Best of out waste: Engineering students from Kerala make a robot from scrap materials

The mechanical engineering students of Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology created a robot from waste material. A group of 25 second-year students created a robot proportioned 12 ft x 600 kgs from use-and-throw waste sourced locally. The raw materials include engine parts, silencers and petrol tanks.   According to Eldhose K K, head of the Mechanical Engineering department, the students created the robot from the scrap metal collected from the campus and different areas in the panchayat. “The initiative aims to help the students apply all the things they have learned in the past four years to create something beautiful,” he said.

The robot might not have the finesse of the one displayed at Lulu Mall, but the effort put in by the students makes up for it, said the professor.Currently, the students are working on making automated movements possible for this giant art-work. Another creation of the same group is a ‘race-car’ which similarly utilises recyclable waste.

The car boasts a diesel engine, suspension (back and front), drum brake, and a four gear system which includes reverse gear (a rarity in formula one cars).The car which has high fuel efficiency took only Rs 35,000 for its first edition production. The faculty and students of the department are in full-fledged preparation to display their long-time dream in various automobile expos.