Meet the Robotics Marvels

They may look like regular teenagers, but this team of 10 children share a dream of participating in the world's biggest robotics challenge for high schoolers.

- Tanvik Naik

Each member, aged 13 to 17, represents Team India in the FIRST Global Challenge (FGC) from September 26-29, 2024 in Athens, Greece.

The Competition

The FIRST Global Challenge is the 'Olympics of robotics' for high school students, with teams from 193 countries participating.

Each year, teams face a new challenge and this year, the challenge is to design a robot that can collect, sort, and deliver resources like water, energy and food while navigating obstacles that simulate real-world supply chain issues.

Team India and Their Robot

Team India's robot comprises four main components: the chassis, the cascade and the elevator, the delivery system, and the intake. It must meet the competition's strict size constraints, fitting within a 50 x 50 x 50-centimetre frame. The task is to collect 500-gram balls representing water (blue), energy (green), and food (orange) and deposit them into designated boxes symbolising the goals.

Challenges in Building the Robot The robot needs to navigate the arena, pick up the balls, and lift them to the boxes each of which is taller than the robot itself.