Smart attempt

Students from RV College have made the nation and their families proud after bagging the first prize under the ‘Smart Machine’ category at the Delta Advanced Automation Design Contest. The fifth edition of the contest, held from  July 23 to July 26, had a cash prize worth 3000 Yuan and a trophy.

We chat with the students who participated in the contest to find out more about their experiences.  

Chetan Devendra Kabade, the head of the team, explaining the details of the competition and the group’s proposal, says, “The  competition is held every year. This time the 5th  Advanced Automation Contest was held in Pudong, China and witnessed 74 teams from various countries like Taiwan, Vietnam etc. “

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The competition was categorised under three themes namely, ‘smart machine’ , ‘smart robotics’ and ‘smart manufacturing’. There were many screening rounds within India and finally three teams from India, each representing one of the aforementioned themes were selected for the finals. Our team ‘Clone Tribe’ from RV College of Engineering had proposed a “smart 3D scan to print machine” and we secured first place under the theme ‘smart machine’.”

Beaming with pride, professor D Ranganath, the mentor, gives all credits for the victory to the students and their determination. He says, “The students have made us very proud. They came up with the idea themselves and worked very hard to achieve their goal. They would come to us for help when they needed it, but we didn’t constantly have to monitor them. The parents too were equally proud. They came to the airport, thrilled, to pick us up.”

A competition as such can be a great learning experience for the students. There is a lot one can take back and use for personal growth.

Harsha Kumbar, a student from the mechanical department, was in charge of designing the model.  Perplexed about the degree of innovation and completion, he says, “This was the first time I participated in an International competition. It was a great learning experience and I also got to meet people from across the globe. The models other students had made were equally good; they were ideas that we could implement and develop on. In the final round, among all the other models I found the 2D Food processing model very innovative. Every other model that was presented, had an idea that we would have brushed off if not for the amount of thought put into it.”

Taking part in an International Competition does not sound easy but this team seems to have aced it with perfection.

Geeta Anantrao Kulkarni, a student from the electronics and communication department, tells us that the experience was more of a challenge than being stressful. She says, “I was thrilled to be a part of the competition and never expected that we would win. After the selection process we only had 30-40 days to prepare the model but as a team, we divided the tasks and ensured that the project was submitted on time. During the final round, the one tricky part we faced was with regard to time management.

While all the other teams had half an hour for their presentation we only had 15 minutes; the other fifteen minutes was used by the translator. Nevertheless, the whole experience was overwhelming. I got to learn a little bit of Chinese too.”