Team Robo Falcons won in the elementary category at the regionals of the World Robot Olympiad 2017 held at the Kerala State Science and Technology Museum and Planetarium here on Sunday evening.
No prizes were given in the junior high (13 to 15 years) category as none of the teams made the cut.
Nine teams took part in the two-day competition, in two categories. Saturday was trials day and on Sunday, the teams slogged through three rounds to take a shot at the first prize.
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The Robo Falcons scored 135 points. There was a tie between teams Puma and DCS Droids, both of whom scored 105 points, for the second prize in the elementary (9 to 12 years) category. However, along with the Robo Falcons, the DCS team made it to the national competition, to be held in Noida, on the strength of their time.
The World Robot Olympiad India (WRO India) is one of the largest robotics competition in India for students in the 9-25 age group. Held since 2006, it is jointly organised by the India Stem Foundation and the National Council of Science Museums.
The theme for this year’s competition is Sustainabots: Robots for Sustainability. In the elementary category, teams have to build robots that can promote sustainable tourism and help scientists and visitors explore nature. The route is dependent on the number of endangered animals found in different areas. The robot must also return endangered animals that have wandered into the tourist areas to their proper habitat, be it the rainforest or the ocean.
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Carbon neutrality
In the junior high category, the challenge revolves around carbon neutrality. As greenhouse gases emitted by human activities affect the temperature of the planet, the robot should help a company reach carbon neutrality. To accomplish this, the robot must install renewable energy sources such as solar panels and plant trees to counterbalance the emissions from industrial processes of the company.
The Robofalcons, comprising Abhiram S.P., Aditya Kiran, and Jeremei Vivek San, were happy that they won, especially since their robot sensor was not detecting any animals. “We thought that we had lost as there was a problem with the programme in the first round, but in the next round, like magic, things went well,” said Abhiram.
Aditya S.T. and his two friends in the DCS team were a tad disappointed that no winners were announced in the junior high category yet they knew their performance was not the best. “We knew we had made mistakes. The timing of the robot was a problem. While it was functioning well initially, something went wrong later.”
Anjit and Utkarsh from the India Stem Foundation judged the contest.