VietNamNet Bridge - Students from Duy Tan University have created a robot that helps people cross the streets in Da Nang. 


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Nguyen Cong Tin, one of the inventors of the robot, said the idea came to him when he travelled to HCM City and saw taxi motorbike drivers leading foreign tourists across the road in heavy traffic.


After returning to Da Nang, Tin read in newspapers that the bad traffic conditions in Vietnam are an obsession of foreign travelers. And he believes that he needs to do something to help improve the image of Vietnam in foreigners’ eyes.

Tin’s idea was applauded by his friends Vo Thanh Nghia and Ha Kim Tung. Three of them then immediately set to work on the robot, which they decided would be friendly to people.

Tin said creating agility for the robot was the most difficult task. It took Tin and his friends a long time to make the robot clever and agile so that it can discover and respond as soon as vehicles come. 

They also had to spend a lot of time thinking about how to order the robot to return to the departure point after it fulfills its tasks. 

The robot contains dozens of sensors, including the most modern ones which can identify situations and make quick reactions. 

When discovering coming vehicles, the robot will either stop walking and wait or quicken its steps.

As the robot serves as a helper, it needs to have friendly appearance. After some thoughts, the group of young students decided that the robot would be 1.9 meters tall, holding a direction stick in hand and wearing blue shirt (blue is the color of volunteers).

After the robot was created, Tin and his friends put it to a test. Da Nang residents were surprised to see a robot with lovely appearance which burst into talk when someone came close to it. 

“I am a robot in charge of leading people across the road. Please press the red button and I will help you go across the road,” it says.

The robot began implementing its task after people pressed the red button. When vehicles came close, the robot stepped back and then continued its itinerary when the vehicles passed. After fulfilling the task, the robot said “goodbye” and then returned to the departure point.

Tin said his robot underwent many tests, which allowed the inventors to find the shortcomings and fix them. 

The robot needs 1.5 minutes to cross roads, while the fuel will last after 70 such “trips”.

Kham Pha