Two 14-year-old ladies from Kerala have constructed a robotic system that cleans, preserves and digitises fragile palm-leaf manuscripts and their challenge has now taken them from a college robotics competitors in Hyderabad to the worldwide stage in Puerto Rico. Cathlin Marie Jeesan of Holy Grace Academy in Mala and Navika D. Nair of Naipunnya Public Faculty in Kakkanad have developed Smriti 1.0. It’s a system that mixes robotics, managed drying and synthetic intelligence to deal with previous palm leaves and convert their writing into digital textual content.The scholars, competing as Staff UWR Synergy, received first place within the Future Innovators-Senior class on the World Robotic Olympiad (WRO) India Nationals in Hyderabad, held from August 26 to twenty-eight. They’ll now characterize India on the WRO Worldwide Championship in San Juan, Puerto Rico, from December 8 to 10, 2026, in accordance with Mirror Now.
Why two college college students selected palm-leaf manuscripts
The thought started with the ladies attempting to grasp how previous data recorded on palm leaves could possibly be preserved. Based on The Week and varied media, Cathlin and Navika took an interest within the topic whereas studying about ‘Madhava of Sangamagrama,’ the Kerala mathematician and astronomer whose mathematical data was recorded on palm leaves. They discovered that such manuscripts might be troublesome to entry as a result of the leaves are fragile and a few comprise older types of Malayalam script which are troublesome for contemporary readers and OCR programs to course of.Their analysis took them to the Manuscript Analysis and Presentation Centre in Irinjalakuda, the place they learnt how palm-leaf manuscripts are cleaned, handled and dried. That go to modified the path of the challenge. The problem was not merely to {photograph} an previous manuscript. The ladies had to consider how one can transfer, clear and dry a fragile leaf with out damaging it earlier than trying to learn and digitise its contents.Benson Thomas of Distinctive World Robotics, which mentors the scholars, identified that palm leaves comprise far more than the fabric individuals generally affiliate with them. “It’s not simply horoscopes which are being written on palm leaves,” he stated, in accordance with The Week, referring to the historic and mathematical materials recorded on such manuscripts.
What Smriti 1.0 truly does
Photograph credit score: The Week
The system is designed as a sequence of steps. A suction-based mechanism fastidiously strikes a palm leaf onto a conveyor. Rollers then take away mud from the floor. The system applies lemongrass oil, which, as reported by The Week, helps defend the leaf towards microbial harm and bugs and may make the writing clearer.A robotic arm then transfers the leaf right into a microclimate-controlled drying chamber. The temperature and humidity are monitored through the drying course of. As soon as this stage is full, the manuscript strikes to a scanning station. A digicam captures the inscription and Optical Character Recognition (OCR) is used to extract the writing and convert it into digital textual content. This implies the challenge makes an attempt to deliver a number of historically separate levels like dealing with, cleansing, preservation, drying, scanning and textual content extraction into one automated system.
The ladies needed to clear up an issue past robotics
Navika instructed The Week that they’d to make sure the manuscript didn’t get broken throughout processing and that the textual content didn’t fade or the leaves turn into extra brittle. The second main problem was studying the previous writing. Cathlin dealt with the language and translation element, whereas Navika labored on coaching the AI-based OCR system. The ladies discovered that standard OCR struggled with the older Malayalam scripts present in palm-leaf manuscripts.So Smriti 1.0 isn’t but a completed machine. The present prototype can deal with solely a restricted manuscript measurement, and its OCR system wants additional coaching. Earlier than the worldwide competitors, the scholars wish to make it higher.
How Cathlin and Navika turned a crew
The 2 college students met once they had been in Class 8 and teamed up due to their frequent curiosity in robotics. Cathlin, now a Class 9 pupil focuses on innovation, robotics and writing. Navika, additionally in Class 9 works primarily on design, {hardware} structure and analysis. Cathlin additionally has worldwide WRO expertise. She completed third on the WRO Worldwide competitors in Turkey in 2024, the place she competed together with her sister Clare Rose Jeesan.
From gold in Hyderabad to Puerto Rico
Their work earned Staff UWR Synergy the highest place within the Future Innovators-Senior class on the WRO India Nationals in Hyderabad. The gold-medal end secured their place on the 2026 WRO Worldwide Championship in San Juan, Puerto Rico, the place they’ll compete from December 8 to 10. The challenge will nonetheless want enhancements earlier than then. Each the ladies are engaged on that.