International prize for DCE students' creation



Check this interesting achievement by young engineering students at



http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=252941
<http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=252941>



Dr D.C.Misra

August 27, 2007

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*International prize for DCE students' creation



Varun, only Indian entry at underwater vehicle competition in the US,
won the `Best Mechanical Design' and `Longest Travel
Award'



Pallavi Singh
<http://www.expressindia.com/about/feedback.html?mailto=editor@expressin\
dia.com>



New Delhi, August 26: When a group of first-year students from Delhi
College of Engineering (DCE) approached the Department of Ocean
Technology under the Union Ministry of Earth Sciences in 2005 with a
project, they were told it was a bold proposal.

What the nine students wanted to build was a robot that could operate
underwater without human intervention, carrying out repairs, exploring
for oil, tracking pipelines, even locating treasures.



After some hesitation, they got the sponsorship and technical guidance
they sought. Their creation — the product of 18 months of work that
went beyond their regular engineering studies — is a saucer-shaped
craft called Varun, after the Indian sea god and as also an acronym for
Vehicle for Autonomous Research & Underwater Navigation.

The crowning glory for all that work, often done at night, and hours of
testing in swimming pools, came last month when Varun won the `Best
Mechanical Design' and `Longest Travel Award' at the annual
autonomous underwater vehicle competition held by the Association for
Unnamed Vehicle Systems International in association with US Office of
Naval Research.



The event was held in San Diego, California. Theirs was the only Indian
entry among 28 participating teams from institutes like the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Florida. They
were the only undergrads in the competition.



Says Anshuman Nath Kar, who took part in the project, "The
college's Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Lab was open all day
throughout the week, even during the vacations. We, with the guidance of
teachers, studied new technologies, conducted several tests for cutting
costs and applied several hardware and software solutions."

Periodic reports were sent to requisite bodies and a system of internal
checks and mutual supervision was carried out.



"Checks happened to make sure that everybody gave their 100 per cent
effort to the project. The vehicle can go underwater and take
photographs. It can be used for various underwater purposes like oil
exploration. But our purpose was to see if students could design such a
vehicle or not," says Prof S Majhi, who supervised the work with Dr
R K Sinha and Dr D Goldar.



The team is already thinking of newer technologies, better programming
and faster computing. "It is all about perfecting what we have
developed this year. We are optimistic about beating the heavyweights
who have been coming to the competition for the last ten years,"
says Kar.

Varun already has a fan: Union Science and Technology minister Kapil
Sibal will visit DCE campus to see the vehicle on September 7.



After some hesitation, they got the sponsorship and technical guidance
they sought. Their creation — the product of 18 months of work that
went beyond their regular engineering studies — is a saucer-shaped
craft called Varun, after the Indian sea god and as also an acronym for
Vehicle for Autonomous Research & Underwater Navigation.



The crowning glory for all that work, often done at night, and hours of
testing in swimming pools, came last month when Varun won the `Best
Mechanical Design' and `Longest Travel Award' at the annual
autonomous underwater vehicle competition held by the Association for
Unnamed Vehicle Systems International in association with US Office of
Naval Research.



The event was held in San Diego, California. Theirs was the only Indian
entry among 28 participating teams from institutes like the
Massachusetts Institute of Technology and University of Florida. They
were the only undergrads in the competition.



Says Anshuman Nath Kar, who took part in the project, "The
college's Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) Lab was open all day
throughout the week, even during the vacations. We, with the guidance of
teachers, studied new technologies, conducted several tests for cutting
costs and applied several hardware and software solutions."

Periodic reports were sent to requisite bodies and a system of internal
checks and mutual supervision was carried out.



"Checks happened to make sure that everybody gave their 100 per cent
effort to the project. The vehicle can go underwater and take
photographs. It can be used for various underwater purposes like oil
exploration. But our purpose was to see if students could design such a
vehicle or not," says Prof S Majhi, who supervised the work with Dr
R K Sinha and Dr D Goldar.



The team is already thinking of newer technologies, better programming
and faster computing. "It is all about perfecting what we have
developed this year. We are optimistic about beating the heavyweights
who have been coming to the competition for the last ten years,"
says Kar.



Varun already has a fan: Union Science and Technology minister Kapil
Sibal will visit DCE campus to see the vehicle on September 7.



(Source: The Indian Express, New Delhi, August 27, 2007, Monday, Delhi
Newsline, p-1,
http://cities.expressindia.com/fullstory.php?newsid=252941, accessed:
August 27, 2007)







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