Nikhit Laxman and Shubham Singla

INDIA SCHOOL ROBOTICS CHAMPIONS Team Bangalore Mavericks ” comprising Nikhit Laxman (15) and Shubham Singla (14) ” was ranked #3 at the 15th World Robofest 2014 hosted by Lawrence Tech University (LTU) in South Field, Michigan, USA on May 17. The awards include an undergrad scholarship for LTU, plus gift vouchers and a trophy. This annual robotics competition ” open to class IX-XII students and conducted with the objective of generating the interest of teens in science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM) subjects ” is organised by LTU with the support of Bangalore-based robotics company Novatech Robo Pvt. Ltd. This year™s fest attracted participation of 20 teams from around the world, all of them national robotics champions in their own countries. This year’s Avoid Meltdown challenge required participants to design and construct a 35 cm x 35 cm robot equipped with navigation, grabbing and sensing capabilities. At the World Robofest 2014 finals, their robots were given the task of deactivating a nuclear reactor within a 120 seconds deadline. œWe designed and constructed our robot christened Maven over a period of five months starting October 2013. Maven won the Robofest India challenge round held in Bangalore on February 8. After winning the nationals, we further improved the design and capabilities of Maven. This enabled us to deactivate the simulated reactor in 110 seconds at the World Robofest in Michigan behind teams from USA and Korea, says Nikhit, a class IX student of Ebenezer International School, Bangalore. The young champions acquired competitive excellence by participating in several robotics design competitions during the past three years. First we won the Indian Robotics Olympiad 2012, followed by the First Lego League in 2013. These experiences helped us cope with competitive pressure, says Shubham, a class IX student of Bangalore’s Sri Chaitanya International School. The duo acknowledges the contribution of Jacob and Ranjith ” mentors from Novatech Robo. œWe could have never designed Maven without their help. Our school teachers too gave us lots of encouragement and support, says Shubham. Now back in school from Michigan, Team Mavericks is preparing for the Robo-Cup Soccer and WRO robotics championships in the years to come. My dream is to design robots for the benefit of humanity, says Nikhit. After completing Plus Two in 2017, Shubham  plans to study automobile engineering. Wind in your sails! Paromita Sengupta (Bangalore) Facebook Twitter LinkedIn WhatsApp