Lubbock fourth grader builds touchless hand sanitizer dispenser

LUBBOCK, Texas (KCBD) - Ihsan Aydogdu is using his creativity and robotic skills to keep his classmates safe in the pandemic.

The fourth grader, at Harmony Science Academy, built a touchless, motion sensor robot that dispenses hand sanitizer.

“Doing stuff like this, it’s like your dreams come true. You think, you think it up and make it up. You can turn it into reality. Maybe they’ll save even some of the lives,” Aydogdu said.

He created the robot out of a Lego Mindstorm set, two motors and a sensor.

The nine-year-old student got the idea after his little sister was born.

“My mom said just don’t touch anything from the hospital, you know there’s corona and stuff. It came up to my mind why can’t we just make a machine without touching, touching and it squirts hand sanitizer,” Aydogdu said.

Aydogdu and his father found a blueprint for the robot online.

Then, he got to work in the Makerspace, staying late after school for about a week, with some help from friends.

Teacher Emily Headlee says she monitored Ihsan, but he did the work all on his own.

“His story is such a perfect example of taking something that he sees and applying the skills he learned in here to make a solution for it,” Headlee said.

Harmony Science Academy is a STEM-focused charter school for Pre-K through 8th grade students.

In the Makerspace, students can develop their engineering skills from an early age.

“We have a lot of tools here that allow students to be creative. We have 3D printing. We have laser cutter. We have some woodworking, lots of robotics stuff. Just a lot of ways for kids to be hands on and just build and create,” Headlee added.

The Makerspace will get an upgrade, when the school relocates to the old Convergys Call Center on the West Loop and 34th for the next school year.

It’s now accepting applications for new students.

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