Innovation, “smart” solutions and the ingenuity of the new generation were once again at the heart of the 4th Panhellenic Generation Next Competition of the Vodafone Foundation, where hundreds of teenagers from all over Greece, utilizing the power of technology, submitted their original ideas. The big winner of the Competition was the team “AgroTech” from the Edurobots School-Educational Robotics of Lassithi.
Specifically, the students Konstantinos Giakoumakis, Giorgos Mavrokoukoulakis and Emmanouil Petsakis, under the guidance of the teacher Christina Lambraki, designed a system of remote management of arable land with the aim of facilitating the work of farmers in the area of Lassithi.
In particular, the students noted that the intense agricultural activity in the area has significantly reduced the percentage of uncultivated land, which has led farmers to search for new arable lands in areas far from their place of residence.
For this purpose, they developed a system which, through the use of sensors that record conditions such as ambient temperature, soil and atmosphere humidity, etc., allows remote and real-time monitoring of crops, thus contributing to time and cost savings. Thus, thanks to the Internet of Things, on the one hand, the work of local farmers is greatly facilitated and, on the other hand, other interested parties are encouraged to engage in agriculture.
The second place in the competition was won by the team “Chalki Aqua Team” from the Gymnasium – L.T. Halkis, with the project “Chalki Water Reserve Display.The team consisting of the students Iliana Alla, Tsambika Argyriou, Anna Maria Roussaki, Marianthi Pasithea Roussaki and the responsible professor Nikolaos Pinikas, recognizing the difficulties faced by the residents of remote islands, such as Halki, due to the limited water reserves, designed a construction, which aims to raise public awareness regarding the saving of water.
Specifically, the construction consists of two parts: a system for measuring the water level in the water tank of the Municipality of Halki, as well as a simulation device of the tank, which is emptied and filled automatically, depending on the occupancy rate of the island’s water tank. The dual role of construction contributes both to informing the residents and visitors of the island about the water reserves, and to raising their awareness about avoiding its reckless use.
The team of winners is completed by “Virus Bots“, students of the 1st EPAL. (Vocational High School) of Trikala, Ioannis Gkioulekas, Alexandros Mitronatsios, Nikolaos Nikolaou and Georgios Petrou, under the guidance of their teacher Evangelos Mantzanas. The team affected by the COVID-19 pandemic has created a device to detect and measure atmospheric factors that affect the development of viral load in classrooms (humidity, temperature, CO2, etc.) and may affect the health of students. Aiming at the utilization of the measurements made, the data are recorded in a database and are also available in a mobile application, which allows their monitoring, in real time.
In addition, the device is connected to an air purification system, which is activated as soon as conditions in the school room exceed normal levels. The main objective of the students is to contribute to the reinforcement of the work of the scientific community, which studies the factors that favor the development and transmissibility of viruses in a classroom.
The Digital Skills Development program for teenagers Generation Next of the Vodafone Foundation with free access for all has been implemented since 2017 in collaboration with the Educational Non-Profit Organization SciCo – Science Communication and the academic contribution of Ellinogermaniki Agogi. Aiming at the equal access of students from all over Greece to new technologies and science, to date the Program counts 92,000 beneficiaries and 535 innovative projects from 168 regions of the country.