Robotics

Showcasing Creativity

Jessica Islam Lia

	An intense moment! Photos: Courtesy

'GRC - Bangladesh Round' of Techkriti 2013' was held on February 9, 2013 at Motijhil National Handball Stadium. Engineering Students Association of Bangladesh (ESAB) arranged this day-long event. Engineering students from leading universities of Bangladesh including BUET, IUT, CUET, KUET, AIUB, and BRACU participated in this competition.

The competition was divided into two different categories- international autonomous robotic challenge (iARC) and international robots got talents (iRGT). Around 32 groups participated in this event (26 in iARC and 6 in iRGT). One team from each category was honoured with championship.

The inauguration ceremony started with motivational speeches by guests Additional Secretary Dr Mohammad Ali Khan, Saleh Zillur Rahman, District Sports Officer Abdul Haleem, Associate Professor of BUET Dr Nafis Ahmed, Assistant Professor of BRAC University Dr Md Khalilur Rahman, Faculty of AIUB Ebad Zahir, Assistant Professor of BUET Sukarna Barua, Film Maker Yaas Nesar Osman, ESAB advisor and Assistant Professor of Dhaka University (DU) MD Atiqur Rahman. The chief guest, Additional Secretary Dr Mohammad Ali Khan expressed that if these types of youth oriented competition are organised more frequently, then the practical use of science and technology will increase more.

Erfinder (BUET), Britto (BUET), Britto (KUET), Cyclone (BUET), Deception (CUET), Cybertron (BUET), Indur-2 (BUET), and Avengers (IUT) qualified for the final round of the iARC category where the line follower robots were asked to complete the white track maze over the arena. 'CUET Decepticons' was the winning team of iARC who solved the maze among the 9 teams. It was an autonomous robot that can solve the maze puzzles automatically. Team 'Erfinder', 'Cybertron' and 'Britto' in the category of iARC got 'Honorable Mention'.

For iRGT, the primary round was demonstration based presentation where the competitors displayed their creation. RAFI (BUET), Pixel Lizard (BRACU) and Quadro Falcon (AIUB) were qualified to go to the final round. Based on creativity, innovation and entertainment value, team RAFI (BUET) was awarded as the champion of iRGT while Quadro Falcon and team Pixel Lizard in the iRGT category received 'Honorable Mention'.

RAFI, the winning team of iRGT showed how their intelligent robot can create a 3D map of any place by itself. It is also capable of storing memory of any object and detecting that object later by itself.

The competition focuses on the creativity and talent of young engineers. 'CUET Decepticons', the winning team expressed that the learning experience while creating these autonomous robots was amazing.

Each team had different takes on their performance but while talking to them one can realise the true potential these students have and how their ideas can change the future of our country. One of the team members, Nafi, from the team Quadro Falcon said, “It's very difficult to find financial support for these types of experimental projects and it took us one year to create something that is both unique and with practical values. In the future we will try to upgrade our robot and hope to make it available in the market.” They show how their flying robot with video camera can be used in case of fire hazards to see if anyone is trapped in the top floor.

The winning teams received BDT 40,000 each and have officially qualified for the Bangladesh round for the final competition overseas.

Despite the fact that only two teams could secure their places, all the other teams showed excellent talent and were excited to participate in this international competition. They hope for more challenges like this where they can prove their capability and become more skilled.