NEW DELHI: One hundred school students from across Himachal Pradesh learnt the principles of robotics and artificial intelligence over a period of 22 days to build a fully automated system at Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Mandi.
At the summer camp that started on July 1, students were taught applications of robotics, programming, and artificial intelligence. They were introduced to several labs on campus such as manufacturing machines and tinkering lab.
“They learned how to assemble various robot parts using a variety of programming languages, actuators, sensors, and power sources. Classes featured both theoretical ideas and practical exercises,” officials at IIT Mandi said.
At the end, the participants were able to build a line following robot, an obstacle avoidance robot, and a Bluetooth-controlled car. They were provided with a take-home robotics kit to help them further tinker with technology.
A total of 1200 applications were received from students all over Himachal Pradesh. The event was organised by IIT Mandi’s Centre for Continuing Education (CCE) in collaboration with the Himachal Pradesh Kaushal Vikas Nigam.
Summer camp PRAYAS 1.0 gave the students an around development of social, technical, and human values skills, said CCE chief Dr Tushar Jain.
IIT Mandi director Prof. Laxmidhar Behera said, “The institute wants to encourage the school students to develop a skill in them at an early stage and make the most of this opportunity.”
He further said that IIT Mandi also plans to call teachers from schools and ITIs to get hands-on experience with the IIT faculty and lab facilities.
“I want IIT Mandi to have at least a ratio of 50% students from Himachal in the future,” Prof. Behera added.