By Humberto Márquez
CARACAS, Nov 21 2002 (IPS)

A robotic arm for handling laboratory test tubes, a device made from spare parts, won the Venezuelan national prize for low-cost technological inventions, competing against other innovative designs that indicate there is potential in this South American country for confronting its own development challenges.

The award, granted by the Ministry of Science and Technology this week and including a 7,400-dollar prize, is named for Luis Zambrano, a peasant from the Venezuelan Andes who in the mid-20th century, despite his limited education, invented a cable-car, intricate illumination systems, and machines to press sugarcane and to peel fruit – all as a service to his community.

"I couldn’t tell you how much the robotic arm cost because I made it with discarded materials, like pieces of aluminium, car- window crankhandle, parts from video equipment, and belts and other pieces from printers," explained the prize-winning inventor Luis Bastidas upon receiving the award this week.

The winning inventor, 38, works for television companies and dedicates his spare time to reading scientific journals and developing gadgets like the robotic arm, which is designed to move test tubes from place to place, but "could be developed to mix chemicals or to handle toxic substances or deactivate explosives," he said in a conversation with IPS.

The arm is connected to a computer and moves in response to the orders given through the programme. "I also added an energy-saving system for when the arm is immobile," said Bastidas.

The 51 competing practical inventions, most of which are on exhibit at the Science Museum in Caracas, attend to scientific, agricultural, household, education, transport, construction and recreational needs.

Agronomists Yelitza García and Saulo Olavarrieta developed an underground irrigation system for small, cultivated plots utilising polyethylene pipes, hand-made "drippers" of wire and plastic, and a water tank that sits 2.5 metres above the ground.

"In addition to being cheaper and easier to manage than systems based on parts developed in Israel, for example, this method has proven effective in reducing water inputs and increasing productivity in comparison to other irrigation systems," García told IPS.

According to tests conducted in the semi-arid hills of Lara, in central and western Venezuela, the irrigation device contributed to yields of 5.6 kilos of tomato per cubic metre of water, compared to 1.7 kilos per cubic metre of water using surface irrigation techniques.

With the same quantity of water, pepper production was 2.7 kilos with the underground system compared to 1.7 kilos using the surface system, and 3.6 kilos of melons compared to 2.8 kilos, respectively.

García underscored that the technique, developed by the state- run Lisandro Alvarado University, will not be patented as the plan is to disseminate it "as an alternative for small farmers in areas where the problem is lack of water resources."

Another agronomist, Hermann Dale, a resident of the Andean region, developed a banana peeling machine that can also be used in agro-industry to process papaya, guanábana (soursop), medlar fruit and avocado.

Dale says his invention makes the process "more hygienic, faster and more productive. While a human worker can peel 50 kilos of bananas in an hour, the machine yields 230 kilos per hour."

Another designer, Gerardo Magdaleno, fashioned "the cradle of the future", a baby crib set up with sensors for temperature and tears.

Roberto Suárez competed with his "Squalo Night Star", a skateboard with wings, which allow one to ride the fibreglass panel standing, sitting, kneeling or squatting.

Silvia Tortoza developed a compact disc programme that she refers to as "music as an aid to the educational process", and Amalia Barrios created a board game, "The Venezuelan History Race", which costs just slightly more than a textbook and covers the curriculum presented in the seventh and eighth grades in the public schools.

Ceramics artist Jesús Hernández developed a vitrified clay brick, baked at 1,000 degrees Celsius, with a concave-convex design intended for non-expert bricklayers. The pieces fit together and the finished wall does not require additional covering with plaster.

In Venezuela, "we can produce bricks that require less than two cents on the dollar of quality clay each. They don’t need feldspar or silica reinforcement. This is further proof that it is indeed possible to resolve our housing problems," Hernández commented to IPS.

According to the 2001 census, Venezuela has 23.2 million residents and 67.2 million housing units. However, the country has a deficit of 1.5 million homes, according to estimates by non- governmental organisations specialising in development issues.

Rudolph Romer, deputy minister of science and technology, said the ministry will set up a programme to support inventions such as those that competed for this year’s prize.

"It will be an ‘incubator’ for small companies, so that innovative people can develop patents and do business with their products," Romer said.

Excerpt:

By Humberto Márquez
CARACAS, Nov 21 2002 (IPS)

A robotic arm for handling laboratory test tubes, a device made from spare parts, won the Venezuelan national prize for low-cost technological inventions, competing against other innovative designs that indicate there is potential in this South American country for confronting its own development challenges.

The award, granted by the Ministry of Science and Technology this week and including a 7,400-dollar prize, is named for Luis Zambrano, a peasant from the Venezuelan Andes who in the mid-20th century, despite his limited education, invented a cable-car, intricate illumination systems, and machines to press sugarcane and to peel fruit — all as a service to his community.

“I couldn’t tell you how much the robotic arm cost because I made it with discarded materials, like pieces of aluminium, car- window crankhandle, parts from video equipment, and belts and other pieces from printers,” explained the prize-winning inventor Luis Bastidas upon receiving the award this week.

The winning inventor, 38, works for television companies and dedicates his spare time to reading scientific journals and developing gadgets like the robotic arm, which is designed to move test tubes from place to place, but “could be developed to mix chemicals or to handle toxic substances or deactivate explosives,” he said in a conversation with IPS.

The arm is connected to a computer and moves in response to the orders given through the programme. “I also added an energy-saving system for when the arm is immobile,” said Bastidas.

The 51 competing practical inventions, most of which are on exhibit at the Science Museum in Caracas, attend to scientific, agricultural, household, education, transport, construction and recreational needs.

Agronomists Yelitza García and Saulo Olavarrieta developed an underground irrigation system for small, cultivated plots utilising polyethylene pipes, hand-made “drippers” of wire and plastic, and a water tank that sits 2.5 metres above the ground.

“In addition to being cheaper and easier to manage than systems based on parts developed in Israel, for example, this method has proven effective in reducing water inputs and increasing productivity in comparison to other irrigation systems,” García told IPS.

According to tests conducted in the semi-arid hills of Lara, in central and western Venezuela, the irrigation device contributed to yields of 5.6 kilos of tomato per cubic metre of water, compared to 1.7 kilos per cubic metre of water using surface irrigation techniques.

With the same quantity of water, pepper production was 2.7 kilos with the underground system compared to 1.7 kilos using the surface system, and 3.6 kilos of melons compared to 2.8 kilos, respectively.

García underscored that the technique, developed by the state- run Lisandro Alvarado University, will not be patented as the plan is to disseminate it “as an alternative for small farmers in areas where the problem is lack of water resources.”

Another agronomist, Hermann Dale, a resident of the Andean region, developed a banana peeling machine that can also be used in agro-industry to process papaya, guanábana (soursop), medlar fruit and avocado.

Dale says his invention makes the process “more hygienic, faster and more productive. While a human worker can peel 50 kilos of bananas in an hour, the machine yields 230 kilos per hour.”

Another designer, Gerardo Magdaleno, fashioned “the cradle of the future”, a baby crib set up with sensors for temperature and tears.

Roberto Suárez competed with his “Squalo Night Star”, a skateboard with wings, which allow one to ride the fibreglass panel standing, sitting, kneeling or squatting.

Silvia Tortoza developed a compact disc programme that she refers to as “music as an aid to the educational process”, and Amalia Barrios created a board game, “The Venezuelan History Race”, which costs just slightly more than a textbook and covers the curriculum presented in the seventh and eighth grades in the public schools.

Ceramics artist Jesús Hernández developed a vitrified clay brick, baked at 1,000 degrees Celsius, with a concave-convex design intended for non-expert bricklayers. The pieces fit together and the finished wall does not require additional covering with plaster.

In Venezuela, “we can produce bricks that require less than two cents on the dollar of quality clay each. They don’t need feldspar or silica reinforcement. This is further proof that it is indeed possible to resolve our housing problems,” Hernández commented to IPS.

According to the 2001 census, Venezuela has 23.2 million residents and 67.2 million housing units. However, the country has a deficit of 1.5 million homes, according to estimates by non- governmental organisations specialising in development issues.

Rudolph Romer, deputy minister of science and technology, said the ministry will set up a programme to support inventions such as those that competed for this year’s prize.

“It will be an ‘incubator’ for small companies, so that innovative people can develop patents and do business with their products,” Romer said.

Excerpt: