Robotics Workshop 2017

Organized by IEEE BVM Students Chapter

At BVM Engineering College - 13th and 14th September 2017

IEEE ROBOTICS WORKSHOP 2017 REPORT 1

 Details about Workshop

Su bject : - Introduction to Robotics and Arduino.

H ow it w ill be u seful to stu d ents : - There is consid erable anecd otal evid ence
that stud ents respond w ell in subjects involving program m ing of robots. Program m ing
can be too abstract. By having to control a physical robot and seeing w hat goes w rong,
stud ents learn w hat robots can and can’t d o. They also learned the need for precise
instructions. There’s no d oubt that there w ill be a need for people to be involved in
program m ing m echanical d evices in the foreseeable future. By program m ing robots,
stud ents can d iscover if they have aptitud e and interest in a job m arket of the future.

What skills w ill be d evelop ed :- Program m ing Skill w ill be d eveloped . They w ill
read d ata from board , on sensor and social netw ork.
Branch : - Electrical, Electronics, Electronics and Com m unication, Mechanical.
Year : - 1st Year
Date : - 13th and 14th Septem ber 2017
Tim e : - 8:30 am to 10:30 am IST
Venu e : - A 216, A Block, BVM Engineering College.
Total Entries : - 79

IEEE ROBOTICS WORKSHOP 2017 REPORT 2

 Introduction
A 2-d ays w orkshop on Introd uction to Robotics and Ard uino cod ing for the stud ents of
1st level und ergrad uates w as organized on 13th and 14th Septem ber 2017 und er the
banner of IEEE BVM Stud ents Chapter at Birla Vishw akarm a Mahavid yalaya.
This w orkshop com prises of giving the participating stud ents an id ea about
Robots, Robotics, Types of Robots and their applications, Career in Robotics, Introd uction
to Ard uino, Introd uction to Bluetooth RC Car, live d em o of build ing Bluetooth RC car,
test running this car, d oubt clarification session, last notes and conclusion.

Abstract
The present contribution report initiative of IEEE BVM Stud ent Branch involving stud ents
in creative activities that build s m otivation for their future engineering stud ies. The IEEE
Stud ent Branch at Birla Vishw akarm a Mahavid yalaya has alw ays attem pted to pu t m ore
em phasis on hand s-on learning and training for fellow stud ents through various
w orkshops and training sessions. As a part of such activity, w orkshop session on basics of
robots and robotics are being cond ucted for the last 2 years. Participation has been from a
w id e range of background s, from d ifferent stream s and d ifferent und ergrad uate levels.
Initial aim of the w orkshop sessions w as to m otivate stud ents in d esign, estim ation,
fabrication and testing their ow n id eas of basic controlled robots. During the course of
events in last couple of years several interesting find ings could be id entified . It is felt that
in ord er to perform w ell in their w orkplace, as w ell as to be responsible citizens, stud ents
are required to not only d evelop m astery of a particular subject, but civic, social,
interpersonal and w orkplace skills as w ell. In ad d ition to reinforcing concepts from earlier
and concurrent courses, su ch w orkshops can serve as a platform for exposing stud ents to
inter-d isciplinary topics that appear in greater d epth in later courses. Also, stud ents
m ature in areas such as oral and w ritten com m unication, aw areness of professional ethics
issues, and w orking effectively in a team -based setting. Mixing of stud ents from d ifferent
d isciplines and d ifferent grad es greatly enhances sense of fellow feeling and team spirit.
Such w orkshops, being cond ucted by stud ents them selves, increases the sense of
belongingness, inculcates m aturity, sensibility, lead ership qualities am ong the organizing
stud ents.

IEEE ROBOTICS WORKSHOP 2017 REPORT 3

 Day 1 of Workshop

On 13th Septem ber 2017, Electrical d epartm ent of BVM cond ucted the 1st d ay w orkshop
on “Introd uction to Robotics.” Workshop w as cond ucted by three 2nd Year Stud ents of
Electrical Engineering BVM. First Devansh Parikh talked about IEEE and its activities
cond ucted in our college and presented a keynote on “Introd uction to Robots and
Robotics”; Second Dhruval Raj, presented keynote on “Introd uction to Ard uino and its
IDE”; lastly H elly Gond alia, presented sim ple applications of Ard uino on LED and its
cod ing. The exam ple com prises of “S.O.S Morse Cod e” and “Traffic light Signals” using
LED and Ard uino cod ing. Around 75 stud ents from 1st Level Electrical, Electronics,
Electronics and Com m unication and Mechanical branch took part in this w orkshop.

In the first session stud ents got fam iliar w ith the term Robot, how to id entify w hether a
m achine is a Robot or an autonom ous bot, Robotics, Aspects of Robotics, philosophy of AI
(Artificial Intelligence), Brief on Machine Learning and types of Robots. Inform ative
vid eos from Boston Dynam ics w ere show n to stud ents.

In the next part a brief introd uction to Ard uino w as given 1st Year stud ents. They got
fam iliar w ith various d evelopm ent board s of Ard uino and learnt the d evelopm ent
environm ent for Ard uino. Working w ith Arduino I/ O pin w as taught and functions of
various em bed d ed com ponents w ere explained . Later sim ple application of Ard uino like
blinking LED and its cod ing w as explained .

In the last part of the session, m ore applications of Ard uino w ere explained and show ed .
Applications includ ed “S.O.S Morse cod e” using sim ple LED and Ard uino cod ing;
“Traffic Light Signaling” using LED and Ard uino cod ing.

In the m eantim e stud ents w ere free to ask

any questions regard ing the d om ain if
they had any d oubt about any topics
explained . Stud ents w ithout any
hesitation asked questions and after
hearing answ ers from our presenters they
w ere satisfied .

Overall stud ent learnt the basics of

w orking w ith Ard uino and gained basic
know led ge of various Ard uino
d evelopm ent board s; Program m ing
environm ent; onboard features of
Ard uino Uno.

IEEE ROBOTICS WORKSHOP 2017 REPORT 4

 Day 2 of Workshop

N ext d ay on 14th Septem ber 2017, 2nd d ay of the Workshop w as on “Bluetooth

Controlled RC Car” using Ard uino UN O and Bluetooth Mod ule H C -05 w as presented by
N eel Shah of 2nd Year Electrical. All the basics of the car like its analogous d esign to our
d aily life using navigation system s w as show n pictorially to 1st Year stud ents to get a
basic id ea of the functions of d ifferent com ponents used in running the RC car. Details
about the com ponents used w ere probably along w ith their functions and w hy they w ere
used .

Then in next session live d em o of m aking the “Bluetooth Controlled RC Car” w as

presented and d one by H arsh Patel and Yash Rana of 2nd Year Electrical. They explained
the w iring of m otor d rivers L293D to Ard uino and m otors of RC car chassis.
All the d oubts of stud ents w ere cleared by on the spot questioning and answ ering.
In the end the RC car got finished w iring and cod ing in Ard uino. Then the operation of
this RC car w as d one in front of stud ents and it w orked really w ell. All the stud ents w ere
am azed by looking at the w ay this RC car w as being controlled by Bluetooth through a
m obile phone. Even chance w as given to 1st year stud ents to control this RC car on their
ow n and they enjoyed that experience a lot.

In the end the scenario about robotics in Ind ia w as d iscu ssed by Devansh. H e gave a great
speech on the need s that are required to be im plem ented in a College curriculum for the
d evelopm ent of skills in stud ents w ho w ant to pursue robotics as a career. Reasons about
w hy Robotics d evelopm ent is lacking behind in Ind ia w as also d iscussed . 1st Year
stud ents und erstood the need s and w ere thoroughly m otivated to m ake a change in the
system . They w ere also given task to find out the everyd ay problem s that a robot can
easily rectify.

Feed back from the stud ents w as collected and it suggested that they w elcom ed this
initiative and they are m otivated to explore m ore d im ension in this platform also they are
w illing to d o projects, research w ork and d eveloping robots for competitions in future.

IEEE ROBOTICS WORKSHOP 2017 REPORT 5