What is the name of your organization?
Doppler Technologies
What is the name of your solution?
Yiiya Bots
Provide a one-line summary or tagline for your solution.
We make it easy for disadvantaged learners at the lastmile to access STEM education using steel wires and bottle caps.
In what city, town, or region is your solution team headquartered?
Kampala, Uganda
In what country is your solution team headquartered?
UGA
What type of organization is your solution team?
Hybrid of for-profit and nonprofit
Film your elevator pitch.
What specific problem are you solving?
In Uganda, vulnerable children from low-income and marginalized communities struggle to access quality STEM education. UNESCO reports that just 22% of Ugandan kids have adequate science and technology resources, with rural and underserved areas hit hardest by poor infrastructure, few trained teachers, and scarce materials. This STEM gap hinders their ability to build problem-solving skills, innovate, and thrive in a fast-evolving global economy, deepening poverty cycles and curbing future prospects due to limited hands-on learning opportunities.
Yiiya Bots tackles this by using affordable robots crafted from steel wires and reusable bottle caps drawing on the traditional wire car creativity common in Ugandan cultures. These cost-effective, sustainable bots become tools to teach STEM, offering interactive and engaging lessons tailored for vulnerable kids. By leveraging local resources and creativity, Yiiya Bots closes the access divide, equipping children with technical skills and confidence to explore engineering and technology. This culturally rooted approach makes STEM education inclusive, sparking innovation and empowering a new crop of problem-solvers ready to address both local and national challenges.
What is your solution?
Yiiya Bots is an educational tool that brings STEM learning to vulnerable Ugandan children through affordable robots made from steel wires and reusable bottle caps. Kids can build and control these bots, sparking creativity and curiosity in science, technology, engineering, and math.
The bots are built with Arduino boards, steel wires, nuts, and bottle caps for wheels, powered by a rechargeable power bank or cheap battery. The solution features an Android app linked to the Arduino web platform, allowing kids to program their robots using a smartphone no laptop required, though one can be used if available. Kids assemble these into small robots and use the app or laptop to make them move, like a toy car coming alive. The Arduino board can be programmed to control the Yiiya bots from the app or laptop, while the simple materials form a sturdy, fun and low-cost design that’s easy to fix.
With Yiiya Bots disadvantaged kids have a chance to interact with programming languages at an early age, AI and learn critical thinking skills at an early age while having fun.
Who does your solution serve, and in what ways will the solution impact their lives?
Yiiya Bots is transforming STEM education for school-going children aged 8-15 in Uganda, targeting those in government-aided schools in rural areas and refugee camps. These children are underserved, lacking hands-on learning tools and materials. The Ministry of Education in Uganda has shifted to an assessment based curriculum that requires Ordinary-level students to create projects yet most can’t access the necessary resources.
Our solution provides affordable, wire-based robots powered by rechargeable power banks or cheap batteries, controlled via an Android app or laptop. The app enables kids to generate code using AI and includes pre-designed STEM lessons, kick-starting children’s creations with guided content. Using familiar materials like steel wires and bottle caps, Yiiya Bots offers access to tools for building and programming, meeting this new curriculum need. Kids gain practical STEM skills, problem-solving abilities, and confidence in a fun, engaging way.
Yiiya Bots bridges this resource gap, making STEM accessible and relevant. It reduces the digital divide between them and the privileged and fosters innovation, and prepares them for a tech-driven future while utilising their their cultural creativity.
