Putting their robotics skills to the test
Nishangan
Rangana Pieris, a student of St Joseph’s College, Bandarawela is passionate about the subject of electronics and programming. But sadly, the limited opportunities and resources available in his area hampers this young robotics enthusiast from following his passion. “I find it really hard to find the necessary parts and gadgets from the shops in my area. Most of the time shop owners have no clue about what we ask for. Students in our area do not get competitions like these to take part in,” he says.
The Mirror Magazine met up with Rangana at the School Challenge of the Sri Lanka Robotics Challenge 2014 (SLRC) organised by the Electronics Club of the University of Moratuwa which concluded recently. Thirty schools island wide participated at the school challenge. Organised for the third consecutive year, the Robotics Challenge facilitates many tech savvy youth across the country to come onboard on a common forum, to put to test their knowledge in the field of robotics and industrial automation.
Pradeep Sanjeewa
The competition was held under three categories, participants representing schools, universities and different industries faced three separate challenges to compete with each other. “The event is an advancement of the knowledge and experience I already possess. This is a new challenge, lot of new thinking is required before adapting new methods,” says Rangana participating at the challenge from the school category.
He was joined by P. Nishangan from the Jaffna Hindu College, who is participating at the SLRC for the first time. Nishangan who is hopeful of gaining university entrance to pursue his higher education in robotics and electronics was of the view that the event was a great opportunity for students like him with little exposure back. Although Nishangan was unable to succeed in performing the mission at the competition, he says the participation alone made him learn a great deal from basic knowledge to opportunities available in the field which he believes would open new avenues in the future.
Rangana
Meanwhile, Tanya Pathirage of Sirimavo Balika Vidyalaya says the subject of electronics is taught in school but not robotics and the three month workshop held prior to the competition helped gain an insight into this area. In the run up to the competition, school students participated at a seminar to impart knowledge in relation to basic functions and concepts such as line following, object grabbing etc. “The competition tests the student’s ability to apply basic functions to the practical task,” says President of the Electronics Club, Pradeep Sanjeewa. The objective of the university category, titled ‘Island Thunder’ was somewhat different to that of the former, he explains adding that students facing this challenge are given a tough task to perform as the particular event will select a participant who will go on for the annual International Robotics Challenge in Mumbai.
Tanya
“As the university challenge gives the local university students the chance to represent Sri Lanka at the international level and gain exposure, this category becomes the most sought after event in the Robotics Challenge,” he says. The focus of the industry challenge titled ‘Desert Siege’ is to find solutions to real life problems, he explains. For example, participants of this category had been given an actual problem in the apparel industry to find an innovative solution using their robotic knowledge.
The best innovative solution in the industrial category was presented with the Brandix Innovative Award, a cash prize, and the opportunity to implement the solution at Brandix, and employment opportunity after graduation. The Sri Lanka Robotics Challenge 2014 was sponsored by Brandix Lanka Ltd.
