Satiri, which in Aymara means to sow, is the name of a robot designed by the Bolivian Ramiro Mamani 22-year-old who channeled his knowledge to manufacture a prototype that plows the land and plants potatoes in the shortest possible time in the harsh highlands of Bolivia.
It’s about the twenty-second prototype of old robots that Ramiro, the second of seven siblings, designed since he was 16 years old and that they served to give life to Satiri, something he had to do due to lack of resources, the young man explained to Efe.
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The artifact does its work on the plains of Quinamaya, a small town 35 kilometers southwest of La Paz, where Ramiro’s parents, Ladislao and Rosa, have a small house with domestic animals such as cows, llamas and sheep, as well as a plot where they plant barley or potatoes.
The young Ramiro Mamani poses in the workshop where he designed his robot “Satiri”. PHOTO: EFE
An open vocation
Ramiro discovered his love for circuits when he left the town’s elementary school and went to the Viacha school, the most important city near Quinamaya, with a good reputation for teaching robotics.
The young man saved money since his school days and worked on Sundays in factories to later get some essential pieces for a new creation or buy the first tools.
From that, a sequel of line-following robots was born, which collect garbage or solve labyrinths, which, after being solved, gave life to new ones, since it has had to “disassemble and reuse components” in order not to stop , said.
Over the years, he entered the Public University of El Alto to study electronic engineering. Thus he participated in several competitions with some victories that made him stand out.
A workshop in a stable
The ‘baticueva’ is the name of Ramiro’s workshop, a kind of gabled house where he keeps his tools, circuits, computer and which, at night, serves as a garage for Satiri.
The young Ramiro Mamani operates his robot “Satiri” in the town of Quinamaya, Bolivia. Photo: EFE
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The inventor recalled that the workshop “was a barn to store cow manure” made of rustic adobe and that it was about to collapse until his father, who in his youth was the only one in the area capable of installing solar panels or pumps. of water, prompted him to do the remodeling.
At the top of the main wall, as if it were an altarpiece in a church, is the image of Albert Einstein; From there other figures such as Steve Jobs, Nikola Tesla or Stephen Hawking, who are Ramiro’s ‘inspiration’ when he decides to create, emerge in a descending way.
At the bottom a small blackboard on which he traces the designs by hand and to one side a computer for simulations and plans of his work based on mathematical formulas.
The seeder robot
During the quarantine Last year, Ramiro returned to his parents’ house in Quinamaya to help with field tasks while taking distance classes, many times on the top of a hill to pick up the internet signal.
The young man, accompanied by his mother, operates his robot “Satiri”, in the town of Quinamaya (Bolivia). Photo: Martin Alipaz / EFE
“If I have been to contests why not make a robot better to help my parents in planting potatoes”, was the idea he had when he observed that his parents complained about back pain and pain in other parts of the world. body.
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Ramiro recalled that to finance his project “the main problem was money”, So he began to collect some objects such as old wheelbarrows, molds or pieces of iron to form the structure and buy other elements.
“I have had to sell a bull to buy the batteries” for the truck that can be recharged and serve to give autonomy of movement to the robot that is used for plowing and sowing and which was initially remote-controlled.
Satiri has an iron steering wheel, a box with sheepskin leather serves as the driver’s seat, and has a system of plow discs to which an old piece of rail must be attached for pressure. All of this generates good performance.
Ramiro says his robot does the work of about four people and that with this, the preparation of the earth that can last about eight hours by hand, is reduced to about two. Also, energy costs are lower.
“I would like to develop projects or robots to help society, generally where more physical effort is needed” is the dream of this young man who has taken a break in his studies to enlist in compulsory military service, a factor of social renown in the rural area of the country.
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