Lessons with Robots

Updated on: Monday, January 17, 2011

As a first year student at IIT, Bombay, Gagan Goyal witnessed the first robotics competition of his life. That is when he realized the potential of such a competition in terms of inspiring students to think out-of-the-box and come up with innovative ideas.

This experience inspired Goyal to set up Think LABS Techno solutions Pvt Ltd in 2006, which aims to simplify complex concepts in science, technology and engineering through hands-on learning. He says, "In India, school-level science education needs a fillip, and we feel that robotics education and a national-level robotics championship would provide that boost.

TRICKS, the championship, provides a platform for young enthusiasts to think, ideate and come up with innovative solutions and look at science in a new way. It also offers students an opportunity to collaborate and work in teams and interact with students from other schools and cities." 'Go Green!' is the theme for junior school students (classes IV-VI ), where children will be posed with the problem of the city getting dirtier by the day. The idea will be to get children to start thinking of how a remote controlled robot can keep a city clean. For senior school students (classes VII-XII ), the theme is 'Drive safely!' As Goyal explains, "For a generation that starts driving young, it is critical to understand the importance of driving safely. Students will be asked to make robots that will follow traffic rules while navigating the city. The task for the robot will be to follow certain simulated traffic rules."

According to Goyal, when children brainstorm to find solutions to clean the environment, they also inspire their family and teachers to think about saving the environment.

The robots created during TRICKS will function in a simulated environment and will not be for industrial use. Two winners, one from each category will win a trip to NASA, Disneyland, Universal Studio, New York, Liberty Island and Washington DC.

As to the current state of robotics education in India and how it can be improved, Goyal says, "In India, there are approximately over 10,00,000 schools (including government and private) out of which more than 90,000 are private schools; unfortunately there are only about 100 of them that have been exposed to robotics education. The penetration is close to negligible. Robotics, as an educational tool is still in a concept stage. However, the Indian government is currently undertaking a lot of initiatives to promote science." The competition will be held in IIT-Bombay on January 23.

Times of India

Lessons with Robots

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