A Moncton teen has created a robot she hopes will someday assist the visually impaired.
Fourteen year-old Kaia Pejsa was doing research for a project for school, when she saw a video that referenced some of the concerns of having a guide dog.
“I knew that I could fix a lot of them just by making a robot version of a guide dog. I just took materials I had at home and began talking to my dad about things that I could do. From there, I created Sconewell,” Pesja says.
She says it is a play on words. “Scone well, as in “It’s goin’ well”
Pesja says this started as an idea, and from there she did a lot of research about actual guide dogs and their training.
She also discovered that German shepherds are a popular breed of guide dog. That is what she modelled her robot after.
“Found a picture online of a German shepherd and I marked out where I wanted on pieces of aluminum, just like drawing it over the shape of the German shepherd.”
It took all summer to the base done. Pesja says It also has a piece of acrylic in the bottom, for all the electronics.
One of the hardest parts was finding just the right wheels, because her robotic guide dog is pretty heavy.
She also found a way to test Sconewell, “I created blackout goggles and tested it myself and with my family. I also took grade 1 and 2 kids and had them wear the goggles and then I actually remote controlled them around,” Pesja says.
Her robotic dog competed first in a STEM competition at Magnetic Hill School, and she moved on from there. The COVID-19 pandemic forced the STEM fair online, so she submitted all her research and project virtually.
She was crowned the winner for Southeast New Brunswick in the Canada wide virtual Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics Fair. She says STEM is like a science fair, but all the projects must solve a problem.
Pesja says, “There are so many ideas out there, and it is really cool to see how my generation is coming up with so many projects that can solve problems and help others.”
She plans to continue working on her robotic dog over the summer. She will be going into grade 9 in September, and she plans to re-enter Sconewell in another STEM fair.
Pejsa also hopes to study robotics at University.
Robotic Guide Dog, Kaia Pesja (Photo: Courtesy of Pesja family)
Robotic Guide Dog
(Photo: Courtesy of Pesja family)
