PAF-KIET team’s robot hacks its way to victory in national robotics competition

They have defeated 16 other teams at the Punjab Youth Festival 2012.

KARACHI: Hundreds of students crammed into Karachi Institute of Economics and Technology’s (PAF-KIET) cafeteria got a real treat as they watched Charlie Foxtrot, a robot built by the university’s students, take down its opponent.

The five-member team from PAF-KIET emerged victiorious in the “Robo Wars” competition after its creation rendered the opponent robot useless in under ten minutes.

The showdown was held on October 23 as a part of the Punjab Youth Festival 2012, during which robots created by 16 teams from prestigious universities across the country battled each other at Lahore’s Expo Centre.

During the contest, two custom-built, remote-controlled robots faced off in the battle arena, intent on destroying or disabling the other with their impressive arsenal.

The team from PAF-KIET, comprising final year students Muhammad Javed Sattar, Ismail Javed Siddique, Faizan Khursheed, Ali Meraj and Marjan Wasti, was the only team from Sindh. It defeated others from prestigious institutions such as University of Engineering and Technology, National University of Science and Technology (NUST), Islamabad, International Islamic University and NUST’s College of Electrical and Mechanical Engineering, Rawalpindi.

Such competitions gained popularity in other parts of the globe during the 90s and have only recently been organised in Pakistan. National universities hardly teach students about the basics of building combat robots in mechanical design and engineering courses.

“Students usually build combat robots as a hobby. They spend hundreds of hours and its costs thousands of rupees,” said Ismail Javed Siddique. “It’s not easy to get sponsors, but thankfully, the university gave us Rs20,000. But we didn’t have a supervisor to support us.”

The engineering college’s director, Prof. Muhammad Iqbal Khan, however, constantly encouraged them. Charlie Foxtrot cost around Rs60,000 to build and the team spent several thousand rupees to make sure they had spare parts.

“Robots get destroyed during the competition, making this an expensive hobby,” said Sattar.

“Very few people in Pakistan participate and we face the same teams in different competitions.” The Shershah scrap market, known to the students as ‘engineer’s Italy’, was a treasure trove for the team. They made several trips and were lucky enough to find motors, the right set of wheels and even a radio system.

Their robot lifts its opponents and slices them with a disc saw which turns at the rate of 2,400 rotations per minute. It was built for PsiFi 2012, a science Olympiad organised at the Lahore University of Management Sciences.

Since then, the robot has been tweaked and taken part in five national competitions, finishing at the top of the scoreboard in nearly all of them.

“Developing a robot is a continuous journey and confrontation with each opponent taught us about our creation’s durability,” said Faizan Khursheed.

The PAF-KIET team is enthusiastic about participating in international competitions and it is also eager to help anyone who wants to take part in such competitions. Those interested can contact them in their Facebook page.

Published in The Express Tribune, November 2^nd, 2012.