For someone passionate about robotics, being a part of the world’s largest open robotics competition must be nothing short of a dream. It’s no wonder then that these four engineering students — Vineeth Reddy, Dilip Reddy, Sravan Rao and Prakash Raineni — from SR Engineering College, Warangal, are dead chuffed. Joining them is their advisor, Manoj Chaudhary, with whom they are all set to fly to Pleasanton, California in April next year, to participate in RoboGames 2018, also known to be the Olympics of the robotics world.
“We are very excited, of course. This platform will not just be great to present our skills but will prove to be an opportunity to see how people from around the world are faring,” shares Prakash. And while the competition may be several months away, the students are already neck-deep in preparations. “Luckily for us, our college is very supportive and we aren’t being asked to attend classes. We are spending every single minute planning for the competition,” he reveals. Notably, the college will also be sponsoring the cost for building the robot as well as the group’s travel.
The international competition sees participation from across the world with some of the best and most innovative minds coming together for several events like combat robots, LEGO bots, walking humanoids, soccer bots, sumo bots, etc. And interestingly, this young team is set to begin working on their robot soon. “We can’t wait to get started on the robot building. We are participating in two categories — Lift and Carry and Obstacle Run. We will have to customise the robot accordingly to perform the said functions. We have ample time to finish it and even do tests,” explains Prakash.
In the first category, the robot will be tested for its ability to carry loads — the robot with the maximum capacity will win the show. In the second category, the robot will be presented with obstacles that it will have to overcome in order to win.
Talking about how the four students ended up together as a group, Prakash reveals, “All of us are from the mechanical and electrical and communication engineering (ECE) departments. Several tests were conducted by the college to select a team that could participate in various competitions and that’s how we were brought together. Now, all of us have clearly defined roles based on our expertise. I handle the design and fabrication, Shravan and Vineeth (both from ECE) handle the programming while Dileep (from mechanical) handles the documentation.”
This enthusiastic team of four is hopeful of putting up a good show at the event. And with these young guns set to challenge their potential, one can only hope that this event will make for an important chapter in their bright future.
