Won second international prize with robot to help stuttering children, priced at 2.5 million VND

On the morning of May 23, Huynh Huy Hung and Nguyen Tuan Kiet, class 12A4, Le Quy Don High School, Da Nang, received a certificate of merit from the Chairman of the City People's Committee, for winning second prize at the 75th International Science and Engineering Competition (ISEP) in the US. The competition attracted more than 1,500 students from more than 70 countries and territories.

The project is called "TalkiEVBot -Educational support robot for children with speech disorders", in the field of Robotics and Intelligent Machines. This is a product integrating artificial intelligence (AI), helping children with communication difficulties improve their ability to interact and learn.

Da Nang city leaders reward group of students who won international awards.

Huynh Huy Hung, the project leader, said the idea came from a volunteer trip to the Da Nang Social Protection Center. There, Hung and Kiet met children with speech disorders and thought of making a support robot.

The two discussed and then started writing the first lines of code. Hung and Kiet decided that the product would combine a system software and an intelligent robot. The robot could correct errors and give the right solution.

For example, if a child says "I, I stutter", the robot will ask back "What do you mean: I stutter?", and at the same time show the child with mouth movements so that the child can imitate and pronounce correctly, thereby communicating more effectively.

The testing process began when the team participated in the city-level competition in November 2024. Hung and Kiet returned to the Social Protection Center many times, interacting with children with stuttering to collect data, from which they assessed pronunciation and corrected errors.

Hung said that he and Kiet had many sleepless nights, and even thought about giving up the project. That was when they couldn't set up the robot's mouth shape correctly. Or there were nights when the software couldn't run, even though it was 99% loaded.

"At those times, I had to start from scratch. But Kiet, my parents, teachers and friends encouraged me," Hung said.

Hung acknowledged that the group's project won a high prize thanks to its humanitarian meaning, targeting disadvantaged children. Many children have to go to social protection centers and are in dire need of support, especially convenient technology products, to integrate into the community.

Family support, according to both, was also an important factor in completing the project. In particular, the mechanical practice from the early days cost a lot of money. As for the idea, Hung said that there was a day when he had a headache thinking about finding a solution, and his parents listened and suggested a solution. Hung's parents both graduated with a master's and doctorate in France.

"Family is an important part of the project," Hung said. He said his mother is also a foreign language teacher, so she has provided a lot of support with documents and translation to help Hung better understand foreign research methods and refer to more rich sources of documents.

Hung said the cost of the smart robot does not exceed 2.5 million VND, because the group aims to make plastic materials, 3D printing that is friendly to children, instead of iron or aluminum as is commonly seen.

In the near future, Hung plans to study abroad in France, pursuing the path of becoming a mechanical engineer.

"I'm still thinking about continuing to develop the robot. I will study further, do research to continue to improve it, release it to the community, and help more people access it," Hung said.

Kiet plans to study abroad in the US, majoring in Data Science.

Source: http://baovinhphuc.com.vn/Multimedia/Images/Id/128907/Gianh-giai-nhi-quoc-te-voi-robot-ho-tro-tre-noi-lap-gia-25-trieu-dong