With the evolution of robotics, many people fear the human race will soon cease to exist, as robots are taking the world by storm.
One person who might contribute to the extinction of the human race is 16-year-old Tshegofatso Mampuru who plans to build a robot that will help with daily household chores.
“Like myself, many people actually hate cooking and cleaning. That is why I want to build a robot that cooks and cleans. That would make life so much easier,” Tshegofatso said shyly.
She said it was still a concept and she needs to plan it properly before starting on it. She added that she was getting a lot of support from her family, friends and teachers. “The encouragement I am getting is amazing – everyone wants me to go for it.”
She is one of 16 children who received donations from the University of Johannesburg during a training session where they were taught to build robots with different programmes. The group also had the opportunity to take part in the AfrikaBOT robotics competition‚ held at the Zwartkops International Raceway in Centurion for the second time this year. Frank Phalane, head of the department of technology at Alex High School said the youngsters showed a lot of determination prior to the competition.
“They were very committed while preparing for the competition. They never missed a session. I am happy that they were given the opportunity to attend the competition – they have a lot of potential to succeed,” said Phalane.
Next year, the children plan to win the competition, as they have already started preparing for it.
Agreeneth Kgasago, who also attended the programme, said it would be great if they could get sponsorship for next year’s competition.
“It would be wonderful if we could go into the competition with robots that we built from scratch,” said Agreeneth.
