SLIIT’s ‘ROBOFEST 2017’fosters Innovation through Robotics Exploration
The Department of Electrical and Computer Engineering, Faculty of Engineering at SLIIT, organised another successful edition of its exciting annual robotic competition ‘ROBOFEST 2017’ recently.
Held for the 8th consecutive time, this year’s ROBOFEST took place from 4th-8th September 2017 at the Main Auditorium of SLIIT, Malabe. As in previous years the competition had three categories – school, undergraduate and open. Demonstrating an overwhelming response towards the competition, the event featured the participation of over 500 school students, 300 university students and 15 open participants.
“As a premier degree awarding institute we are elated that SLIIT has once again showcased its reputation of being in the forefront of organising this popular annual event. We witnessed brilliant young minds in action throughout ROBOFEST 2017 and are proud to inspire students with a competitive advantage who will lead tomorrow’s workplaces,” said Professor Lalith Gamage, Vice Chancellor/CEO, SLIIT.
ROBOFEST provides an opportunity for school and university students to demonstrate their practical knowledge by designing a robot which has the ability to perform a given task. The teams whose robots perform the best are awarded cash prizes, valuable tro- phies and certificates.
At ROBOFEST 2017, the Gold Winner of the school category was Kuliyapitiya Central College who received a trophy and cash prize of Rs 60,000. The Silver and Bronze awards were presented to two teams from Maliyadewa Adarsha Maha Vidyalaya who received valuable trophies and cash awards of Rs 35,000 and Rs 20,000 respectively.
Participants in the school category were tasked with designing and implementing a mobile robot capable of navigating along a playing field following lines.
The winner in the undergraduate category was International College of Business and Technology who received a trophy and cash prize of Rs 80,000. Two teams from University College of Anuradhapura were adjudged the 1st Runner-Up and 2nd Runner-Up and received trophies and cash prizes of Rs 50,000 and Rs 30,000 respectively.
Robots designed by Undergraduate teams had to perform picking and placing boxes after navigating through a tunnel of a specified size. Additionally, teams selected for the final round had to ensure their robots sorted boxes according to colours (red, green and blue).
The primary aim of the ROBOFEST competition is toenhance the talents of school and university students countrywide in robotic design, develop their teamwork abilities and interaction with participants, sharing knowledge and building strong bonds of friendship.
The competition also serves as an ideal platform to promote the application of problem solving skills and hone modules taught in undergraduate studies, such as Embedded Systems, Digital and Analog Electronics, Control Systems, Robotics and Software Engineering.
Prior to the competition, workshops were held for school students at chosen locations countrywide helping them gain exposure in robotics and technology.
The sponsors of ROBOFEST 2017 was Adelaide University Australia, Orel Corporation, DBG Company, scion electronics and SLT.
As a premier degree awarding institute we are elated that SLIIT has once again showcased its reputation of being in the forefront of organising this popular annual event. We witnessed brilliant young minds in action throughout ROBOFEST 2017 and are proud to inspire students with a competitive advantage who will lead tomorrow’s workplaces