Updated on: Monday, July 26, 2010
An entry on the blogsite of AcYut read: “We saw dreams, lived them and conquered them… Won India’s First ever Gold Medal in ROBOGAMES 2010…with 2 silver and 1 bronze medal…’’ Yes, Samay Kohli, Sushma Vallabhaneni, Akash Gupta, Ankit Kulshrestha, Rohan Maheshwari, Tushar Agrawal and Vivek Notani, were all part of the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani team that designed AcYut 3, India’s first indigenously developed humanoid. Designed at the Centre for Robotics and Intelligent Systems, the robot has won several awards at international competitions.
Standing 92 cm tall, the AcYut 3 has gone around the world getting accolades along the way. At the IDEEN Expo in Hannover, Germany, AcYut not just showed off its Kung-Fu moves and dancing skills, but the team made a tele-operated remote for it which meant that any person could wear a specially designed body suit and AcYut would mimic the person’s actions exactly. The body suit is useful in hazardous situations where the robot can be sent to carry out dangerous task and be monitored from a safe distance.
Said Team Leader Akash Gupta, “In order to increase public awareness in robotics, the team will conduct various activities to introduce beginners to the realm of robotics and illustrate the practical application of robots, especially humanoids, in high-risk environments, outer space, medicine, defence and everyday life.” Team AcYut has been working on this project for the last four years under the guidance of Professor R K Mittal.