The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Delhi is hosting Doordarshan Robocon or DD Robocon, after a two-year hiatus due to the pandemic. It is a national-level inter-institutional robot competition in which robots compete to complete tasks within a set period of time. This year’s theme is ‘Lagori’, a game that originated in South India.
“The competition aims to create friendship between young people with similar interests who will lead their country into the 21st century, and to help advance technical and broadcasting technologies in the region,” the official website reads.
Lagori was one of the most popular games in India around the 1990s, the official website added. “You can find the game history in Bhagavata Purana, a Hindu religious text written about 5000 years ago. It mentions that Lord Krishna played this game with his friends. The game is between two teams (Team 1: “Seeker” and Team 2: “Hitter”) and the game starts by throwing a ball through the seeker to break a stone tower called “Lagori” (see image below ). While the seekers try to pile up the bricks again, the batter throws balls to interrupt them,” the website reports.
As many as 43 teams will be nominated from about 80 teams of engineering colleges that have registered for DD Robocon, will take place in two phases. About 750 participants will participate in the event. This year’s DD-Robocon will be followed by the international show – ABU-Robocon on August 21, which will see teams from 12 countries participating.
More than 150 professors, technical staff and students from IIT Delhi and the neighboring colleges such as JNU, Jamia Millia, AKG College, GL Bajaj have volunteered to host this mega event. IIT Delhi is organizing this year’s DD-Robcon in collaboration with Prasar Bharati.
Held at New Delhi’s Thyagraj Stadium, the event is both technically backed and managed by two of IIT Delhi’s non-profit companies: Foundation for Smart Manufacturing (FSM) and I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), Technology Innovation Hub of the Institute, as knowledge partners. The event at Thyagraj Stadium will be attended by Mayank Agrawal, CEO of Prasar Bharati; Prof. dr. Rangan Banerjee, Director of IIT Delhi, and Mr. Himanshu Gupta, Director of Delhi School Board.
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