Geek Speak: Hariharan

Terms like “Electronics enthusiasts” and “Robotics hobbyists” are becoming commonplace today. With the availability of low cost electronic components and engaging online content which helps them learn the various tricks and trades of robotics, more and more students are entering the hitherto unchartered areas of robotics and electronics, while they are still high schoolers. Nowhere is this change more pronounced than at Kidobotikz where you can find every other 8th grader turning the screws on a robot they developed from scratch. The ones not doing the same are probably doing an interesting project using IoT. 

The result is an ever growing pool of Kidobotikzians who develop wonderful working models and robots, not to mention the accolades these people receive after developing concepts like the AgriBot and the SwachhBot. With us today is a robotics pro whose demeanor and way of talking exude confidence in every which way. He’s only in class 8 but has a way of answering questions that surely will make people think twice if they were talking to someone of age 14. Meet Hariharan, a proud Kidobotikzian and a robotics pro who is our geek for the day

Hey Hariharan! Can you introduce yourself to our readers?

Hi everyone! I’m Hariharan of class 8 at Chinmaya Vidyalaya. Here at Kidobotikz I have completed the expert level. I am awaiting the graduation day. 

Being an early student of Kidobotikz, can you describe your journey with Kidobotikz till now? 

I joined Kidobotikz a couple of years ago. Back then, before joining Kidobotikz, I was quite interested in the concept of robotics. I was interested in the working principle behind things and so on. Seeing my curiosity, my mother enquired around to see if she could put my curiosity to good use. Upon being suggested by many about a new institute called Kidobotikz, she came here to find out more about what was taught. She found the Kidobotikz model interesting and got me enrolled here.

My case was altogether different though. I was under the assumption that Kidobotikz was going to teach us about some basics electronics and electrical concepts that was not too different from what I was gonna learn in school. So, I had an initial indifference towards the course. But only after sometime did I realize about the seriousness and the significance of what was being taught here. And here I am today after completing the expert level and awaiting my graduation. 

Interesting. So, how do you think robotics has changed you?

Robotics has had a profound impact on me. I see things differently now, I imagine about things in a technical manner. I’ve been part of some amazing projects and built cool stuff. To me all this is quite amazing. More importantly, it has empowered me as a student.

How do your parents feel about you? And what does everyone at school think about your roboting skills?

My mom was the person responsible for me joining Kidobotikz. And with Dad, it’s been a healthy competition because I tell him jokingly that I can code in more languages than him. That could not have happened if I was not at Kidobotikz.

Sadly, at school they are not as appreciative of the robotics learning as one would expect. My friends are not on the same page as me as far as robotics is concerned. Maybe, they’ll be on board once they get a little older. 

Can you tell a bit about the cute robot that you had built as a part of the Kolu celebrations here at Kidobotikz?

Actually, I had built the bot for my Expert level Creative test. The timing happened to coincide with Navaratri and that is a happy coincidence. It is a Biped, as in, it can walk on two legs. It has sensors in the front that help it sense the surroundings. 

Are there any favourite robots of yours?

My favourite robot has to be the Line tracer robot. But I have no bias towards other robots. It’s just that line tracer robots appeal to me more.

I would like to know what your future plans are? 

I have no plans yet. I am looking to take things one at a time.

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Intel unveils its own commercial drone, the Falcon 8+

Intel is slapping its name on an advanced drone designed for commercial and professional uses in North America. The Falcon 8+ is the first Intel-branded commercial drone and it's outfitted for industrial inspection, surveying and mapping.

Intel's expert-level drone builds on the AscTec Falcon 8 drone, a V-form octocopter that boasts high stability, precision GPS and flight control electronics and components that are redundant three times over, as well as laying claim to the best weight-to-payload ratio around (empty weight 1.1 kg, max. payload 0.8 kg). This is basically a working drone designed for some of the most intense field applications.

The two companies had already used the Falcon 8 to create a custom drone for Boeing modified with Intel's RealSense cameras. We've also seen Intel make a concerted push into the drone world lately with a drone specifically for developers and another that makes use of the company's 3D-mapping technology for collision avoidance.

The Falcon 8+ builds on the Falcon 8 further by adding Intel's advanced, water-resistant ground Cockpit system for control and an Intel PowerPack to keep it flying.

At the center of the Cockpit is an Intel chipset-powered tablet for planning and conducting complex flight patterns as well as monitoring the live video feed via a low latency digital link up to 1080p resolution with a 1 km range. Flight control can also be managed with a single hand joystick.

The Falcon 8+ comes loaded with on-board sensors that can map surfaces down to the millimeter, which the company says allows for routes to be replicated with a high degree of accuracy.

The whole UAV is arranged in a V-form measuring 768 x 817 x 160 mm with a take off weight of 2.8 kg (6 pounds) when loaded with a camera and gimbal capable of transmitting up to 1080p HD video.

Intel announced the Falcon 8+ at the InterGeo drone conference in Germany and it hasn't yet been approved by the Federal Communications Communications for sale or use in the United States. No word from Intel on how soon that could be or what pricing will look like.

Sources: New Atlas, Intel, AscTec

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BMW Motorrad's futuristic motorcycle concept keeps the rider in control

The BMW Group celebrating its centenary this year unveiled its latest vision of the motoring future in Los Angeles. The BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100 is a concept motorcycle that keeps the rider in control in an autonomous world.

Edgar Heinrich, Head of Design at BMW Motorrad, describes a motorcycle as a "Great Escape" from the mundane world. This Steve McQueen vision is apparently at the heart of the Vision Next 100's design. Added to that are several futuristic ideas about where motoring will be, in general, in 100 years and how those changes will affect motorcycles and those who ride them.

Unsurprisingly, safety concerns are first and foremost in the design. Illustrating this, BMW says no protective clothing, not even a helmet, is required by the rider as assistive systems will keep them safe. Chief among these is a self-balancing mechanism that keeps the bike upright, even when parked, but allows for riding angles suited to the skill level of the rider, tilting into turns and leaning fore and aft when braking or accelerating just as a motorcycle of today would, but without the risk of laying the bike down.

The BMW Group's futurists see a world in which self-driving cars are the norm, but the Motorrad concept keeps the rider in control. To help in this regard, special rider's gear has been designed to form a Digital Companion that supports the rider with situational information when required. This information is relayed via glasses, called the Visor, worn by the rider, called the Visor. Content is triggered by the rider's eyes which, when looking up or down, cause it to display different content. Looking straight ahead clears the display so the rider can concentrate on the experience of riding. The exception being when alerts are required.

The rider would also wear the Vision Next 100's companion suit, which is tuned to provide thermal support by adjusting to provide ventilation or heat. The suit's external design is inspired by the musculature of the human body and bands in the suit can be adjusted by both rider preference and posture to allow for added or loosened support as needed. Riding speeds also adjust the suit, with higher speeds adding support to the upper vertebrae, for example.

The bike itself is designed to evoke nostalgic thoughts of BMW two-wheelers of the past, with a boxer-style engine cover in a naked bike style with outward-facing handle joints as homage to BMW's of days gone by. The black frame triangle is designed to be reminiscent of the very first BMW Motorrad motorcycle, the R32, built in 1923. Although the engine cover appears to be over a boxer-style engine, in reality it's a zero-emissions powertrain. The polished aluminum finish of the engine covers is dynamic, moving outward during use to add aerodynamics around the rider's legs, and sucking in when the bike is at rest for a slim, clean profile.

That engine cover is part of the overall Motorrad Vision Next 100's Flexframe structure. This is a futuristic, flexible construct that allows the entire one-piece frame to give a full-body steer for the motorcycle. Turning the handlebars to steer the bike bends the frame rather than just the front wheel. The amount of force required for the rider to create a turn is adjusted according to the Motorrad Vision's speed - the higher the speed, the more force that is required to make a turn. This is intended to prevent over-steer and corrections.

Integrated into that futuristic frame are the riding lights. A U-shaped element at front is the daytime running light and wind deflector in one piece. The integrated windshield protects the rider at speed and also acts as a heads-up display of information, as needed. Two red, illuminated strips beneath the seat shell are the rear lights and indicators in one piece, made to be reminiscent of Motorrad bikes of today.

A look at the BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100 shows that there are few joints and no visible bolts, screws, springs, or shocks. Damping is controlled by the tires, which feature a futuristic "variable tread" that actively adjusts to maximize grip and minimize impacts.

The BMW Motorrad design team sees a future world in which digital elements are more common than are analog. In that respect, most aspects of human life are about virtual control and allowing robotic machines to do the mundane tasks of everyday living. In that world, a motorcycle that allows the rider to be in control would become a Great Escape.

The BMW Motorrad Vision Next 100 is on display in Los Angeles at the Iconic Impulses: BMW Group Future Experience exhibition until the 16th of October.

Source: New Atlas, BMW

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From Online imagery to Door Step delivery, here's how robots are transforming Retail Logistics !

As economies grow and societies experience increase in demand for faster order fulfillments and accuracy in supply chain processes, there is an increasing pressure on manufacturers and supply chain management providers to come up with a way to meet consumer demands. While the demand for such orders should automatically translate to increase in workforce productivity, the transition has been anything but smooth. With the increasing costs in labour, players across the the retail logistics industry have found it hard to meet the demand.

Luckily, thanks to the advent of robotics and autonomy, some innovations have taken over the drudgery involved in logistics and supplemented the efforts of the human labour force. Also, the future in the logistics industry looks quite promising with a lot more innovations on the way that can fundamentally change the way the industry operates by bringing in efficiency and high technology.

Let’s see a few use cases where robotics have changed or can change the way logistics industry operates.

Use Case #1: Warehouse management using robots

 If you are looking at the above image and are wondering what is, here’s some interesting tidbit for you. The above image is of Amazon’s Kiva robots. Kiva robots, a product of Amazon Robotics, is a revolution in the logistics and warehousing industry. Ever since introduction at Amazon’s logistics and warehousing facilities, Kiva has transformed the way products are hand-picked and shipped from the storage. It is an autonomous heavy duty robot which lifts crates of products and brings it directly to the hands of the packaging personnel who then ship the product to the consumer. This is a revolutionary technology that has changed the world of warehouse management. 

Use Case #2: Automation of Order picking

Order picking operation is a major process in logistic warehouses. Involving the activities of taking and collecting articles in a specified quantity before shipment, it has an important influence on supply chain's productivity. This process, which has been manual until now has seen some robotic entrants who could potentially disrupt the process. Amazon, which kicked off its inaugural Picking Challenge last year, has encouraged teams around the world to create robots able to perform the task of an Amazon stock picker. This year the competition was expanded to include not only picking items from a shelf and placing them in a container, but the reverse as well – and a team from the Netherlands has claimed victories in both.

Use Case #3: Last-Mile Delivery

With the advent of the online retail giants, we as consumers have been exposed to the luxury of “Doorstep Delivery”. While it is a sweet deal for the consumers, for the service provider several pain-points exist- the most important being physical fatigue of the delivery boys. Interestingly, Mercedes Benz has had an interesting take on this problem. It has teamed up with drone company Matternet to create a concept vehicle dubbed the Vision Van which would deploy drones from its rooftop to carry packages over the final leg of their journey.

Read more here

These are just a few ways where robotics have the potential to eliminate the human element. This would usher in the era where consumer satisfaction and lean processes rule the roost and make processes efficient on count of being automated.

Happy Roboting ! !

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Induce some high tech features in your car with these cool projects

Do you feel that your family’s car is a little low tech tech compared to the swanky new one your neighbour purchased? Wanna surprise your dad with some new cool features when he turns on the car?

How about retrofitting a few new features to your car to make it feel like a car that was built for the second half of the 21st Century?

Well, of the top of the mind, the easy way would be to innovate some cool new projects that pull off a smart statement every time someone boards the car.

Do you have your Kidobotikz kits,? Then it can be done easy peasy! 

Following are three fun “Kit-creatives” that you can make using your foundation and beginner level kits. 

1) Intelligent Parking Assistant System - F+B

How often do you feel the need for assistance in parking your car? This project will help you park your car without the need for requesting assistance from your apartment’s watchmen to monitor the blind spot while parking! Create a circuit to assist you in parking your car properly without collision. To try and test this circuit, all you would require is the beginner level Bluetooth controlled robot and a sensor. When the sensor senses some hindrance, it sets the buzzer abuzz. It can also help detect intruders in Parking Lot.

Find out how to do it over here: Intelligent Parking Assistant System

2) Automatic Headlight System - F+B

This is a feature that is not present in even the current generation. But, it would be awfully convenient if the headlight of our car or two wheeler turned on by themselves. And it would also be in the interests of the battery life if the lights turned themselves off in the mornings. This project should help us automate it in such a way that you can forget to flip the ON and OFF button on your vehicle. 

Find out how to do it over here: Automatic Headlight System

 

3) Automatic Indicator System - F+B

Must be tiresome to sway your arms while creating turns .Wouldn’t it be cool if you could automate the process of being able to turn on your vehicle indicators as you made the turn. This project could help you do that. All you would require is a few components of your Beginner and Foundation level kits.

Find out how to do it over here: Automatic Indicator System

Pull off these projects and make your dad proud of you!

Happy Roboting ! !

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Indian ROV monitors the health of coral reefs

Scuba divers who take a plunge into ocean floors to study coral reefs can now take a break. An indigenously developed remotely operated vehicle (ROV) is taking up their role with more efficiency and accuracy and it’s expected to contribute significantly to the conservation and management of corals.

The National Institute of Ocean Technology (NIOT), Chennai, had recently deployed the ROV for studying the coral reefs of the Andaman and Nicobar Islands, which are facing survival threats due to global warming.

While it would take weeks together for a scuba diver to diagnose the health of corals, the ROV could map a larger area in a day.

“The images of corals recorded by the ROV are useful for studying the biodiversity of coral reefs and their evolution. The underwater visuals had shown the coral debris and boulders caused by the 2004 tsunami and the rejuvenation of the colonies of branching corals, stony coral and brain corals at some locations,” explained G.A. Ramadass, Head, Deep Sea Technologies Group, NIOT.

The coral reef biodiversity at Andaman region, which spreads across an area of 11,000 sq km, was seriously affected during the 2004 tsunami. The increasing sea surface temperature added to the stress. Currently, there is no mechanism other than scuba diving to examine the corals and assess the extent of damage or rejuvenation,” explained Dr. Ramadass.

According to the experts, no evidence of coral bleaching was seen in Andaman reef during April 2016 when the ROV carried out a survey. However, the ecosystem needs to be monitored constantly to understand the impacts of raise in temperature, he said.

Development of ROV

NIOT had earlier developed a deep water work class Remotely Operated Vehicle (ROV) ROSUB 6000 which was suitable for exploration in deep waters. It was successfully operated at a maximum depth at 5,289 metres in the Central Indian Ocean Basin. It also contributed to the exploration of deep ocean minerals such as gas hydrates, polymetallic nodules and hydrothermal sulphides, which occur at water depths ranging between 1,000 and 6,000 metres, said a communication from the institute.

A new miniaturised version of ROV, which could be effectively used for exploration and inspection up to 500-metre water depths, caters to the need of the research community and industry. It was also deployed for scientific research in Antarctica as a part of the 34th Indian Scientific Expedition to Antarctica during Jan-Apr 2015. It was deployed in the Lake Priyadarshini near the Indian permanent station Maitri and in the New Indian barrier ice shelf regions.

Source: The Hindu

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Geek Speak: Navaratri Special Edition

It’s the final day of Navratri and we couldn’t be more happier. Called the day of Vijayadasami, it signifies the day when good trounces evil. While there had no battle against evil here at Kidobotikz, there was one stiff competition underway though- the competition to get robots on the Kolu stairs. 

Upon announcement of the Kolu display at Kidobotikz, dozens of students visited the center and were eager to get their robots on display. Students spent the first half of their dusshera holidays developing their Kolu-themed projects. The next half was spent displaying these on the stands at Kidobotikz. Quite a few number of entries were received and owing to space constraints, a few of them had to be not displayed at the stands. We’ve picked a few of the projects that had turned quite a few heads and have featured them here.

1) Thirumalai Thirupathi Oonjal Sevai by A.V Sangeetha

The theme of this project is to emulate the traditional swing on which the deity at Tirupati is customarily placed upon as a part of the Brahmotsavam celebrations. This project, done by Kidobotikzian A.V Sangeetha, makes use of a couple of B.O motors, and an arduino board to induce an oscillatory motion in the motors. Suspended from the B.O Motors is the Oonjal.

2) Blessing Ganesh by A Shiekh and S. Sai Manivanan 

Using nothing but a starter shield and a BO motor, these young roboticists have created a Blessing Ganesh picture frame that has an automated trunk. Whenever, one takes their arm near the image, the trunk of Lord Ganesh will rise up and bless the devotee.

3) Automated Kumkum and Manjal offering by Mrithun Chockalingam 

This project is a rather neat looking one with a lot of functionality built into it. There’s an idol of Lord Ganesh in the middle with a small motor mounted umbrella behind him. In the front, the two small cups of kumkum and turmeric are placed on small plates. These are connected to two BO motors that are concealed below the boxes. The motors are connected to IR sensors. So, when someone brings their palms near to Lord ganesha to touch his feet, the sensors detect the palms and the small motors rotate the containers above.

4) Ranganatha being fanned by Balaji S.Rao 

To add some robotics to mythology, Balaji Rao came up with this concept. It depicts the image of how Lord Ranganatha is fanned while he rests upon a serpent in his holy abode. Balaji made a slow rotating fan with a torque motor that will look like someone is fanning the god. To achieve the same, he has used a custom made fan blade and connected it to a BO motor via a long stick. 

We wish all a very happy Navaratri and hope to see more such interesting projects next year.

Happy Roboting !

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