CHENNAI: A rover named Vajra designed for Mars expedition created by a team of students at Indian Institute of Information Technology, Design, and Manufacturing (IIITDM), Kancheepuram has secured second place at the World renowned and highly competitive European Rover Challenge (ERC) 2023 at Poland.

IIITDM authorities said that the students’ team was the only contingent representing India at European Rover Challenge 2023. The team secured second position at the qualifier round held virtually.

According to the institution, the low weight rover model was equipped with a ‘stereo vision camera.’ Considering the rugged terrain of Mars, the IIITDM’s students’ model was selected for its ability to function on its own.

The six-wheeled rover has a custom rocker-bogie suspension system with a low center of gravity designed for better stability and manoeuvrability. Professor S Sadagopan, Chairman, IIITDM, faculty, and staff said that the students also included a robotic manipulator with 6 degrees of freedom with a task-specific end effector for better operational accuracy and repeatability.

The rover is said to have a robust autonomous system capable of path planning and traversal, specially trained for highly uncertain and challenging terrains. “Its fine suspension system ensures that while negotiating rough terrain or climbing over huge rocks and boulders, there is no damage to Vajra, which has been designed using an Artificial Intelligence technology called Generative Design,” said Professor S Sadagopan.

In addition, IIITDM Kancheepuram also has another reason to celebrate as their Autonomous Underwater Vehicle (AUV) society’s team Nira has successfully qualified for the renowned MATEROV World Championship Internationals at Longmont, Colorado, United States. Team Nira was the only entry from India at this esteemed event.