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VIDEO: Palestinian students reach for tech future with remote control glove

Palestinian computer engineering students develop toy-sized robotic car controlled remotely by electronic glove
Computer engineering students Mohammad Zyoud, Mohammad Atiyyeh and Suhaib Tawafsheh (Screengrab)

A trio of computer engineering students at Birzeit University in Ramallah have designed a glove that can control and operate a robotic car.

Mohammad Zyoud, Mohammad Atiyyeh and Suhaib Tawafsheh toiled for eight months and spent only $150 working on the robot.

The glove, using sensors and special electronic equipment, can send specific instructions and move the vehicle around.

Whoever wears the glove has direct control over the car’s speed and direction through special sensors.

Several of the items needed to construct the robot could not be found in Ramallah, requiring the students to find the parts online.

“It is true that financial support was limited and timid, but in terms of information the university gave us all the necessary information, tools and labs,” Mohammed Zioud, one of the students involved in the project, told MEE.

“The provision of the pieces was our own effort, we bought them and put them together,” he added.

The applications the robotic car are wide, according to student Suhaib Tawafsheh.

“Our project can be used in a variety of fields, for example: if there was a bomb or dangerous materials or chemicals, you can handle it without being physically near it. It thinks, perceives and reacts just like a human would and with such high precision,” Tawafsheh told MEE.

 “Our ambitions are great, so we will continue,” he added.

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