HSE MIEM Students Demonstrate their Developments at Nauka 0+ Science Festival

Dance with a robot, become immersed in virtual reality, mount a weather station, learn about smart home technologies and just have a good time. At Nauka 0+ Science Festival, HSE showed that scientific development can be not only useful, but also accessible to everyone.

Many of the devices that visitors could see, touch and try at HSE stands were invented and designed by HSE MIEM students. And they were not mere toys, but rather practical items that could be used in everyday life or even in health care.

 

‘Smart’ lighting systems for homes are gaining popularity. For example, this device, simple at first glance, helps adjust lighting and colouring solutions for a person’s home. In terms of capacity and reliability, it is way ahead of its Chinese analogues.

 

The time we spend looking at computer and smartphone screens is countless, which is a huge load on our visual organs! Another MIEM development helps assess how tired your eyes are. The device shows when you need to take a break, even before you physically feel the fatigue.

 

Have you rested? Then immerse yourself into virtual reality with the use of glasses printed on a 3D printer and activated by an ordinary smartphone. You can now feel the volume of the things you’d previously seen on a flat screen.

 

Do you want to get your avatar? A 3D human movement visualization system transforms your image into a 3D model and adds graphic effects, which allows your digital doppelganger to appear anywhere.

 

This dancing robot was invented by Robotis, a Korean company. But thanks to open software, the robot’s basic configuration can be easily complemented with various sensors and body parts, which are what turned the robot into a dancer.

Next to the dancer is a yellow orb robot. It was developed by MIEM students and is controlled with a smartphone. It can be used to investigate a particular terrain, and serve as entertainment. The internal parts of the orb robot were made using a 3D printer.

 

This nice guy, which looks a bit like Pixar’s WALL-E, can detect obstacles in its way.

 

At HSE stands, visitors could not only look at ready-made models and devices, but create something with their own hands. One of the most popular activities was modelling with a 3D pen, which draws with plastic instead of ink. You could use stencils to draw (for example, a bicycle or glasses), or invent your own patterns and designs.

Residents of the HSE {LAB} Prototyping Centre presented their internet of things ‘construction set’. ‘We wanted to demonstrate that big companies and expensive projects were not the only ones capable of working in the internet of things’, they said. ‘The internet of things allows anyone to create their toys and DIY objects for their homes and their own development’. At the HSE {LAB} stand, anyone interested could use ready-made modules and simple instructions to construct objects such as a weather station or telegraph.