RAIN

Research and engineering

We build, study and teach artificial intelligence and robotics.

RAIN is a research and certification centre for artificial intelligence and robotics. Most of our work is building real products for real problems; our training grows out of that work.

What we work on

Robotics for difficult environments

Robots, drones and automation that work where power, parts and connectivity are scarce.

Applied machine learning

Models built into real products: vision, language, forecasting and edge AI.

Embedded systems and TinyML

Intelligence on small, low-power devices.

Virtual and simulated laboratories

The RIDE Lab and the Hyper-Realistic Virtual School: hands-on engineering learnt from anywhere.

Assessment technology

Proctored online examinations for organisations in any country.

Projects

RIDE Lab

The problem. Learners in any country need hands-on robotics practice without a physical lab

What we built. Interactive labs in the browser for electronics, robot arms, drones, SLAM, mechanisms, materials, fluid power and machine learning, which also work offline

See it

Industrial Mobile Robotic Platform (IMoRP)

The problem. Industrial ground robots are costly to import and hard to maintain locally

What we built. A prototype unmanned ground vehicle with a 250 kg payload and 15 hours of endurance, built from locally fabricated and end-of-life parts

Carbon emission tracking drone

The problem. Forest reserves are large and hard to watch from the ground

What we built. A prototype drone that monitors carbon emissions and detects people across forested areas

Real-time drone footage analysis

The problem. Human observers cannot watch long pipelines and wide areas around the clock

What we built. Computer vision on the drone's edge computer that flags people, tools and unusual activity in optical and thermal footage and sends alerts over the mobile network, even with weak internet

Smart irrigation and poultry brooding control

The problem. Farmers lose crops and birds to water and temperature they cannot watch all day

What we built. AI and IoT controllers for farm irrigation (SC-75) and poultry brooding temperature (SC-76), installed for 200 crop and poultry farmers under the Federal Government's National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture scheme

Sign language to speech

The problem. Deaf people are often shut out of everyday conversation

What we built. An AI platform that turns sign language into speech, adapted to Nigerian Sign Language

Rehabilitation and assistive robotics

The problem. Physiotherapy and prosthetics are scarce and expensive

What we built. A robotic sleeve with wearable sensors for physiotherapy exercises, an upper-limb exoskeleton for rehabilitation, and a bionic arm for amputees

YardCode

The problem. Many Nigerian homes and businesses have no usable address

What we built. An indigenous digital addressing and navigation system, launched by RAIN in 2025

Hyper-Realistic Virtual School

The problem. Live classes that feel like a shared classroom when learners are far apart

What we built. A 360-degree virtual classroom and 3D lab with avatars, spatial sound and shared boards

See it

Proctored online exams

The problem. Organisations need fair exams for candidates who cannot sit in one hall

What we built. An exam platform with camera, microphone and screen monitoring for recruitment and certification tests

See it

Our trainees publish their own projects in the showcase and present every Friday at the seminars.

People

Dr Olusola Ayoola

Founder and Chief Executive Officer

Dr Olusola Sayeed Ayoola founded RAIN in 2019 and leads it as Chief Executive Officer. He graduated in Electrical and Electronic Engineering from the University of Ibadan with First Class honours in 2011, then studied at the University of Manchester on a Federal Government scholarship, taking an MSc in Advanced Control and Systems Engineering with Distinction in 2014. A UK Government scholarship funded his PhD in robotics for extreme environments at Manchester, completed in 2018. From 2014 to 2019 he was a member of the university's robotics research group, developing ground and underwater robots for the UK's nuclear decommissioning programme and, as a Research Associate, underwater robot positioning and communication systems. He lectures in the Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering at the University of Ibadan. He is a member of the UNDP Nigeria AI for Development Reference Group, co-chaired AI sector adoption at the 2024 National AI Strategy Workshop, took part in the US Department of State's International Visitor Leadership Program in 2024, spoke at the International Conference on Advanced Robotics in Abu Dhabi in 2023, and was part of the Nigerian delegation to the AI Action Summit in Paris in 2025. He is a member of the IET, the NSE and the NCS.

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Speeches and essays · Invite a RAIN speaker

Milestones

2019

RAIN founded on 6 August, now celebrated as Founders' Day

2021

Visit by Ms Amina Mohammed, Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations

2025

RAIN Tech Summit 1.0 in Ibadan

2025

Meta appoints RAIN its pioneer West African partner for the Meta AI Developer Academy

2025

YardCode, an indigenous digital addressing system, launched

In the press

Who we work with

Meta

Appointed RAIN in 2025 as its pioneer West African partner to host the Meta AI Developer Academy

United Nations Development Programme (UNDP) Nigeria

RAIN's founder is a member of its AI for Development Reference Group

Federal Government of Nigeria

Through NITDA and federal ministries, including the National Adopted Village for Smart Agriculture scheme

National Space Research and Development Agency (NASRDA)

Partnership

Kogi State Government

Collaboration

Raspberry Pi (Africa region)

Collaboration

Adeus Ltd, UK

Partner

One Watt Solar Ltd, UK

Partner

Trade & Investment Consultants Ltd, UK

Partner

Events and outreach

RAIN Tech Summit

Our summit on artificial intelligence and robotics, with talks, exhibitions and partners. The summit

Visit, in person or in 360 degrees

Schools, universities and companies visit our labs, or walk through them online. Virtual excursion

Articles

Work with RAIN

Joint projects, products built to order, training for teams and proctored exams.

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