The MagPi - February 2020

Pranjali Pathak

programmes) that ensures year-
long learning and allows kids to
explore, tinker, and create.
Currently, Pi Jam is impacting
8000+ number of students
through 40 Pi Labs across [...]
the country.
The Pi Labs, especially the
ones in under-resourced schools,
have been places of immense
transformation of thought and
possibility for our students. They
have seen technology and
computer science as something
the more privileged classes had
access to, and using Raspberry Pi
[computers] has helped us give
them the same (if not a more
focused and holistic) access.
We see career possibilities
change as they experience the
true creativity behind technology,
and have even encountered them
sharing with us that they always
assumed technology to be boring,
but the Code Clubs were very
exciting for them to be a part of.
Annual Showcase ‘Makers
Factory’: Pi Jam’s Annual
Showcase takes place every
February, where our students are
provided with a platform to
present their solutions in the

form of technology prototypes to

problems identified by them.

Hackathons: for students,

members from the community,

mothers of the Pi Lab

students, [and] individuals

from corporates.

What kind of people attend

these events?

The students hail from

communities that have a rich

mix of people from different

cultures, beliefs, and languages.

The lack of resources and

rampant poverty unite residents

of this locality. Most of the

communities are home to tens of

thousands of children, many of

whom lack access to a good-

quality education.

All the students come from

low-income households, and a

majority of their parents are

first-generation migrants from

other states. Additionally, most

of the students do not have any

formal knowledge or prior

experience to computers across

these schools.

Pi Lab is an award-winning

flagship programme

Pi Jam

projects

Rotten fruit

detector

Rukaiya’s parents

were fruit and veg

sellers; however, a

problem with the

vendor meant some

fruit was rotting and

affecting the rest of

the supply. Unable to

inspect the boxes by

eye, Rukaiya created

a rotten fruit detector,

which used a stick

with an MQ3 sensor on

the end which would

smell out rotting fruit

in the box.

Open

manhole alert

During the monsoon

season, it’s not

uncommon for autos

(motorised rickshaws)

to get stuck in

manholes. Several

students had to

abandon a taxi auto at

the urge of their driver

and felt bad for him,

so decided to create

a system that warned

the driver in the future

of open manholes in

the road ahead. It’s

incredibly accurate as

well, even being able

to detect if a manhole

is slightly tilted open.

People from all

backgrounds attend

the events

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