Little Kites Ernakulam district camp on rover technology concludes

Kochi: The Little Kites district-level camp based on Pragyan rover technology, conducted by Kerala Infrastructure and Technology for Education, concluded on Sunday. The two-day camp was organised at KITE RRC, Edappally, with the objective of introducing school students to advanced robotics and remote-control technologies inspired by Chandrayaan-3 mission.The camp was designed to familiarise students with technologies similar to those used to remotely operate Pragyan rover on the Moon and collect scientific data. A total of 104 students, selected from sub-district camps, participated in the programme. According to a KITE official overseeing the camp, the training sessions were structured around the same core technological principles used by space agencies such as Isro and NASA for controlling rovers during space missions. Students were introduced to communication protocols that enable efficient interaction between IoT devices, even under low-bandwidth conditions. The camp focused on the design and operation of remotely controlled rover systems that can be deployed in locations difficult for humans to access, including mines, borewells, manholes and disaster-hit areas. As part of the initiative, advanced robotic kits were distributed to 204 schools in the district. The kits include ESP32 (microcontroller) development boards with WiFi and bluetooth capabilities, along with ultrasonic distance sensors, soil moisture sensors, PIR motion sensors, line-tracking modules, a 4WD smart car chassis kit and a submersible mini water pump. Using these components, students could independently develop projects such as smart irrigation systems, assistive devices for the visually impaired and security solutions. The camp also enabled students to gain practical exposure to block coding, Python and C programming languages, reinforcing hands-on learning in emerging technologies.