His names are Moses Gichanga Mwaura and he is a Phd research student at Warwick University in the UK. It is a really captivating though not so unique considering that this is an existing innovation. The main unique point is that Moses is trying to use locally available raw materials to realise his dream. Moses is researching on Agricultural robotics at the university.

Moses was formerly employed by Nation Media and Zain Kenya as a software engineer before founding the KenyaBit company.

His project is well featured on University of Warwick’s website as well as on Metanomy which has promised to fund his idea half way according to himself. One of the Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAV) – or drone – is fully assembled while another is not assembled. The UAV’s air-frame is made from resin and already has managed a 20 minute flight. Endurance of the UAV is a main challenge.

Moses says that the main challenges for his idea is building transponders, sensors and radar systems which can be recognised by the Kenyan civil aviation authority for security purposes. The whole vehicle would cost around Ksh 100,000 to make were it not for the cost of radar and transponders. The cost will be pushed to around Ksh 1,5 Million with the purchase and fitting of such systems, according to Moses.

Moses intimate that he would have made the UAV from fibre-glass were we to have a light grade of fibre-glass in Kenya. The main objective is to limit what is being imported and work majorly with what is available in Kenya.

What do you think of Moses’ idea?

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