AP: Tehran: An
Iranian schoolteacher has innovated an amusing way of encouraging
young children to say their daily prayers robotics.
Akbar Rezaie, 27, attended private
robotics classes and learned to develop and assemble customized
humanoid robots. He teaches the Quran to boys and girls at Alborz
elementary school in the town of Varamin, 35 kilometers southeast of
Tehran.
A Western dancing and singing doll
first sparked in his mind the idea of building a local robot to
present religious practice to his students.
"Once I was at a family gathering
where there was a little girl playing with a doll that could dance
and sing. I saw her watching the doll passionately and it made me
contemplate on a making a device that can be used for both religious
and entertaining purposes." He told AP Television.
He built the robot at home with
basic tools and gave it the designation "Veldan," a Quranic term
meaning: "Youth of Heaven."
Veldan is a humanoid robot
constructed using an educational kit from the Korean robot
manufacturer Robotis Bioloid. By applying some mechanical
modifications such as adding two extra engines, Akbar managed to let
the robot perform praying movements, such as prostration, more
easily.
"It was so exciting to me to see a
robot pray. I have decided to always say my prayers too," said
Narges Tajik, a third grader at Alborz School said. He describes the
robot as an educational assistance to teachers and believes that it
has so far been successful in attracting students and should be
mass-produced.
"As you see the children's reaction
in their faces, you realize how interesting it is to them to see how
the science of robotics has been beautifully used for a religious
purpose and I am sure it will be greatly effective in teaching them
how to pray," he said.
He has formally registered the
robot's invention patent and its intellectual rights at Iran's State
Organization for Registration of Deeds and Properties, a body in
charge of recognizing inventions.
Courtesy:
Deccan cronicles )
