looks like your regular trash can, it accomplished the simple task of storing trash. But more than that, the trash can is embedded with microchips that allow it to work with gestures. Whenever someone gets close to it, it opens on its own and closes as soon as they throw the trash in. It can also separate smaller pieces of waste from the larger items. “The idea was that people could recover items in case they didn’t intend to throw it away,” says Lesley. Next, the team built a smart glove for the blind. The smart glove works with built-in microchips that allow the glove to detect objects that are not close to the subject. The glove vibrates to indicate to the subject that they are close to a wall.
The hi wear
Leslie describes the Hi-wear as his favorite project to date. The Hi-wear is a smart shoe created by Leslie and his team that counts your steps and measures your weight. After not making a project for a few months, the group of builders came up with the idea of the Hi-wear to answer some questions. “We had to ask ourselves what problems?” he remembers. Making the Hi-wear shoes required the boys to work with censorship, a process that was new to them. “We had to do a lot of research,” Bright Sunday recalls.
The Hi-wear prototype.
The Hi-wear boots are a great achievement for the team. connect the device, the E to the computer to make shows and make the computer obey those things. But we need to find something to make this computer work wirelessly. Like just making gestures in our hands, how far do you want to get to the computer? you could hold the computer at the end of the stadium and you know, contributions from the, i know it makes no sense for us to use it like that, however far you can use it. “We were so happy because we’re able to make this device look compact and look less like a product, more like a product, just by, you know, going the extra mile to make it right,” says Lesley.
The Future of Embedded Systems and Robotics in Nigeria
Leslie often receives messages from young people interested in hardware technology. Some of them tell him that they dreamed of venturing into robotics, but gave up when they had nowhere to learn. They often complain that most of the tutorials on YouTube are mainly hacks and not real robotics. “This is important because robotics requires a lot of hands-on training,” Leslie tells me. “It has to be something you like physically, the personal experience,” he adds. While most of the young people who contact Lesley have an interest in robotics, most of them eventually pursue careers in software technology, hence a saturation of talent in industries such as fintech. “I don’t blame them for choosing software technology instead. Because if you don’t have the passion, it can be difficult to learn on your own, and as a result kill the passion. My passion didn’t die until I put my skills to good use, because I was already somewhat talented in electricity, and I kept at it.
The sky clicks 2
It’s been 10 months since Lesley made his first embedded project with his teammates. Ultimately, they hope that they can start making money with their products. “We strive to get the best out of these projects, to make sure they are attractive and usable,” he says. He plans to create more devices that solve problems. “I want to create products that make people talk about Nigeria,” says Lesley. “Everyday functional products we can sell.” Still, it would take a lot of determination to get there. “As much as we love building gadgets, it’s stressful,” he says. “We look tired every time of our lives. I look really good on the internet because I try to love, you know, keep myself very, very old and surmountably normal every day. but we like making these projects.”
