Most of us have used DC motors at one point or another. They follow pretty simple rules like speed is directly proportional to voltage and reversing terminals mean reversing the direction of motion. As we move forward from a simple differential drive our actuator requirements also change. This post is to familiarize beginners with servos- a typ... continue reading
“Jacob took that coke in his hand, the Herald919, what he named his other “arm”, made of tinker and junk mimicked the same. As he undid the wrapping, Herald broke the other one.” Take a look at your hand and now replace (mentally) every moving part of it with metal segments and joints and there you go! you have your very own robotic arm. Usuall... continue reading
RAFT was one of the most successful mechanical events in Robotix 2011. Receiving participation from robot lovers all over the country, this event was one of a kind. Based on a practical and industry derived problem statement, the simplicity yet the unique nature of the event received wide acceptance. First years from IIT Kharagpur also showed de... continue reading
Negotiators the online coding event of Robotix 2011 was an original design which went on to be largely successful. The participant’s program was pitched against that of two others in order to negotiate a pattern on a grid with blocks. Trivia: Some participants submitted multiple entries hoping that their dummy entries would be pitted against th... continue reading
Ballista, an autonomous events of Robotix 2011 was a night event with a rotating light source. This event enjoyed its status as belonging to the action-adventure genre in terms of robots. The problem statement was derived from robot snipers on enemy territory . Robots were to detect walls and shoot at the light source from behind the walls. Ligh... continue reading
Robocop, the Image Processing (IP) category event of Robotix 2011 was the first of its kind ever. The robots were required to be the judges of colour coded character, marked to be good (green)and bad (red). It required intricate programming and some teams even used stereovision camera feeds. ** Trivia**: One of the participating ‘robocops’ was ... continue reading
Fugitives the autonomous event that looked simple but turned out to be the hardest nut to crack. Robotix 2011 saw some mind-boggling alorithms to corner the fixed fugitives which emitted infrared radiations. The problem statements were based on artificial intelligence used for guarding prisoners. _**Trivia:** Fugitives was initially titled ‘Ch... continue reading
Pirate Bay was one of the eye-catching mechanical events of Robotix 2011. Introducing the one-of-its-kind concept of digging through rough terrain to extract hidden treasures , it was widely appreciated and a unique spectacle. It, like RAFT and the other events was based on a practical industry related problem statement. [youtube http://www.you... continue reading
In the first issue of the new session, we dedicate a special section to all the new entrants into the robotics bandwagon as we race into what will be another glorious year of robotic achievement. The starting point is fairly basic : Build a manual robot which moves forward, backward, left and right according to your instruction. So, here’s what ... continue reading
30th July saw throngs of curious first years fill up Kalidas Auditorium as Technology Robotix Society unveiled its action packed schedule for 2012, along with a showcase of the pathbreaking ventures into robotics at Kharagpur and around the world. With new frontiers opening up including aerial robotics, underwater robotics, machine learning etc.... continue reading