The APOGEE English Press (AEP) sat down with Ayush, APOGEE Coordinator of Team Robocon, to discuss the club’s plans for the upcoming fest.

Ayush started by explaining that Team Robocon was established in 2010, making it one of the oldest tech teams on campus. Ayush stated that the club participated in competitive robotics and worked on major research projects. He further added that they are currently working on autonomous drones and a robotic arm. The robotic arm, Ayush elucidated, was designed for precision agriculture and was made such that it went deep into a crop canopy to take pictures and detect pests, making it much easier for farmers to improve their pesticide use.

Talking about the club’s events or this year’s APOGEE, Ayush stated that Robocon would be hosting Robosoccer, an event similar to Rocket League. The gameplay would roughly be the same as that of previous editions, with one major change. He elaborated that earlier, only teams from other colleges could participate. However, since they are now collaborating with ASME as well, Team Robocon will allow everyone to participate and play using ASME’s bots. Ayush also mentioned that in future editions, Robocon planned to automate refereeing using computers. This, he highlighted, was an idea thought of long ago, but due to changes within the club, it was not implemented this year. 

When asked about preparations and setbacks, he highlighted major difficulties in procuring a good arena in Pilani. Last year, they had built a wooden arena that was severely damaged by heavy bots and rain as a result of the arena being stored poorly. To fix this issue, CoStAA advised the team to construct a cheaper, “makeshift” arena this year. The team is currently in talks with several vendors to finalise the setup.

In response to prompts about logistical hurdles, Ayush explained that delays occurred when multiple teams from the same college shared just one pair of batteries. This forced them to recharge the batteries between matches, which wasted a lot of time. 

Reflecting on his own leadership style, Ayush described his approach as highly “solution-oriented”. He highlighted that members are expected to also provide solutions and not simply disagree with each other.

On a parting note, Ayush reiterated that Team Robocon is the “OG robotics club” on campus, and emphasised that no one should miss the events they would be organising this time round.