Geek Speak: Mrithun Chockalingam

It’s Saraswati pooja day and most of them young students must be happy! It’s the only mandated day of the year when students are requested to NOT touch their books! And it is something of a calm before the storm because most of these students will be burning their midnight oil the very next day, Vijayadasami, in time for schools that reopen. 

But, roboting requires no books. So, there’s no embargo for robotics on Saraswathi Pooja day. This means most of the Kidobotikzians are here doing the same regular roboting stuff that they are used to doing. Meanwhile, we pick up from from where we left yesterday and cover students who have presented their Kolu-themed projects here at Kidobotikz. With us today is someone who has truly taken the art of Athithi Satkar, or Guest Hospitality, to a new level. He’s come up with an innovative way of serving Kumkum and Turmeric to the guests who visit his home for Navaratri. Meet Mrithun Chockalingam our Geek for the day. 

Hi Mrithun! Can you tell us the inspiration behind your project?

For every kolu, neighbours and relatives visit our home. When they leave, it is customary for my mother to give them Kumkum and turmeric placed near the deity. I wanted to make it easy so that as and when the guests offered their prayers to the Idols they got offered the holy powders automatically. That was the inspiration behind this project.

To make it work, I placed the idol of Lord Ganesh in the middle and erected a small motor mounted umbrella behind him. If you notice the front, the two small cups of kumkum and turmeric are placed on small plates. These are actually connected to two BO motors that are concealed below the boxes. The motors are connected to IR sensors. So, when someone brings their palms near to Lord ganesha to touch his feet, the sensors detect the palms and the small motors rotate the containers above.

 Inspiring! Must be interesting learning to know how to do all these! 

Yes, all of these are quite interesting to make work. Thanks to my curiosity and basic knowledge of robotics, I was able to do this. Not just my parents, all the guests who visited my home were also equally impressed. 

So, how’s your roboting experience at Kidobotikz and How did you actually join Kidobotikz 

Thanks to Kidobotikz, I now know that Robotics is not as complex as portrayed. I am now in the Foundation level and it is exciting to know that from here onwards, I get to build cool robots like Sumo Robots and Hexapods.

What is your favourite Robot?

My favourite robots are Humanoids. In particular, I have a fascination for the ASIMO series of robots built by Honda.

What are your future ambitions? Where do you see yourself in the future now that you are a budding roboticist?

I wanna be an Automobile designer when I grow up. I have a fascination for Cars and their designs. So, when I grow up that’s where I see myself. Also, now that I am into the field of robotics, I wanna explore the possibilities of Autonomous cars and cars that can be controlled with mobile phones.