Techfest 2009 has tried to live up to its legacy of bringing new competitions, be it those based on solar robotics or those on the use of science and (or should I say ‘as’) art. However, this time we bring you a new competition, whose concept, at face, would seem primitive but the format is like that of something never seen before in Techfest. Techfest 2009 is proud to present ROBOWARS – The Inter College Combat-Robotics Competition.

Combat robotics.. a term which instantly brings to mind images of huge robots going at each other, and trying to rip each other’s hearts off, a sight definitely not for the weak. Pursued as an extensive (and expensive) hobby outside the country we found that combat robotics is something that should be encouraged, and thus came the notion of a battleground for the meanest machines that you might have ever seen.

So what’s so unique about the competition you say.. well the equation is simple, one team from each college => many such colleges => one Robowars Trophy. Since the team that comes from a college is the official representative of that college, the amount of money that the team can afford to spend on making a robot also increases and thus we can achieve a true combat-robotics competition. Till date, of the many many colleges in India, the following have been selected to participate in the event:

1. Indian Institute of Technology – Bombay (IITB), Mumbai
2. Sardar Vallabhbhai National Institute of Technology (SVNIT), Surat
3. Krupajal Engineering College (KEC), Bhubaneshwar
4. Maharaja Sayajirao University (MSU) of Baroda, Vadodara
5. Nirma University of Science and Technology, Ahmedabad
6. SRM University, Chennai
7. National Institute of Technology (NIT), Jamshedpur
8. Devi Ahilya Vishwavidyalaya Institute of Engineering and Technology (IET DAVV), Indore
9. Laxmi Devi Institute of Engineering and Technology (LIET), Alwar
10. Shri S’ad Vidya Mandal Institute of Technology (SVMIT), Bharuch
11. U V Patel College of Engineering, Ganpat University, Mehsana
12. K J Somaiya Institute of Engineering, Mumbai
13. Apex Institute of Engineering and Technology, Jaipur
14. Walchand Institute Of Technology, Solapur
15. Maharashtra Academy Of Engineering (MAE), Pune
16. Dr MGR Educational and Research Institute, Chennai
17. Parul Institute of Engineering & Technology (PIET), Vadodara
18. KCG College of Technology, Chennai
19. PSG College of Technology, Coimbatore
20. College Of Engineering, Pune (COEP)
21. Kakatiya Institute of Technology and Science (KITS), Warangal
22. Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Guwahati
23. Rishiraj Institute of Technology, Indore
24. G H Patel College of Engineering and Technology (GCET), Vallabh Vidyanagar
25. Shri Ramdeobaba Kamla Nehru Engineering College, Nagpur
26. Sastra University, Thanjavur
27. Vindhya Institute of Technology and Science, Jabalpur
28. University Institute of Technology, RGPV, Bhopal

- and many more are expected to join in.

Come January 2009 and we hope to see  flying blades, violent flame throwers, the thrashing sound of metal and a junk pile of annihilated machines, come January 2009 we hope to see ROBOWARS!!!

For more information on Robowars, visit  http://techfest.org/competitions/robowars/