A few Engineering freshmen. 3 Techfests. A 5-month wait.
A certain Spark & 1 terrific event.
After a series of interviews with the group called Spark, here is the story as we heard it:
We stumbled first:
Later, we visited IIT Delhi and IIT Roorkee for the resources and got some help from both. The students were provided with all requirements on-campus itself. Students of IIT Delhi helped us out by recommending related dealers in Delhi.
August 2009, we decided to take part in IIT Roorkee's technical festival, COGNIZANCE’09. After going through details of the competition,we listed out requirements for the working model. Due to unavailability of resources and incomplete information we were unable to construct the model within the given time.
February 2010, we decided to take part in IIT Bombay Techfest, ‘CROSS OVER’ and faced the same problems.
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| Spark, with ASME Section officers |
Regathering resources:
We visited Delhi thrice in the month of December 2009, investing all our time and money but returned empty handed each time. Strangely, this motivated us to work harder the next time. We bought motors once but got cheated, unaware of the types of equipment.
After a month of researching on the internet, we came to know about the proper equipments and shops. We visited Delhi again and encountered more variation in the equipments.
We visited Delhi thrice in the month of December 2009, investing all our time and money but returned empty handed each time. Strangely, this motivated us to work harder the next time. We bought motors once but got cheated, unaware of the types of equipment.
After a month of researching on the internet, we came to know about the proper equipments and shops. We visited Delhi again and encountered more variation in the equipments.
Our First Bot:
We started with by constructing the base of our bot with plywood. It took about one and half weeks to fix motors and tires onto the base. We then moved on to our next goal i.e. controlling. After a short R&D of two more days, we were able to move the bot to and fro, but not follow a straight line. Many improvisations later, we succeeded in moving it linearly. Working daily for a week, we purchased and connected DPDT switches to ease the controls. Finally after a seven late night efforts our bot was able to move linearly and perform a 360 degree turn.
We started with by constructing the base of our bot with plywood. It took about one and half weeks to fix motors and tires onto the base. We then moved on to our next goal i.e. controlling. After a short R&D of two more days, we were able to move the bot to and fro, but not follow a straight line. Many improvisations later, we succeeded in moving it linearly. Working daily for a week, we purchased and connected DPDT switches to ease the controls. Finally after a seven late night efforts our bot was able to move linearly and perform a 360 degree turn.
Meanwhile, we missed out the dates of 'CROSS OVER'.
Idea for Spark:
We decided to form a community which could help spread our knowledge among other students and provide them with all technical and moral support. Planning to provide all equipment needed to the students at a reduced cost, we gradually shared our ideas with batch-mates. They replied with great enthusiasm, forcing us to catch the attention of our course coordinator, Dr. Rajeev Gupta.
Spark: Challenges and Disappointment
We tried to link our community to those in other institutions like IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, VIT, Oxford University, MIT and the alumni of our university.
To promote this community, we decided to organize an event centered on manual robots. After forwarding the proposal to the Dean of Engineering, and after three days of campaigning, got the go-ahead. We planned out the details for the event, and then approached the student chair of ASME-UPES Student Section. He provided us with all assistance like banners, posters and methods to publicize the event.
We tried to link our community to those in other institutions like IIT Delhi, IIT Madras, VIT, Oxford University, MIT and the alumni of our university.
To promote this community, we decided to organize an event centered on manual robots. After forwarding the proposal to the Dean of Engineering, and after three days of campaigning, got the go-ahead. We planned out the details for the event, and then approached the student chair of ASME-UPES Student Section. He provided us with all assistance like banners, posters and methods to publicize the event.
Sadly, the event had to be shelved due to circumstances beyond our control (read: exams rescheduled).
Teknobotts Return:
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| The Poster for Teknobotts |
The new academic year brought a problem: "whether or not to involve the freshmen as we had less time in our hand (10 days)". When we introduced TEKNOBOTTS to them, we sensed eagerness.We changed our mind to register 2-3 teams, but unexpectedly 26 teams registered within a week. We went to each and every class to deliver presentations and did our best in helping them for the next 24 hrs (D-Day). We came across some stupid questions and ideas, but there were many interesting and superb ideas too.
The last night before the event, SPARK consisting of Niraj Kumar, Anup Tripathi and Abhishek Pokharia made the track amidst heavy rain. The next day was as some say, history..
