IIT Madras students display innovations in tech open house – Times of India

CHENNAI: After a two-year gap, the IIT Madras campus brimmed with creative ideas from aspiring engineers. From sounding rocket to formula one electric vehicle to Mars rover to autonomous vehicles, students from IIT Madras displayed their innovative projects in the open house conducted on the campus on Sunday.
A demonstration of an autonomous vehicle which navigated about 100ft without a driver and avoided obstacles at the venue garnered a large round of applause. A big draw at the event was Formula One electric vehicle, which could hit 120kmph and reach 0 to 100kmph in five seconds, when ready.
As many as 60 teams showcased their research projects in the event organised by Centre For Innovation at IIT Madras.
After inaugurating the open house, IIT Madras director V Kamakoti said it was pleasing to see students back on the campus after the pandemic. “From next year onwards, IIT Madras open house will showcase innovative ideas from colleges across Tamil Nadu,” he said.
Suraj, a third-year BTech mechanical engineering student and a member of Team Abhiyan, which developed the autonomous vehicle ‘Bolt’, said the vehicle is at a research stage and will be deployed as a shuttle in 18 months’ time.
A team of 20 students from IIT Madras belonging to six departments including aerospace engineering, metallurgy, chemical engineering have developed a sounding rocket ‘MockingJay’ which has been selected for Spaceport America Cup 2022, a rocket engineering competition for students.
The 3.3metre tall rocket which will be launched into the lower earth orbit of above 10,000ft and can carry a payload weighing up to five kg. “Team Abhyuday is the first-ever team from IIT Madras to develop a sounding rocket. Our payload will study the potential of converting vibrations into useful electricity,” said Harisudhan P, one of the team members. The competition will be held in June 2022.
Another team has developed a rover that will assist astronauts on Mars. The rover has a robotic arm and can perform tasks like opening cupboards, flipping switches, tightening screws. The onboard science laboratory on the rover also allows testing soil samples for the presence of life. Students from Avishkar Hyperloop said they are building a vacuum tube at the IIT-M campus to set up the eco-system for Hyperloop at its new campus. For the first time, the event was also accessible on a metaverse platform “Gather Town” to a limited audience this year.