5 Indian students head for NASA Human Rover Exploration Challenge
NASA, here we come
By : DC Correspondent
Update: 2015-04-10 18:32 GMT
Mumbai: A team of five Engineering students from the city has been chosen to represent India (in addition to three teams from other parts of the country) at the NASA Human Exploration Rover Challenge. Team Technovators — as the four boys and one girl who are all students of the Mukesh Patel School of Technology Management, NMIMS, call themselves — are heading to the US’ Space and Rocket Centre in Hunstville, Alabama, on April 16 to be part of NASA’s prestigious global competition.
The Technovators have designed a human powered rover, which they say is “a cocktail of mechanical simplicity and electronic intelligence”. The rover, which weighs about 45 kg, has been shipped to the US already. The students will be accompanied by their mentor Prof. Sawankumar Naik. Incidentally, last year, the team from the institute bagged the Best System Safety Engineering Award during the Challenge. This year, however, the design of their machine is considerably different. Says Sourabh Saptarshi, the team leader of the Technovators, “This year’s design is completely different from previous ones.”
“Our main objective was to make the rover as light as possible, but at the same time, not compromise on the strength.” The team began gearing up for the Challenge since November 2014. “Being a part of the team representing India and Mumbai on an international platform is thrilling,” says Ishan Sonavane, another Technovator. “Since the organisers raised the level of difficulty for this year, we have made sure that our rover is capable of defeating all the obstacles thrown at her with ease.”
The students have been working on their design reports, getting the vehicle shipped, preparing for their assignment submissions and have also been constantly on their toes to prepare for D-day. Tarang Patel, the mechanical expert for the team, says support from parents and faculty members has been crucial during this time. “We’ve received constant support from our parents and professors. Our workshop is in Vasai; we travel from various parts of the city early in the morning to be here and reach home late in the night to find our parents waiting up for us. Seeing this support is overwhelming and our hopes of winning the competition rise a notch higher.”
Technovator Mit Vaidya has previously represented India at the Marine Advanced Technology Education (MATE) in California last year and knows just how tough the level of competition at these global events is. “I know the level of competition at such international encounters,” he asserts. “Since it’s a human powered rover, we will have to face difficult terrain conditions on a 2-km stretch; there will be mud, gravel, stones etc. The more we get down from the rover to stabilise it, our points will be deducted.”
Team Technovators are all set for their April 16 tryst at the US Space and Rocket Centre
But for now, just the sheer excitement of being chosen for the NASA Challenge is keeping the team enthused and fighting ready. “NASA is a big name… though these months have been really hectic for all of us, our friends, family and acquaintances are equally excited and the anticipation is very much witnessed all around us. I never thought I will represent India at NASA. It’s more than a dream,” says the telemetry head and the only girl in the team, Medha Jain.
Even as they keep their eyes firmly on the prize — the NASA Rover Challenge Neil Armstrong Best Design Award — the Technovators admit they’d love to squeeze in a little sightseeing as well. “A trip to the US without visiting Las Vegas would be incomplete,” says Tarang. “If we get the time we would definitely want to explore the country.”