Bottle caps, plastic jars, batteries, motors, LEDs and bits of wire clutter the tables. Kids aged from 6 upwards are gathered either in groups or as individuals around said tables assembling a variety of gadgets and gizmos. For those unfamiliar with it, this is IgniterFair Colombo 2019.
Organized by IgniterSpace, IgniterFair Colombo 2019 is an exhibition showcasing various inventions created by the young innovators of Batch Q from IgniterSpace. In case you missed it, we took a look at the Young Innovators Exhibition in March last year. We also saw a much larger exhibition take place in August of the same year.
IgniterFair Colombo 2019 was held on the 20th of April 2019 at the IgniterSpace Kirulapona Makerspace. As we stated above, walking into the makerspace, we saw a collection of interesting inventions put forth by young inventors. Here are a few of them.
Lighting things up
Created by Aiden, this was a portable match igniter. The device consisted of a motor powered by batteries. The motor head was attached to a bottle cap that had pieces of match strike paper attached to it. Simply hold a match near the bottle cap. The rotation of the bottle cap would cause the match to come into contact with the strike paper and ignite the match.
Keeping cool on a hot day
This was an invention by Yaqoob. It was a basic air conditioner. It uses a 9V battery and DC motor to spin a fan inside a box with ice cubes to give you a gust of cold air. He built it because it was hot these days.
No power? No problem
With power cuts being common across the country, young Malik built a mode house out of Lego blocks. A solar panel was attached to the house. The solar panel powered an LED light and a fan.
A smarter way to dispose of Trash
Mukarram’s solution for a smart trash bin was also a cute one at that. The whole thing was powered by an Arduino board. Adding to the overall cuteness of the dustbin were two eyes poking out of it. The eyes are actually ultrasonic sensors. When they detect objects, the dustbin automatically opens. Mukarram explained that h built it because people didn’t like opening the dustbin lids and some older people with disabilities found it hard.
More ways to keep cool
Binuka likes to play in his room but hates the heat. So he built a portable table fan. It uses one circuit with a 9V battery to power the fan and another with 2 AAA batteries to have a gear motor rotate the fan.
Keeping our oceans clean
Pulsitha’s invention is a sea trash picker. It’s designed to use the motion of sea, collect trash, put it on a conveyor belt. Once collected, the trash would be placed in a separate section. From there, the trash would be sorted out and recycled.
Build it, Drive it
Senitha’s invention was an Arduino powered car. The car is controlled via Bluetooth from an Android smartphone or tablet. The Bluetooth module sends signals to the Arduino board. This in turn sends commands to the motor to help steer the car. It can also control a pair of LED lights. The entire device runs on a pair of lithium-ion batteries.
Brushing up on your cleaning skills
Anuja’s invention was a floor cleaner. It comprised of a pair of regular toothbrush heads connected to a motor. The motor was connected to a pair of AAA batteries. This in turn was connected to a car-like frame made from popsicle sticks. Bottle caps were used as wheels. The front wheels are connected to a pair of motors powered by additional AAA batteries.
Picking up things on a whole new level
Adiththya’s invention was indeed a gripping one. It was essentially a claw to pick up objects. It comprised of two oxford wooden rulers and a piece of cardboard with some strings. Adiththya explained that the reason for this invention was that she had a hard time getting objectors after they fell under the couch.
Giving sight to the blind
Anudi’s invention was aimed at those visually impaired. It uses ultrasonic sensors to detect objects. In addition, the “smart blind stick” as she calls also incorporates a buzzer and lights. These can be used by the press of a button in the event of an emergency. The buttons have physical markings on them to be easily identifiable by the user. If the walking stick gets misplaced, Anudi has also created a remote with large buttons to locate it.
And that wrapped up IgniterFair Colombo 2019
We saw quite a number of interesting inventions here at the IgniterFair Colombo 2019. But that’s not where this story stops. A much larger exhibition will be held later this year. Here, people of all ages can come and take part and display their inventions. If you would like to learn more about IgniterSpace, you can visit their official website. If you have any questions, you can check out their Facebook page as well