IIT Chennai beats Pune VIT to win robot race

Pune team lagged behind after a pulley broke giving the rival team an opportunity to race past them to victory

Rajan Gupta 'Maja' from Rajasthan won ROBOCON 2009, a three-minute race run by robots, for IIT Chennai at the Chhatrapati Shivaji Krida Sankul in Balewadi, beating Vishwakarma Institute of Technology, Pune (VIT).
Gupta, a second year student of electrical engineering at IIT Chennai, will be a part of the team that will now represent India at the International ROBOCON to be held in Tokyo, Japan, in August.



The robotic contest was based on the ancient Japanese game of kago (a Japanese basket-like palanquin), which involves three people, two of whom carry a third person in a kago to a given destination. The traveller robot is required to beat on drums after it succeeds in its objective.

The same theme will be extended to the International ROBOCON competition in Japan. Ashwin Ram, team leader, IIT Chennai, attributed the team's success to teamwork and Maza's expertise. "The crucial part involved getting the automated robot to co-operate with the manual robot in carrying a third traveller robot.

Rajan, who had some experience of manual controlling of robots at Robocon 2007, gave us an edge. Our mechanical team assembled most of the robots. They did a wonderful job," said Ram.

Rajan Gupta told MiD DAY that he knew they would win after his team beat Maharashtra Institute of Technology (MIT) in the semi-finals. "After clearing the mountainous pass (an elevated platform), we were certain that we would beat VIT," said an ecstatic Gupta.

VIT, Pune, lost after a pulley broke, and by the time the damage was repaired, IIT Chennai had sailed past them to victory.u00a0

What is a kago?
Kago is a Japanese chair suspended by a single crossbeam, carried by two men, usually used to transport one person at a time. The front and back of the kago is always covered; the sides can be left open, or encased by folding screens.