Acyut 2 and 3 receiving Indias First ever Gold and Silver medals in RoboGames 2010

Being the only Humanoid from India in RoboGames for the third year in a row … Acyut won 4 medals at RoboGames 2010  taking India to 5th position amongst 18 countries (http://robogames.net/2010.php), with 1 Gold, 2 Silver and 1 Bronze medal…

After another year of dedicated work… We have got AcYut to a new level…

Acyut now runs on a 600 Mhz on-board llinux-based microprocessor called gumstix using the latest omap 3503 processor (also used in the Apple iPhone 3GS), with a custom built image (a kind of an OS) running on it. It does bluetooth communicaton with the PlayStation 3 controller. Programming is done using a fully custom built multi-platform Graphical User Interface(GUI), which runs a full inverse kinematics engine together with realtime load calculations.

AcYut now uses motors with 106 Kg-cm torque (up by 80% from the previous motors) and moves using spline-based trajectory generation.

The first day of RoboGames 2010, the 3-day competetion, saw us testing out AcYut at the arena and passing the qualification crieterion. AcYut was ready and raring to go. The next day, AcYut’s dance demonstration in the custom-built humanoid category dazzled the judges. AcYut 3 was awarded the silver medal for it. AcYut 2 and 3 took part in the android sumo competetion, where they bagged the perfect finish, the gold and the silver medals. Acyut 3 also won a bronze medal in the middle-weight humanoid Kung-fu category. In all, AcYut won 4 medals for India, which got India the 5th place amongst 18 countries.

Our team consisting of Samay Kohli, Sushma Vallabhaneni, Akash Gupta, Ankit Kulshrestha, Rohan Maheshwari, Tushar Agrawal, and Vivek Notani, have worked very hard throughout the year for this competetion and are extremely happy with AcYut’s success.

More competetions and more posts coming soon….

Cheers to AcYut….

Well it’s been a long time since we last updated the blog. And a lot has been going on for the past few months!! AcYut has been learning how to perfect its walk and we have been having our joy moments quite often

Now getting along quickly with the updates : If you happen to be in Mumbai during 22^nd to 24^th Jan, land up at IIT Bombay for another amazing demo of AcYut 2 and watch it perform some really cool stuff. AcYut will be showing off its newly attained athletic skills along with humanoid robots manufactured by Robotis ( from South Korea ). And we are sure AcYut’s gonna kick butt

Also, Team AcYut, in association with Grey Orange Robotics and Robotis Inc., Korea is conducting a workshop on the basics of building a humanoid hand in IIT Bombay Techfest. (For the non techies only: Techfest is IITB’s technical festival and Asia’s largest technology extravaganza.) To find out more about the workshop, click here

Keep checking the blog for more updates.

Cheers,

Team AcYut.

P.S.:

Catching along with the latest trends, AcYut now has a page dedicated to itself on Facebook!! Do check out this link and obviously become a fan!!

P.P.S:

And finally, AcYut’s websites is up ( BETA version of course ) . Do have a look @ http://www.acyut.com/ to have a closer look at India’s first indigenously developed humanoid, how it works, what all it has achieved and of course, the teams which have been working on the project and making India proud. ( do report bugs )

Today, we have reached the limit. 75 people tried the body suit!

Here are some photographs and videos of this super busy day….

Cheers

Sushma

AcYut became even more popular at the Expo. Today over 55 people tried the body suit!

A 6 year old kid was very interested in controlling AcYut with the body suit. We tried to explain him that he was too small for the suit. But he wouldn’t listen So finally we had to make him try….

And following is a video where Akash is helping a visitor use the body suit.

Cheers

Sushma

Today, AcYut met Mr. Christian Wulff, the Chief Minister of the State of Niedersachsen, Germany. Along with him, the Indian Ambassador in Germany and a Central Minster of Germany came to see AcYut. They were very impressed with AcYut and the whole “Waldo” thing.

The following are the photographs taken during their visit.

AcYut with Mr. Christian Wulff

The Indian Ambassador in Germany discussing about AcYut with the team

Cheers

Sushma

As expected, AcYut has been a big hit at the Expo on the first day! Over 30 odd people tried out the body suit!

This is the overview of the Expo…this is not even 20% of it!!

Also, check out the following video we uploaded on youtube  where the visitors were trying to control AcYut wearing the body suit.

And amongst many other interesting things, AcYut met the chief minster of the state of Niedersachsen in Germany too! More about that in the next post….

Cheers

Sushma

AcYut is now ready to rock the stage in Germany as well. We are going to participate in IDEEN Expo in Hannover, Germany which will be held from 5th-13th September, 2009. Check out http://www.ideen-expo.de/ for more details.

In the IDEEN Expo, AcYut is not just going to show off its Kung-Fu moves or its dancing skills. We have a made a tele operated remote for AcYut which means any person can wear a body suit specially designed by us and AcYut will mimic the person’s actions exactly. Something akin to a “Waldo“  This Body Suit is actually useful in hazardous situations where in we can send a robot to do any dangerous task and we monitor its actions from a safe distance.

The visitors of IDEEN Expo will get to wear this suit and control AcYut’s actions themselves! We’ll keep posting videos of the same regularly throughout the Expo.

Keep watching this space for more updates and cool videos.

Cheers

Sushma

Ac-Yut II: the Kung-Fu dancing robot

AcYut is India’s first indigenously developed Humanoid and was developed at the Centre for Robotics & Intelligent Systems, BITS Pilani, India. AcYut means the “the imperishable ” or “the one that does not fall down” in Sanskrit. It won the Bronze medal in the middleweight Humanoid category at the 2009 RoboGames that took place in San Francisco.

This cute robot has excellent balance and loves Kung-Fu.
(Source 1 | Source 2 | Photo)

Here is the quick update ( While we are still traveling in the US):

We were aiming for gold but due to a ‘little’ technical glitch AcYut 3 could not fight the final Match

Also, Here is the Official Press release :

Indian Team Takes Bronze Medal at 2009 RoboGames

AcYut, the only Indian Humanoid Robot to Compete in the Games, takes India’s first Medal for Annual Competition

Silicon Valley, June 15, 2009 – The AcYut-II robot, designed by students from the Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS Pilani) , India have won the bronze medal in middle weight Humanoid category at the 2009 RoboGames (www.robogames.net) that were held in San Francisco on June 12-14. With this result the BITS Pilani team has won India’s first medal ever for the annual competition. The RoboGames are the world’s biggest open robot competition with over 250 teams participating from 28 different countries in 70 different competitive events. RoboGames is recognized by the Guinness Book of World Records as “The World’s Largest Robot Competition.”

The AcYut team from the Center for Robotics Intelligent Systems (CRIS) at BITS Pilani built their second humanoid, AcYut-II after placing 6th at the 2008 competition from a group of 30 contenders. AcYut, which translated from Sanskrit means “the one who never falls,” was the only Indian humanoid in RoboGames.

Returning team members, including team leader Samay Kohli and Sushma Vallabhaneni, were joined this year by Mohammad Ariz and Akash Gupta, who were selected from over 150 applications to join the 2009 AcYut team under the guidance of Professor Dr. R.K. Mittal. Following the games, the students will begin a three month research project at the University of Louisiana as part of Center for Robotics and Intelligent Systems, a joint initiative.

“Building cross-university alliances like CRIS allows academic research to flourish,” said Dr. Krishna Saraswat, Rickey/Nielsen Professorship of Engineering at Stanford University who also works with the AcYut-II team. “The students from BITS Pilani who have committed themselves to the AcYut project are a part of the amazing community of researchers, academics and industry leaders who will bring humanoid robotics into our homes, hospitals and businesses.”

Building a Better Robot

The team learned important lessons from last year and applied these for the 2009 competition. AcYut-II is taller than its predecessor and has a higher torque motor which enables it to punch harder. AcYut-II can move very quickly around corners, reducing its chances of falling out of the ring during a Kung Fu match. The students developed a bodysuit for controlling AcYut-II from a distance, allowing the robot to mimic the student’s actions. This enables the robot to perform more complex moves instead of a limited set of pre-programmed moves that are possible with a hand-held remote.

“Their Robot was almost one meter tall and that is an amazing feat of engineering,” said David Calkins, Founder of RoboGames. “The results show that the team clearly learned and adapted based on last year’s competition, and proves that their collaborative approach bridging research in India and the U.S. works; the team should be proud.”

AcYut was sponsored by companies including Force10Networks, Sierra Atlantic, Oriental Insurance and Continental Airlines and also received funding from the BITS Alumni Association (BITSAA).

Sierra Atlantic CEO Raju Reddy said “BITS mandates real world experience for its four year degree and requires students to spend nine months in internship programs. With such innovative programs for industry-university collaboration, BITS has always been a source of great talent and we are delighted to partner in their success at RoboGames”.

The BITS-Pilani Alumni Association is hosting a reception on June 16, 2008 at India Community Center (ICC) in Milpitas, Calif., where the students will demonstrate AcYut II to media and thought leaders from the technology industry and academia. Press interested in attending should call Heather Lukens at 212-651-4227, or email her at heather.lukens@fusionpr.com.

About Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS) Pilani/BITSAA

Birla Institute of Technology and Science (BITS Pilani), India’s leading private university, has the reputation of setting the benchmark for industry-university collaboration and pioneering online examinations through the path-breaking BITS admission test.  The University offers degrees in Engineering, Sciences, Business Administration, Economics, Humanities, languages and Arts at its campuses in Pilani, Dubai, Goa, and Hyderabad. In addition, BITS offers a number of work integrated learning programs for Human Resources Development that are utilized by a broad spectrum of Indian corporations. BITSAA is the not-for-profit alumni association of BITS, whose alumni are spread across the globe from Australia to America. Its mission is to enable alumni to initiate and participate in activities which contribute to the general development of BITS Pilani, its staff, and students. It also aims to strengthen the ties of friendship and communication amongst former students, current students, faculty, and friends of the University.

Heather Lukens, heather.lukens@fusionpr.com, 212-651-4227

Kartik Bandhuvula, kartik@bitsaa.org, 650-391-5500