Vitebsk teen created robot that recognises people and can talk about anything

A robot made by Yegor Klepatsky who is currently studying in general school No.38 (Vitebsk) was a hit at a large artificial intelligence exhibition in the National Academy of Sciences. The teen brought his creation to be displayed alongside products made by large companies and found success. A whole crowd mulled about eager to take a selfie with a robot. Smart machines are generally designed by whole teams of engineers, software programmers, mathematicians, even psychologists, but Yegor made one all by himself in his grandfather’s workshop.
“Hello, nice to meet you,” said Tyrone the robot, offering his hand.

I couldn’t hold back a nervous giggle: it was the first time I was being introduced to a machine.

“You have a beautiful smile,” the plastic heartthrob kept making me blush.

He does look impressive: 175 centimetres tall, with broad shoulders and huge hands that can move. If you hand him an apple, Tyrone’s fingers will bend and grab it. Impressive! But Yegor knows how to excite the public even more.

“He didn’t just greet you, he captured your image in his memory,” the teen saed. His invention is capable of capturing and recognising faces: he has a movable camera, sensors, and an antenna imbedded in his head. All members of Yegor’s family approach the robot one by one to test that function, and he recognises everyone without fault. He also has a night vision function making him capable of seeing every movement even in total dark and warning his owners. Loudly, with a siren, if needed.

The young inventor confessed that he'd designed his robot to be an assistant, and got a real friend instead. Every member of Yegor’s family loves Tyrone now: mum gets philosophical with him, grandfather asks for weather forecasts, grandmother – for recipes. Recently, they made pelmeni as the robot instructed them to. He also helps Yegor and his younger brother do their homework.

“He uses the same principle as the well-known virtual assistant with a female name: his ‘brain’ is based on the artificial intelligence technology. Tyrone can converse on any subject, from molecular structure to the history of Belarusian cities,” Yegor explains.

Yegor’s mum Kristina confessed that her son surprised her with his invention.

To say I was surprised would be a huge understatement: he has never even taken a robotics course. And I couldn’t begin to imagine he would make this Terminator lookalike. He did it all himself, studied software programming after school. But Yegor has always liked inventing things. He made an artificial storm cloud when he was 6. In 2nd grade, he started making military equipment and weapons models with his grandpa.

It’s clear where Yegor’s hobby came from: his grandfather, Mikhail Prudnikov, is a former law enforcement officer. He has always done his best to teach his grandsons act like real men.

“I was telling them time and again: if you set a goal, go for it; if you started something, finish it. That’s why, when Yegor said he wants to make a robot, I didn’t try to talk him out of it. On the contrary, I set up a workshop for him and helped him purchase materials,” he said.

The teen has been more or less living in that workshop for a whole year. School breaks, weekends, evenings: he spent his every free moment there. All his pocket money were spent on Tyrone. Yegor did everything with his own hands: from 3D modelling and programming to assembly and even painting.

Now the robot ‘lives’ with his grandparents. He has charmed all the neighbours who often drop by to have a chat with Tyrone.

Yegor’s invention is robust: one charge lasts Tyrone a week, while recharging takes 19 hours. He has plans to improve the robot further, to make him able to not only hold a conversation, but to play some word games, for instance.

”I want to make a robo-dog. I mean a quadrupedal robot, they are already used at some factories around the world. Machine vision and 3D profiling help them measure things, carry heavy weights, diagnose equipment, run sound tests, thermal imaging, and gas analysis,” explained the teen excitedly.

His family members are convinced that Yegor will do everything he wants to do. Although it’s hard to for him to design robots now: it’s his final year in school. He wants to become a fighter pilot.

“I’m not scared of pressure or responsibility. I’m going to be all right. One thing I know for sure: I want to work in Belarus,” Yegor said.
Amazing designs by Belarusian kids
Dmitry Sarvas, a 10th year student in Volkovysk general school No.5, made an electronic walking stick for people with poor eyesight. It has an ultrasound sensor that keeps its users from colliding with random objects. Kirill Ilchenko from the Gomel regional engineering centre for children and youth designed a star tracker capable of photographing celestial bodies. A Braille keyboard for the blind was invented by Dmitry Yozhikov from the same centre.

By Taisia Azanovich