Robotics Association Of Nepal(RAN) started Yantra as a national robotics competition to gather up people interested in tech and robot making and engaging them for improving the state of robotics in Nepal. The winners of Yantra were sent to Indian Institute of Technology for participating in International Robotics Competition. Yantra 5.0 is also organized for the same purpose but with an additional motive of including non-techies like artists, doctors, educators, engineers, and students in the robotic revolution.
Yantra 5.0 is organizing several events for a week starting from November 30(today) which includes the Robotic Competition, Creative Computation, Art-Tech Exhibition, etc.
The mission is to create platform that aims to encourage interdisciplinary cross-pollination among the creative and technical fields with a focus on learning and exchange. Each Edition of Yantra features Robotics competitions, workshops, art-tech exhibition and other multidisciplinary programs. Theme of the Yantra 5.0 is “Agro-Innovation”.
Yantra 5.0 is specifically focused on integrating the Robotics tech into agriculture for easing the work of Nepali farmers. Hence, Yantra 5.0 with the theme Agro-Innovation is organizing International Robotics Competitions for tech enthusiast, Creative Computing for transferring the skill of coding, creating and computing to artists, doctors, and bankers. There’s also the Art-tech exhibition to explore the work of artists and engineers, Paper Presentation review development of the existing products and Yantra Learning Software competition for a software developer. Yantra is also hosting a Yantra Incubation to encourage, curate and mentor the innovation into a viable business focused on Agriculture and Yantra Kids for pushing young ones into tech and robotics. Here’s what’s gonna happen in these events as RAN attempts to grow the maker culture in Nepal.
International Robotics Competition
1.Krishak Copter
Krishak Copter is the main event of International Robotics competition. The main objective of the event is to design and develop a quadcopter that can spray pesticides in the field. The quadcopter is meant to ease farmers of Nepal, thus is named Krishak copter.
2.Yantra Racer
In Yantra Racer, participants with age no more than 20 compete to showcase basic robotics knowledge. Participants have to build an automatic white line tracking robot later to be controlled manually through an app and race their respective innovation for winning. The robot should travel on a race track with slopes and obstacles to win the race.
3.Yantra Akhada
In Yantra Akhada, robots have to push each other out of the game arena to win, much like the traditional sumo wrestling. There’s a Manual Akhada for robots controlled by the participants and an Automatic Akhada where two autonomous robots have to push each other out of the arena.
Art and Tech Exhibition
Art and Tech Exhibition aims to create a collaboration of engineers and artists to assist disabled farmers by creating works that enhance their livelihood and income.
Paper Presentation
Many scholars are researching in the field of robotics and electronics automation all around the world. There are many efficient machines and robots that are yet to be implemented in industrial devices. This event is focused on encouraging such researchers and scholars working in agriculture to share their research with potential investors and entrepreneurs.
Yantra Learning
Yantra Learning is one of the new program added this year under the umbrella of Yantra for Agricultural disaster response. Yantra Learning is a software competition for programmers to develop software projects that can make the devices learn from its environment by analyzing data and patterns to take decisions . In Yantra, Learning programmers have to develop algorithms to predict and alert about probable natural disasters to save farmers from any climatic damage.
Creative Computing
Computing and robotics have been in reach of techies and engineers only for too long, though it can be used in other sectors. Creative computing enables professionals from fields other than tech to utilize the benefits of automation and robotics in their respective expertise. Artists, doctors, bankers and entrepreneurs all can benefit from this approach and make technology accessible to people in general. Professional educators and makers would be conducting this session to encourage artists, doctors, and bankers to use technology for the effective execution of the tasks they are performing to explore the impact of technology in their day to day activities.
Yantra Kids
Yantra is also set to organize Yantra Kids for involving children in the tech sector by conducting workshops and challenges. Children will participate in design challenges after going through a series of workshops and training on topics like design thinking, prototyping, tinkering with knowledge of basic electronics and coding.
Yantra Incubation
Yantra is organizing competitions for robot makers and rewarding them with cash prizes for some time now. Though, there has not been any path for such winners to use their expertise until now. This time, Yantra is organizing the Yantra Incubation to give a chance to the competition winners for working on solutions to the native problems in agriculture.
“The focus area would be the identification of the feasible solution to the existing Agro- problem, developing a prototype, business model development and market analysis, mass product development and a tech start-up. At least 3 projects will go through Yantra Incubation for next 12 months.”
For more information on Yantra 5.0, click here.
