The competition, that will be held at Shiv Chhatrapati Sports City in Balewadi from March 6 to 8, is based on the theme ‘Travel together for the victory drums’ based on Kago, a traditional Japanese palanquin used to carry human beings- similar to the Indian palkhi.

Students are required to design three robots –two automatic and one manual. The palanquin will be carried by one automatic and one manual robot, while the second automatic robot will travel in the palanquin and later beat the three victory drums at the end of the task. The real challenge of the competition is that robots will have to pass through elevated structures and a zig-zag tack to reach the victory drum.

The winning team will have to complete the task in three minutes and will get to represent India in ABU Asia Pacific ROBOCON to be held in Tokyo, Japan from August 20 to 24. The team will also get robot construction subsidy of US $ 1000 and packing cost US $ 400 for the international competition that will be aired live by Doordarshan Indian on DD-Sahyadri and DD-Sports.

Milind Pande, chairman of organising committee of ROBOCON said while it is a common practice for industries to use robots, it need of the hour is to develop new types of robot in niche fields as care for the elderly and the physically disabled, disaster management and others. “This competition will help students design robots from this new perspective and meet the rising demands of the industry. T he ABU ROBOCON 2009 Tokyo has been conceived of as a step towards the goal of close cooperation between manual (or directly human-controlled) and automatic robots,” he said.