LAHORE: A nine-year-old prodigy remained the focus of attention of visitors to the second Robotics Expo arranged by the Information Technology University (ITU) at Arfa Software Technology Park on Wednesday.

Muhammad Raza was confidently showcasing his `Color Sensing and Beacon Following Robot` to the visitors while explaining that he himself had assembled its hardware and developed the programme to operate it. ITU Solitary Electronics instructor Talha Rehmani was there to confirm that he has merely supervised and fine tuned robot developed by Raza.

`We have recently shifted from Karachi to Lahore. For the last three months or so, I have been an internee at the ITU,` the fifth-class student told Dawn.

Titled `Machines of the Future: Robots`, the expo also showcased 15 robots designed and constructed by the ITU students after taking a Solitary Electronics course.

Among the projects displayed in the exhibition were Robotic Gas Detector, Fire Extinguisher Robot, Robotic Stick for Carbon Emission Control, Bomb Disposal Robot, De-mining Robot and GeekBot Bi-pedal Robot with static balancing and autonomous motion.

The panel of judges awarded first place to Usama, Hina and Ahsan for making GeekBot, with second place going to Mujtaba, Ibrahim and Fahad who built Object Identifier and Collector Robot, while third place was given to Usman, Fasih and Jamal for their Robotic Stick for Carbon Emission Control.

ITU Vice-Chancellor Dr Umar Saif said the objective of this event was to help students materialise what they were studying and develop a culture of high-tech innovation and practical research. Scientist and ICT expert Prof Dr BS Chowdhry, the chief guest, was all praise for the ITU students for their outstanding efforts in robotics.