The would-be engineers and computer scientists were challenged to build
two autonomous machines which cooperate and collaborate in an
intelligent way to transport blocks placed randomly on a flat grid, to
required locations. At stake was the title of Thai champion and cash
prizes totaling 200,000 Baht.
The top 3 teams earned free travel and accommodation to compete at the
“World Challenge” competition at the Indian Institute of Technology
(IIT) Mumbai, India, in January 2010.
“Spinal ID ED”, a four-member team representing King Mongkut Institute
of Technology, Lad Krabang, stood out from the competition, taking the
top cash prize of 50,000 Baht. A pair of entries from Sing Buri
Technical College placed second and third, respectively. With their
cash rewards of 25,000 Baht, the Sing Buri province teams named “Sing
Buri Technical College V1” and “Sing Buri Technical College V2” rounded
out the list of Thai challengers headed for Mumbai early next year.
All 34 teams arrived at AIT armed for battle with their finest
two, three, and four-wheeled vehicles. A total of 36 teams submitted
design abstracts and the best twelve won grant awards of 10,000 (Baht)
from the organizers on the basis of their technical quality,
feasibility, and creativity.
Limited only by their young inventors' imaginations, the various
machines sported a repertoire of arms, claws and swing latches to hunt
down and move their cubic prey around a 2.3 meter square area.
Dimensions, fabrication, power supply and propulsion sources were all
closely critiqued by a panel of expert judges from NECTEC, Thai
Robotics Society, Western Digital and AIT.
The machines’ task was clear: self-navigate a prescribed grid on their
own without any external manual help or remote control, grasp four
small cubes and deposit them at pre-marked spots that perimeter the
surface, and do so all in less than five minutes.
Such precision requires the robots to exhibit true teamwork, and make
good, real-time decisions for the mutual benefit of the pair.
Scientists have a name for this type of robot communication. “The
programming involves a ‘master-slave principle’,” said Dr. Nitin
Afzulpurkar, Dean of AIT’s School of Engineering and Technology,
describing the term for the algorithm processes that allow two robots
to signal one-another to complete a synchronized task. “The second
robot must respond to the signals and moves of its dominant automated
partner. Otherwise they will get confused, locked and eventually
shut-down.”
Mechatronics Ph.D candidate, Niphon Lapanaphan, said autonomous machine
technology has plenty of real-world applications. “Pairs of robots, or
even swarms of robots, could enter a potentially dangerous environment
to do a human task.” Mr, Niphon said examples could include disaster
search and rescue operations or even de-mining and defusing
bombs.
Well-positioned overhead cameras broadcast a bird’s eye view of the
competition onto a large screen visible to the crowd of over
200. Like any sporting event, the spectators cheered and sighed as
the competitors either excelled or failed on the tiny the arena below.
With entries arriving from around the Isan region, Chiang Mai and Nan
provinces, the nation-wide competition was designed to raise the
profile of robotics education in Thailand and to support and encourage
undergraduate students to take part in international-level engineering
and innovation competitions, organizers said.
“Beyond creatively applying their knowledge of computer science, and
mechanical and electrical engineering, students must also make use of
soft skills such as communication and team work, which are so important
for professional success,” AIT computer scientist Prof. Matthew Dailey
said.
The AIT organized event was sponsored by the National Electronics and
Computer Technology Center (NECTEC), Western Digital (WD), Thai
Robotics Society (TRS), and SODEXO. The competition was held for the
first time in Thailand as part of the Techfest 2009-10 series of
competitions, in cooperation with IIT.
Techfest is a student body that organizes an annual international
science and technology festival at IIT Mumbai, India, with over 60,000
participants. For the past few years, Techfest has received consistent
participation from the Asia-Pacific region with entries from Singapore,
the United States, Canada, Iran, United Arab Emirates, and European
countries.
In 2008, Techfest conducted the robotics competition “iNexus” in
various centers outside India. It also conducted a leg of the
international competition “Arthrobot” in Denmark, Dubai and Sri Lanka.
Winners from these local competitions were flown in to Techfest 2009
for a grand finale.
