Togo Student Sam Todo Inspires STEM Students Around the World

I'm a science fiction fan. One of my favorite authors is Isaac Asimov. He delivered to us the Three Laws of Robotics.

1. A robot may not injure a human being, or, through inaction, allow a human being to come to harm.
2. A robot must obey the orders given it by human beings except where such orders would conflict with the First Law.
3. A robot must protect its own existence as long as such protection does not conflict with the First or Second Laws.

I'm not sure if Sam Todo, a student in the Togolese Republic in Africa, knows about the three laws. I do know that this young brother has a vision about robots and robotics. He views robotics as a way to put the outdated technology found in the garbage to new, innovative uses. In this video, Todo displays a humanoid robot he created almost entirely from discarded TV parts.




For now, the robot only walks in straight lines, but Todo is working on future versions that automatically greets people and naturally avoids objects in its path.

More than simply showing off his own amazing ingenuity, Todo hopes his robot serves as an inspiration to other Africans (and even Americans of African descent) to pursue science, technology, engineering and math (STEM) education. After all, if this young brother with few resources in the Togolese Republic can seek out STEM education and acheivement ... then perhaps our young brothers and sisters in the United States can seek STEM tools out as well.

What relevance, if any, do you see in this story for BDPA and our students?