15 year old Lov Panthi is a talented innovator from Butwal, Rupadehi who makes humanoid robots along with his twin brother Kush Panthi. Having been interested in robotics since childhood, Lov has caused a stir in humanoid robotics field of Nepal.
His Journey
After being fascinated by Rajnikanth movie ‘Robot’, Lov and his brother decided to explore the field of robotics. This curiosity led him to make simple and small-scale remote controlled robots. After some tinkering, he felt the need to learn programming language to make advanced robots. He taught himself programming via internet and started to wonder about the possibility of speech and language in humanoid robots. He tirelessly researched on this matter and successfully built an automated humanoid robot called ‘Go Go’. This robot can shake hands and perform tasks like switching lights on or off, lifting small objects and even uploading pictures on social sites. “Robots can help humans in so many little ways and make our lives easier,” said Lov.
After 2 years of research, Lov has recently made a robot which can decipher Nepali language and respond in Nepali language as well. “My brother and I made this robot with an aim help Nepali households. People can easily communicate in their native language with the robot,” said Lov.
He believes that tech enthusiasts like him face many problems in Nepal. Because of lack of necessary resources, he couldn’t get hold of machines he wished for. Sometimes, different strikes would hamper the delivery of the machines. He thinks problems as such can be solved if the machines were made more affordable and easily available.
He thinks AI and robotics can speed up the development process and have many prospects. For instance, they can be used in hospitals to assist patients and can also be a good alternative to secure our houses. People can focus on more productive work as robots can perform the tasks that are deemed to be monotonous for humans.
Lov and his brother have worked independently and managed the funds for their robots by asking their parents’ help and saving their pocket money.
Glocal teen hero and his future journey
Lov first heard about Glocal Teen Hero in CAN info tech exhibition where people suggested him to apply for GTH when they were showcasing their robot. He thinks platform as such can encourage young innovators like him to follow their passion.
Currently studying science in plus two, Lov wants to pursue engineering in Pulchowk Campus of Nepal. He aspires to be a robotics engineer in the future and make people’s lives easier. He also wants to update his humanoid robots by giving them facial expressions using Artificial Intelligence in the near future.
Lov Panthi was selected among the 20 brightest young entrepreneurs, innovators and game changers below the age of 20 in Nepal, for the year 2019. This annual list is the ultimate honor roll of young game changers reshaping Nepal for the better. The platform seeks to encourage the youths to share their initiation, creativity, and enthusiasm which will then motivate them and more of the other youths in the nation to develop an entrepreneurial thinking.
