Session: 6 Challenges

1. https://forms.gle/aJr1mEnu8ew244uL8 - Here is our google form survey. Please share this link with all your friends to help our team.

2. NO PRACTICE ON THE 27TH....

Oct 20 | Anagha Deepak

This season in FLL Jr, we are working on 3 major challenges a city faces while planning.

1. Accessibility
2. Durability
3. Environmentally friendly buildings

Let’s see why these are very important, and not just narrow our thoughts for the these three. Accessibility isn't just limited to providing a wheelchair access, Durability isn't only about having an earthquake safe building & Environmentally Friendly designs aren't just about having solar panels. We can have those elements too, but at the same time broaden our thinking to accept other realities & work on them.

Accessibility

Two summers ago, when I was visiting family in Bengaluru, India, my mom had taken me to a nearby grocery store. It was a busy morning with lots of school going children, people commuting to work, cows, dogs, buses, two wheelers, three wheelers... you understand it right, In India peak hours are extremely busy. I was amused at people around me, how quick & fast they moved while pushing others around. At one point during that time, my mom walked up to an old person with a walking stick & thick black glasses on, to help him cross the road. I joined her too & got to know that person was blind & cannot see. He was going to his work, walking up to catch a bus. My mom knew him from her childhood & even though that person was not able to see my mom & also not knowing that she was visiting India at that time...he still recognized her by her voice & her touch! I was very confused at what was happening at this point... What was this magic?... A few minutes later my mom helped him get on a bus & I started to ask her all the questions I could. I was getting my answers, and it got me thinking...

•How do the visually impaired see?

•How could we make it easier for them to move around?

-Not everyone in this busy world would stop by to help someone, neither the person in need of help would have it in them to ask for help.

•How do deaf people hear?

•How do we make it easy for people with disabilities to move around?

“Accessibility must be felt but not seen”

The fear of not being able to navigate busy, cluttered and visually oriented environments is a major barrier to participation in a "normal life", be that going to the shops, going for a walk in the park, going to work, looking for work, or simply socializing.

We could come up with a smart device helpful for people with disabilities . It should be a small device, there must be sensory signals or audio cues provided to users via their smartphones, providing directions, flagging bad road conditions, escalator outages... basically providing the users of the device a go or no-go signal.

For the physically disabled, barriers can range from blocked wheelchair ramps, buildings without lifts, inaccessible toilets, to shops without step-free access.

Meanwhile, for learning disabled people or those on the autistic spectrum, the cluttered and hectic city environment can be a sensory minefield. Without these, disabled people are less likely to socialize or work without accessible transport.

Possible Solutions to the above problem can be ...

1. Elevator doors should stay open longer and why not include Braille numbers as an option to operate in all the elevators?

2. Take the example of mapping apps... like google which everyone’s familiar with. We have options provided for distance between car, train, bike, walk... where is the option for disabled people???

Think about it... when a place which doesn’t have pavements while is also having steep roads, how can those who need accessibility and those who are disabled safely make their way through?

3. People with autism can be hypersensitive to sound, light, and movement, and can become overwhelmed by noisy, cluttered or crowded spaces. City architecture should include free therapy or a calm environment at every part of the city which addresses this issue.

I have so many reasons to think now & this is upsetting to see what some people have to go through to navigate our complex systems. Those who are blessed should step up to the plate and help our fellow human beings so we all stand on an equal podium, and get equal opportunities to excel in our world.

Now going back to my vacation story which I started in the beginning, I realized that although people with disabilities have a very big hindrance, their mind & body comes up with a better solution to go around life. Their other senses are heightened when one goes down. A blind person’s memory could be amazing to help him remember things easily or a person who cannot write with his hands tries to manage writing with his legs... they try to learn other skills to make up for others...let’s help them have a better path to lead it!

Team, we are already building a wheelchair access building. Imagine the person in that wheelchair is someone who cannot see and hear too. What do you think? How would he/she communicate to just say this one command of the door to open? Think about it...

Discuss with your parents & come up with a solution.

Durability

A durable building is a strong building. It has the ability to withstand wear & tear, pressure & damage.

It needs to be Sustainable, needs to be maintained, avoiding the depletion of natural resources in order to maintain an ecological balance.

Let’s see, some of the reasons the buildings cannot be durable are:

Fire,

Wind,

Hail storm, heavy rain, snowstorm

Earthquake

Lightning strikes

Hurricanes

Water damage

Electrical mishaps

Termites & mold

These are very few natural and unnatural hazards we face.

When serious events happen serious actions follows. Failure drives change and leads to improvement.

A few years ago, when hurricane Katrina happened, the city of New Orleans was wiped out due to flooding, water damage, heavy winds & rain, lightning strike and a lot of calamities at a same time. Later we all got to know that many buildings in that city had violated building codes issued by the city.

Same with the earthquake in Nepal that happened a few years ago.

People learnt a big lesson on how important structural codes & safety measures need to be incorporated while building.

The building industry has collectively learned how to handle structural loads due to wind, hurricanes, earthquake, rain, ice, snow, gravity and soil movement. The exception is tornados and it is argued here that there is not much that can be done to protect against tornados that hit dead on – except providing hardened shelters – and providing warning. Now, humanity has cured durability issues related to structural engineering. It would be a complete waste if we don’t use these safety measures.

Once constructed a building becomes a machine that “needs to be fed.” The more durable the building the longer it is around. The longer the building is around the more energy it consumes. Durable buildings need to be ultra energy efficient in order to be sustainable. Durability and energy efficiency are the cornerstones of sustainability. One of the key elements of energy efficient building enclosures is a high level of thermal insulation. You must all have seen that scary looking pink foamy/f cottony thingy in your attics... that’s scary looking thing is the insulator. Ask more about what durability measures does your house have with your parents.

Environmentally Friendly

These are buildings that help keep our earth healthy.

The environment is changing for the worse due to our masses of energy consumption – but we still need more buildings for businesses and homes with our expanding population. That's why the need to be eco-friendly is becoming more and more important ,this means we need to start creating buildings that are powered, or at least partially powered by renewable energy, in order to reduce our carbon footprint. We also need to be mindful of the levels of waste our homes and offices are producing; waste water, trash and emissions can damage the environment and cost a lot of money to dispose of properly, but with on-site water treatment plants and recycling facilities our buildings can become greener! Starting to invest in building eco-friendly buildings now might be expensive, but with the amount you save on electricity and other utilities with these buildings we will start to make this money back over time. We're investing in our future, and the health of our earth in the future!

Few examples of having a green building are:

•waste water and rainwater to be reused after treatment.

•The building can be heated by the sun, and the windows can be designed to provide as much natural light as possible. The building to be built with renewable materials.

• The buildings will act as a carbon filter for the city, as it is covered in rooftop gardens.

• The building should have numerous solar panels.

• The wind turbine, which we are building

Team go through all the ideas. I know the mid practice sessions will be a little dry as our ideas needs to be channelized in the right direction but the end result will be amazing if we all know what we are doing. The whole concept of this learning & gaining knowledge about everything related to building a city is very important. Read this blog in bits & pieces, understand the concept. Our robots will understand us if we know what we want to do with them!