IHFC-IIT Delhi Empowers Young Robotics Minds through DRL

The Delhi Robotics League (DRL) has recently announced that the Technology Innovation Hub of IIT Delhi, IHFC, will serve as the Knowledge Partner for the league. As the knowledge partner, IHFC will play an instrumental role in hand-holding and providing training in the subject of robot building via bootcamps to Delhi school students (grades 9 and 10) participating in the DRL. The bootcamps are being conducted by the IHFC and supported by its incubated startups, Rancho Labs and The Innovation Story. So far, over 800 students have benefited from 26 such bootcamps conducted during the last couple of weeks.

The focus of these bootcamps is to encourage young minds to apply their skills and develop robots in teams. These bootcamps will train the students not only on the basics of robotics but also how to use robotics in everyday life and equip them to participate in "Robo-Kancha" (named after the popular childhood game “Kancha”) to be played under the DRL 2023, a Delhi government initiative launched in partnership with IHFC.

In the game of Robo-Kancha, one will see the beautiful co-existence of humans and robots collaborating to play the game of “Kancha”. The DRL will culminate with the finals in the first week of July. There are many exciting prizes for students to be won, including cash prizes and mentorship from IHFC-IIT Delhi as well as a Pre-SEED grant for student-owned startups, which is one of the main attractions.

"It's incredible to see the overwhelming response from Delhi schools to the bootcamps, as well as the interest generated among students for the league. These young minds are our future, and we need to direct their brilliance in the right direction of ideation, conceptualization, and creation of robots and their future possibilities at this age," said Prof. S.K. Saha, Project Director at IHFC. Mr. Ashutosh Dutt Sharma, CEO, IHFC, too, is thrilled about the IHFC’s role as the knowledge partner for this initiative and added, "It is important that such events are conducted in schools as they give these young children good exposure to upcoming technologies and imbibing the new generation with such skills will help us shape India for a better tomorrow. I am very pleased to see the interest, especially among girl students, in these bootcamps and their eagerness to participate in the DRL."

The Delhi Robotics League (DRL)-2023 is open to all Delhi Schools and schools across all boards (ICSE, CBSE, etc.) in Delhi are eligible to participate. Registration for this league is free and has already crossed 100 schools. The registration deadline is January 26, 2023. With this initiative, the DRL and IHFC aim to encourage young minds to explore the field of robotics and inspire them to pursue a career in this field.