When devastating flash floods swept through northern and central Nepal on 26 August, just five days had passed since a Muscat schoolboy presented a robotic search-and-rescue system to engineers at Nepal’s National Innovation Center (NIC) in Kathmandu.
The disaster showed exactly why such technology matters. Roads and bridges were washed away, leaving villages cut off and rescue teams searching blind through mud, debris and unstable ground. Fresh landslides in late September added to the toll. Reaching survivors when access routes are blocked or constantly changing is precisely the problem Kabir Goel, a Year 13 student at The British School Muscat, set out to solve.
Intelligence in the air, action on the ground
Kabir’s system splits the job of rescue between two robots. A drone flies above the disaster zone, mapping the terrain, identifying obstacles and calculating the safest route. A ground rover then follows that route autonomously to reach trapped civilians and deliver supplies. As Kabir puts it, intelligence lives in the air, while execution lives on the ground.
He built the working prototype himself. It uses a drone-mounted Raspberry Pi for real-time vision and planning, visual markers to track the rover’s position and heading, and a custom algorithm that avoids sharp turns and unnecessary stops on rough ground.
His time at Nepal’s National Innovation Center
In August 2026, Kabir worked at NIC as a researcher intern under the supervision of Mr Dipendra Basnet, adapting his system for Nepal’s mountainous terrain. He developed a pipeline that turns drone photographs into a three-dimensional model of the ground and generates optimised routes. He validated it against the Hessigheim 3D benchmark, an international research dataset.
In an appreciation letter, NIC’s General Manager, Col Sanjay Jha (Retd), confirmed that the system was based on Kabir’s own engineering design. He said the work has contributed to efforts to adapt it for operational use with the Nepali Army’s Disaster Response Unit. He described Kabir’s technical maturity as comparable to that of an engineer with several years of professional experience.
Honoured by Nepal’s diplomatic community
Kabir was also recognised at “Celebrating Young Innovators,” a programme organised by the Ambassadors’ Club Nepal in Kathmandu on 18 August. The Club’s President, Ambassador Dr Sarmila Parajuli Dhakal, praised his work, saying: “Great ideas do not belong to any particular country, age or background.”
Speaking at the event, Kabir said he had been inspired by NIC’s work and its impact across Nepal. He hopes to return to continue developing collaborative projects.
Kabir’s robotics journey
Kabir’s journey began in after-school robotics at The British School Muscat. After winning the World Robot Olympiad (WRO) Nationals, he represented Oman at the WRO International Finals in Turkey. He then founded his school’s first WRO and VEX clubs, followed by the Oman Robotic Society, a free, nationwide online platform.
His disaster-response rover has been patented in Germany, and he works on computer vision with an international FIRST Robotics Competition team.
Why it matters in Oman
The lessons from Nepal resonate in Oman. The Sultanate knows the force of adverse weather conditions and of wadi flash floods that can isolate communities within hours. Mr Faisal AlDhuhli, a senior search and rescue officer in Oman, appreciated Kabir’s project and stressed the importance of developing such ideas for Oman.
For Kabir, the goal is broader than any single invention. “Access to hands-on robotics education — not talent alone — should determine who gets to build the future,” he says. On the evidence of his work in Nepal, Oman is already producing some of those builders.