July 9, 2010
School of Engineering, Bengaluru
 

There is something about robotics that inspires and intrigues. And so it was that nearly seventy students from the Amrita School of Engineering, Bengaluru, showed up on campus on a holiday, to attend a one-day workshop on the Basics of Robotics convened by their seniors.
 

Coordinated by A. A. Nippun Kumaar and Kiran G., students of M. Tech in Embedded Systems, the workshop included theoretical and practical sessions taught by these student experts. The duo was also joined by Sagar P., a B.Tech. student of Mechanical Engineering.
 

“The main aim of the workshop was to provide an exposure to different kinds of robots,” shared the student organizers. “We showed demo videos of the Mars Rover and Hexa Pod. Students learned about practical implementations of all basic sensors and how these work.”
 

Mechanical parts, sensors and actuators, control units, LDRs / photo diodes, IR sensors, ultrasonic sensors, thermistors, PIR sensors, multimeters, microcontrollers, controllers — students gained an introduction to all these topics and more in the workshop.
 

“We also showed several videos of the latest robots in the world including big dog, snake bot, ASIMO and fish bot,” stated the student organizers. “Post the workshop, many student participants suggested that we conduct more such workshops. We are planning to do it.”
 

“We encouraged students to think in terms of doing small robotics projects. We look forward to seeing many projects in the future.”
 

Future workshops, just like this one, as well as the projects, will be coordinated under the aegis of the Amrita Club for Robotics and Mechatronics (ACROM) that was formed in March 2010 on campus. A few students mooted the idea, faculty members supported and the club was born.
 

Dr. T. S. B. Sudarshan and Dr. S. R. Nagaraja, HoDs of Computer Science and Mechanical Engineering respectively, are the club faculty mentors.
 

After the inauguration of the club on March 29, nearly a hundred and fifty undergraduate and graduate students signed up. An interactive session was organized for these students, wherein they had a chance to brainstorm potential future activities.
 

“Students asked for seminars, hands-on sessions, paper presentations, inter- and intra-college robot design contests, workshops, etc. As a result we organized this first student workshop on April 14, which saw tremendous student response.”
 

“We enjoyed taking classes for our juniors and friends. We plan to encourage students to prepare for and participate in state- and national-level robotic competitions.”