The best work is work that is fun! You enjoy your hobby, so why not take those great ideas, a little determination and turn your hobby into a career. I used to play battle game with own made archery that show up in hobby of working with machines, the more powerful a lead these things provided in steering me to meaningful professional and career choice as mechanical engineering. Choosing a hobby as career, besides outstanding academic achievements i also got opportunity to represent my nation in the international arena amidst other nation in the very start of my career. Asia- Pacific Robot Contest-or as it is more popularly refereed to, the ABU Robocon- was the very first international exposure to my career.
For those living in Kathmandu, such mechanical innovations might seem even more incongruous given our contrasting surroundings, which is why most of us will find it hard to believe that there exist groups of young Nepali undergraduates who toil every year to compete in an international robot competition. If that wasn’t surprising enough, they’ve also, till date, always been counted among-st the best teams from South Asia. In fact, the Nepali team has even fared better in the Asia-Pacific Robot Contest, or as it is more popularly referred to—the ABU Robocon—than India, a country noted for the stellar quality of its technical universities and the prowess its graduates have displayed in the field over the years.
A select, voluntary group of students in their third and fourth years of Bachelor in Engineering Studies at the Pulchowk Engineering Campus—most from the mechanical and electronics engineering departments—have been participating in the ABU Robocon every year since the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) first introduced the contest in 2002. As a non-profit, professional association of broadcasting organisations that aims to aid the development of broadcasting in the Asia-Pacific region and promote the collective interests of its members, the ABU’s involvement in the robotics competition is as much a cultural celebration as it is a technical one.Every year the organizers select a theme that is culturally significant, and unique to the country that’s hosting the Robocon. The contest itself is nothing short of a “world cup for robot and technology enthusiasts” from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
In the year 2012 bout was set to take place in the glittering city of Hong Kong, and the robots that participated were expected to complete a number of allocated tasks, including travelling through simulated tunnels and bridges, locating a ‘bun tower’ and snatching as many of these ‘buns’ as possible. As a city made up of some 200 or so small-sized islands, Hong Kong’s landscape is marked by a profusion of bridges and tunnels. So, the ‘landscape’ the participating robots will have to man-oeuvre through during the contest—set to took place on August 19—was a reflection of the city’s unique metropolitan feature. It is interesting to note that these robots was being taking part in a tradition that the people of Hong Kong’s tiny island of Cheung Chau have been practicing for the past 100 years. The Cheung Chau Bun Festival is an annual affair in which three giant 60-foot bamboo towers, referred to as the ‘Bun Mountains,’ must be stripped of their buns. This was traditionally achieved by young men clambering on top of the towers, but rules have evolved over the years, and these days, only one person is designated to climb each tower.
The practice is believed to bring good fortune to the families of those who manage to strip off the buns placed highest on the towers, and perhaps this is where Robocon 2012 derives its slogan: ‘In Pursuit of Peace and Prosperity.’ The Nepali team set a goal to succeeds in putting up a good show at the festival, that will mean a lot for this group of self-motivated students who have been working, oftentimes without even going home to sleep, purely for the joy of creating, reveling in the bit-by-bit progression of a machine which has come about through their collective ideas and efforts.
There is nothing glitzy, or even the least bit glamorous about the one-storied building from which the Pulchowk Engineering Campus’ Robotics Club operates. In fact, the brick and concrete structure is rather garage-like; a small group of young men—their hair disheveled and their shirt sleeves rolled up—tinker on an assortment of greasy, noisy machines. Yet, they work wholeheartedly—there is no easy way around this—for in it they find a practical outlet for all that they’ve learnt in their three or four years of college, as well as outside of it. Having thus synthesized their minds and energies into one specific end, to get to compete with others with similar inclinations and interests on an international platform is an incredible opportunity for the team. Robocon gives the students at Pulchowk a “creative platform”, one that helps advance their steps forward in the ever-intriguing field of technology.
Perhaps it is the odd Hollywood movie—the kind the
industry churns out every once in a while—that has wrought in our minds visions
of mechanical wonders and futuristic worlds often too fantastic to be true.
Whimsically constructed machines are shown maneuvering in clearly
implausible environs, and these images that pop culture has to offer are
largely figments of people’s imagination, yet to be released.
For those living in Kathmandu, such mechanical innovations might seem even more incongruous given our contrasting surroundings, which is why most of us will find it hard to believe that there exist groups of young Nepali undergraduates who toil every year to compete in an international robot competition. If that wasn’t surprising enough, they’ve also, till date, always been counted among-st the best teams from South Asia. In fact, the Nepali team has even fared better in the Asia-Pacific Robot Contest, or as it is more popularly referred to—the ABU Robocon—than India, a country noted for the stellar quality of its technical universities and the prowess its graduates have displayed in the field over the years.
A select, voluntary group of students in their third and fourth years of Bachelor in Engineering Studies at the Pulchowk Engineering Campus—most from the mechanical and electronics engineering departments—have been participating in the ABU Robocon every year since the Asia-Pacific Broadcasting Union (ABU) first introduced the contest in 2002. As a non-profit, professional association of broadcasting organisations that aims to aid the development of broadcasting in the Asia-Pacific region and promote the collective interests of its members, the ABU’s involvement in the robotics competition is as much a cultural celebration as it is a technical one.Every year the organizers select a theme that is culturally significant, and unique to the country that’s hosting the Robocon. The contest itself is nothing short of a “world cup for robot and technology enthusiasts” from the Asia-Pacific region and beyond.
In the year 2012 bout was set to take place in the glittering city of Hong Kong, and the robots that participated were expected to complete a number of allocated tasks, including travelling through simulated tunnels and bridges, locating a ‘bun tower’ and snatching as many of these ‘buns’ as possible. As a city made up of some 200 or so small-sized islands, Hong Kong’s landscape is marked by a profusion of bridges and tunnels. So, the ‘landscape’ the participating robots will have to man-oeuvre through during the contest—set to took place on August 19—was a reflection of the city’s unique metropolitan feature. It is interesting to note that these robots was being taking part in a tradition that the people of Hong Kong’s tiny island of Cheung Chau have been practicing for the past 100 years. The Cheung Chau Bun Festival is an annual affair in which three giant 60-foot bamboo towers, referred to as the ‘Bun Mountains,’ must be stripped of their buns. This was traditionally achieved by young men clambering on top of the towers, but rules have evolved over the years, and these days, only one person is designated to climb each tower.
The practice is believed to bring good fortune to the families of those who manage to strip off the buns placed highest on the towers, and perhaps this is where Robocon 2012 derives its slogan: ‘In Pursuit of Peace and Prosperity.’ The Nepali team set a goal to succeeds in putting up a good show at the festival, that will mean a lot for this group of self-motivated students who have been working, oftentimes without even going home to sleep, purely for the joy of creating, reveling in the bit-by-bit progression of a machine which has come about through their collective ideas and efforts.
There is nothing glitzy, or even the least bit glamorous about the one-storied building from which the Pulchowk Engineering Campus’ Robotics Club operates. In fact, the brick and concrete structure is rather garage-like; a small group of young men—their hair disheveled and their shirt sleeves rolled up—tinker on an assortment of greasy, noisy machines. Yet, they work wholeheartedly—there is no easy way around this—for in it they find a practical outlet for all that they’ve learnt in their three or four years of college, as well as outside of it. Having thus synthesized their minds and energies into one specific end, to get to compete with others with similar inclinations and interests on an international platform is an incredible opportunity for the team. Robocon gives the students at Pulchowk a “creative platform”, one that helps advance their steps forward in the ever-intriguing field of technology.
Ref: Article on The Kathmandu Post in title Battle of Machines Jul 27, 2012
