makes robot programming child’s play

Mumbai Robots are exciting, but complicated as well for their technology. However, if a group of enterprising engineers from the Indian Institute of Technology-Bombay (IITB) are to be believed, then designing and building robots will, literally, be a child’s play.
Robo.in, an IITB alumnus venture, and the institute’s students have jointly developed a new language called ‘CiMPLE’, which makes concepts of robot programming much easier for children. Now, children as young as school-going can build their robot and programme it themselves.

“CiMPLE is a C based robot instruction language developed by Robo.in to enable kids to make autonomous robot behaviours. Using this language, kids can learn about the nuances of logic building, programming practices as well as different problem-solving approaches. CiMPLE is ideal for kids who have just taken their first steps in programming,” explained Nipun Katyal, fourth year IITB student who works with Robo.in. Besides, the program is designed in a way that will help students correct errors in their program when the robot malfunctions, Katyal said.

Robo.in, a part of ThinkLABS — a company founded by IITB alumni — aims at introducing robotics to the very roots of education system. It has been conducting workshops at various schools across India, giving students hands-on training, and teaching them fundamentals of programming. “Unlike in Indian schools, the curriculum in many schools abroad comprises robot programming languages C, C++ and Java as mandatory subjects. We have tried to develop a robotics workshop that will enable us to teach the students in a fun way,” said Varun Jhawar, another IITB student who is also a part of Robo.in.

Apart from CiMPLE, Robo.in has also developed the Visual Graphics language that acquaints students with programming and logic development using simple drag-and-drop based graphical user interface.

The Robo.in robotics workshops will be held every week in April, May and June. Students desirous of participating in the workshop may log on to www.robo.in.

Now, a robot for Rs. 15k: Courtesy Indian Engineer

Bangalore: An Indian engineering graduate, Pulkit Gaur, has developed a robot that can go underwater and clean water or chemical tanks. This project is developed by Gridbots, an entrepreneurial venture by Gaur, this low-cost robot will remove any sludge particles in water. "This compact machine has tracks fitted for movement. It has a drive system on the front side to which a brush mechanism is attached to scratch dirt from the tank walls. We are also considering using a filter," said Gaur to Bangalore Mirror.

This robot is available for consumers as well. This robot is available at Rs. 15,000 to Rs. 20,000, and is a consumer version of SaUsR, the robot that is already in use in medicine industries. These robots are targeted at those who make medicines. They employ them to prevent sludge formation in tanks. "SaUsR carries out underwater operations with ease and lets you use this robot as a sophisticated underwater cleaning unit. It has on-board intelligent electronics that lets it navigate in fully-autonomous mode. With a high resolution on-board camera having pan-tilt capabilities, it can spot even minutest details of your water/chemical tank," said Gaur.

Gaur is a production and industrial engineer from MBM Engineering College in Jodhpur. He graduated in 2004 and since then has been pursuing his childhood passion. "I have been working on these robots since school days. Earlier, it was all about taking part in competitions. I soon realized robotics was in its nascent stage, and a lot can be built on it," he said. His resume goes up to 17 pages and was appreciated by former President A P J Abdul Kalam for his efforts.

Gridbots was a start-up that took shape through his passion for robotics. "I wanted to start a venture that would come up with innovative products that run on intelligence. I wanted to do something more than the assembly of robots. It had to be a multi-purpose product for my client," he said. Gridbots started two years ago in Ahmedabad and presently employs 15 people. It plans to recruit 35 more by this year-end.

Gaur already has many plans chalked out for his company. "We are working on developing defence robots, and also a surveillance robot that can be controlled via mobile or the Internet," he added. Few of his other creations include an image- understanding technology and a consumer robot that does household chores.

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