Singapore honour for Rourkela NIT team

Rourkela: Students of National Institute of Technology (NIT), Rourkela, has won an international event in Singapore.

The NIT-R team has won the second place in the prestigious Singapore Autonomous Under Water Vehicle Challenge. The University of Singapore had organised the event.

The NIT-R students had to compete with teams from 46 countries. The Northwest Polytechnique University won the first place in the event, while the Russian Far Eastern Federal University won the third prize.

"It is a prestigious competition held annually involving some of the leading universities from various countries," said team guide H.P. Roy of the department of mechanical engineering.

The NIT-R team has won in the overall category. The students showcased their talent in manufacturing and manoeuvring autonomous under water vehicle. They also had to demonstrate their skill in taking accurate photography. The team is yet to return from Singapore.

"The manoeuvring of the autonomous under water vehicle is very tricky and requires lots of patience and proficiency," said the team guide.

"The unmanned vehicle measures slightly below two feet and is equipped with cameras and sensors," said Roy.

The team also had to perform other tasks like hitting a target, dropping marker, taking photographs and mapping.

"Photography is a must and without this the task is not complete," Roy said.

The whole project took four years to complete and cost Rs 10 lakh. The team spent Rs 3 lakh towards manufacturing the final prototype.

"The institute paid us Rs 1.95 lakh and the rest we managed from sponsorship and from our alumni," said Roy.

The team will get a certificate and also prize money of Rs 75,000.