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Indian robot vanquishes competition, stands second at international competition

Saturday, 15 June 2013 04:50 administrator
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The Hindu                15.06.2013

Indian robot vanquishes competition, stands second at international competition

Sweat and steelThe student trio slogged for a couple of months — foregoing their vacation — in the school, to develop the robot, aptly named as ‘Vanquisher’ —Photo: T. Singaravelou
Sweat and steelThe student trio slogged for a couple of months — foregoing their vacation — in the school, to develop the robot, aptly named as ‘Vanquisher’ —Photo: T. Singaravelou

Fascination for robots has won the World Robo Masters Cup 2013 for the three students of Edison G. Agoram Memorial School situated at Manalur near Chidambaram in Cuddalore district.

In the senior-level competition on the topic ‘Robot used in military’, held at Jurong in Singapore on June 6 and 7, K. Ramsudhan, a Class X student, and Eswar K. Manasijan and S. Abhinandan, Class IX students of the school, stood second at the world level and first at the Indian level.

In all, about 200 students from five countries competed in this category, according to C. Shammi Ratna, a representative of the school management.

As the induction of the sophisticated weaponry in the modern warfare has reached a phenomenal level, the defence personnel have been exposed to grave dangers.

Therefore, to mitigate the risk factors of the personnel on the battlefront, unmanned crafts and devices are being put to use. For instance, drones have established their utility in targeting the terrorists holed up in treacherous territories

Now it is the turn of robots to make a foray into the battlefield for multifarious activities such as surveillance, reconnaissance, retaliation and rescue operations.

Such a trend has caught the fancy of the trio who slogged for a couple of months — foregoing their vacation — in the school, to develop the robot aptly named as ‘Vanquisher’.

According to Ramsudhan, the remote-controlled robot could detect the mines or any improvised explosive devices hidden in the soil and clears the way for advancement of platoons into the enemy territory, for launching an attack.

Manasijan and Abhinandan said that in the competition the Vanquisher launched grenades (in the form of lighted camphor that would shoot from the device to hit the inflammable objects) that zeroed in on the targets, with accuracy.

The students said that what had impressed the event organisers was the functional ability of the robot, which could successfully execute assigned tasks, and their spirited presentation.

Ms. Ratna said that the Vanquisher was assembled in the robotic wing of the school. Last year, the school developed a robot that could be of use in the field of medicine.

School desires association

Ms. Ratna further said that given a chance the school would be happy to be associated with any of the defence projects.

She said that the prize money would be utilized to procure advanced robotic prototypes.

The prize-winning students said that their scientific quest would guide their academic career. Besides Ms. Ratna, another management representative Geetha Agoram and Principal S. Kalyani congratulated the students for their achievements.

 

Jaya showers Trichy with new projects

Tuesday, 04 June 2013 12:09 administrator
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The Times of India              04.06.2013

Jaya showers Trichy with new projects

TRICHY: Keeping in mind the ruling AIADMK's new 'national' agenda, posters on street walls in Trichy district and newspaper advertisements welcomed chief minister and AIADMK supremo J Jayalalithaa by hailing her as the future prime minister. Visiting her Srirangam constituency for the second time within a fortnight, Jayalalithaa launched several projects worth Rs 1,854 crore against the backdrop of an upbeat mood within the party.

"My government has been taking efforts based on the concept of promoting humanity and enhancing the state's infrastructure facilities, which will make the state achieve all-round development," she said, unveiling her government's new initiatives.

Another major scheme included in the announcement was to set up an industrial park on 1,077 acres at an outlay of Rs 107 crore in Manapparai taluk with a view to improve the economic conditions of such areas. She also offered subsidies ranging from Rs 45 lakh to Rs 2 crore and financial assistance through Tamil Nadu Industrial Investment Corporation (TIIC) to those who would like to start business in the park.

The chief minister said the park will attract investments worth Rs 3,000 crore and provide employment to 25,000 people. Based on the investments that the companies would attract, the government would offer subsidy anywhere between Rs 45 lakh and Rs 2.25 crore, Jayalalithaa said. New projects at a cost of Rs 433.65 crore inaugurated by her had been completed in Srirangam.

Moreover, the foundation stone for three important new schemes in Sethurapatti - the Indian Institute of Information Technology (IIIT) at Rs 128 crore , Government Engineering College at Rs 60.84 crore and a polytechnic college at Rs 37 crore - were laid by her.

Her announcements also included the laying of the foundation stone for the Rs 1,200 crore multi-layer double coated paper board project in the constituency that was still opposed by a section of villagers.

While the protests were brewing against the proposal for setting up the paper board project for reportedly acquiring mostly agriculture lands, the chief minister said that the economic status of Srirangam and Manapparai areas would be improved with the project which would give employment to 2,000 people directly and indirectly. The factory with the capacity of 2 lakh metric tonne would come up in Mondipatti, K Periyapatti North and Chettichathiram revenue villages at an outlay of Rs 1,200 crore.

On the National Law School to be set up on a 25-acre piece of land at Srirangam, she said classes for the first year students would begin this academic year. The foundation stone for the school was laid by her in February.

While protests had peaked in the wake of acute water shortage during the crop season in the delta districts last year and there was apparent displeasure over the near-power crisis, Jayalalithaa's popularity seemed to soar with the opening of Amma canteens serving low-cost food across the state on Sunday.

Jayalalithaa came on a day when the people stood patiently in serpentine queues to get their low-cost food and officials said it was such a huge hit that around 3,500 people ate on the first day alone. At each eatery, 12 people from the women's self-help groups had been employed.

As if reflecting the morale within the AIADMK, an advertisement issued by party functionaries hailed Jayalalithaa as 'Dr Puratchitalaivi Amma, the next prime minister of India'. This is the chief minister's fourth visit to her constituency since she came to power in May 2011. On May 30, Jayalalithaa made a brief personal visit to Srirangam to seek the blessings of the newly-appointed 46th pontiff of the prestigious Ahobila Mutt and also visited the Srirangam temple. 

Last Updated on Wednesday, 05 June 2013 04:21
 

University develops simple apparatus that generates energy from cow's urine

Thursday, 16 May 2013 12:09 administrator
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The Times of India              16.05.2013

University develops simple apparatus that generates energy from cow's urine

NAMAKKAL: With the entire state reeling under a severe power crisis, especially the rural areas, the department of livestock production and management at the Veterinary College and Research Institute in Namakkal has come up with a simple electricity generating apparatus whereby farmers will be able to generate energy from cow's urine.

Talking to TOI, head of the department Dr V Ramesh Saravana Kumar said the apparatus is based on a simple scientific principle and will be able to generate 10 volts of electricity continuously for 120 hours (five days) from two litres of cow urine. "All we need is 10 to 12 plastic cups, each filled with 200ml of urine, thin copper plates as the positive poles and a thin zinc plates as negative poles. One needs to spend just Rs80 to setup the apparatus," he said.

Describing the apparatus Ramesh said the positive and negative poles in the cups are connected by single core wires or hook-up wires that form two separate networks. The two output wires can be connected to any desired device. "When copper and zinc plates come in contact with uric acid movement of electrons begin, generating electricity. The output dips after five days, when the urine has to replaced," he added.

With the help of the model, college students demonstrated that five wall clocks and a zero watts bulb can be operated simultaneously. "While electricity can also be generated from urine of other cattle, cow's urine is used as it is abundantly available. A cow can produces 16 to 20 litres of urine every day. Proper collection of urine from cows can help farmers generate more electricity," Ramesh said.

Ramesh said the pungent urine smell can be avoided by keeping the apparatus outdoors and using a long wire to connect it to the output device. He said the apparatus was a boon for children residing in rural areas as connecting it with an LED bulb, like the ones used in powerful torches and positioning them properly can provide hours of light for study.

A bigger model can be used to light up an entire house, including the cow shed. Farmers, who have already seen the model, have appealed to technical institutions to generate bigger and more efficient models with provisions to store electricity.

 
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