Utkarsh

2.1 Problem Statements

(A) Rural

Develop devices, instruments and techniques which are user friendly, affordable and efficient to avoid current drudgery (tedious and unpleasant work) and problems faced by the Indian villagers in their day-to-day activities.

Examples:

1. Portable battery-charger:
A majority of Indian villages are not connected to the electric grid directly. Most of them have to rely on the use of electrolytic batteries. These batteries are required to function for atleast 4-5 hours during the night. However, once discharged, it is difficult to recharge these batteries.
Your challenge is to make a portable (light weight) battery charger (preferably mechanical) that can charge a 12 V, 40 Ah battery in less than an hour. The charger should be affordable for people in rural India, keeping in mind high efficiency. The operation and the maintenance required should be as simple as possible so that it can be handled by them at the local level.

2. Efficient cooking device:
The use of chulhas for cooking is a common practice in the Indian villages. These traditional chulhas are designed from bricks and clay and are quite inefficient in terms of energy utilization, cause environmental damage and affect the user to a large extent. The overall efficiency of using the chulha depends upon the efficiency of the fuel used (firewood or briquettes made out of agricultural waste) and the design of the chulha.
One may think on the lines of making an affordable chulha that gives high efficiency (greater than what is currently available) in terms of energy utilization. Energy utilization can be dealt with by keeping in mind the calorific value of fuel as well as the transfer of heat to the utensil kept on chulha. A good chulha has appropriate outlet arrangements for smoke, ash and other combustion byproducts.
One can also think of some other affordable cooking devices that may utilize an alternate fuel which is available readily in rural areas. However the overall efficiency should be higher than the present designs of the chulhas.

3. Briquetting machine:
Briquettes are compact bricks of saw dust, fodder, dried leaves, agricultural waste, cow dung (binder), sugarcane molasses (self-binding) etc. that may be used as fuel in the chulhas or boilers. These are generally kept cylindrical to increase the overall burning efficiency of the briquettes. The compact nature increases the calorific value of the fuel. When the briquettes are made, the dried leaves/sawdust is mixed with a binder like cow dung in an appropriate proportion. This mixture is subjected to high pressure for some period and finally briquettes are obtained.
One can come up with an affordable and efficient solution for automation of this whole procedure (mixing and pressing) of briquette making.

4. Water purification device:
According to a 2007 World Health Organization report, 1.1 billion people lack access to an improved drinking water supply, 88% of the 4 billion annual cases of diarrheal disease are attributed to unsafe water and inadequate sanitation and hygiene and 1.8 million people die from diarrheal diseases each year. It is estimated that 94% of these diarrheal cases are preventable through modifications to the environment, including access to safe water. Simple techniques for treating water at home, such as chlorination, filters, solar disinfection and storing it in safe containers could save a huge number of lives each year.
The challenge here is to develop a water purification system for extensive use in rural areas, keeping in mind the affordability of the solution and raw-materials required for its functioning. This system should purify a given quantity of water to basic standards of portable water in a short period of time .

NOTE: The standards for drinking water quality are typically set by governments or by international standards. These standards typically set minimum and maximum concentrations of contaminants in usable water.

(B) Agriculture

Make innovative devices, instruments or techniques, which increase efficiency of the farming procedure. At the same time, come up with solutions that incorporate the use of agricultural byproducts. These solutions should be low-cost and low-maintenance, keeping in mind the utilization by Indian farmers.

Examples:

1. Water Harvesting:
One can bring in an affordable water harvesting technique that is efficient in terms of the quantity of water it can harvest and the area it covers. Also the duration for which it stores water should be more than the existing methods.
One can work upon the structure of check dams (a type of structure, which dams up a small river in order to break the flow of water during the monsoons, and allows it to seep into the soil) that are highly cost-effective and affordable and have better performance than the present solutions.

2. Sensor assisted Irrigation:
In the current irrigation methods, the farmer depends upon the self judgment of water requirement of his farm. This generally leads to wastage of good amount of time, money and of course water.
Make a low cost method or device that is able to indicate the moisture level of the farm and assist the farmer with the irrigation process of his farming.

3. Semi-automated weeding device:
Certain crops require the use of special tools to protect them against weeds left after chemical treatment, hand weeding, hot capping or flaming, and other less effective applications and hand tools.
One can develop a weeding device that is designed to penetrate the soil efficiently with a minimum of soil disturbance and extract both, new seedlings and deep roots of various shapes and sizes. These should have greater precision and efficiency than existing hand tools and weeders, including various hoes, weed pullers, weed poppers and other weed twisters.

4. Efficient Dryer for the Agricultural commodities:
Drying is the most widely used method for preserving foods. Sun drying, however, is the only economic choice for poor people when drying foods such as grains in large quantities and where little or no value is added by drying. As shown below, simple sun drying has listed advantages and disadvantages.

Advantages:

1. Almost without cost.
2. Ideal for products where little or no value is added.

Disadvantages:

1. Open to contamination by dust.
2. Totally dependent on good weather.
3. Very slow drying rates with danger of mould growth.
4. It may not be possible to dry to a sufficiently low level of moisture to prevent mould growth.

While drying foodstuffs such as fruits, vegetables, spices, herbs and nuts, value addition is achieved by drying and in such cases an investment in improved drying technologies may be economically viable.

One may come up with a low-cost and efficient drying technology or device that has the advantages of solar drying as well as eliminates the disadvantages of solar drying. The technology or device should be applicable for the drying of agricultural commodities at commercial level.

"No man has the right to dictate what other men should perceive, create or produce, but all should be encouraged to reveal themselves, their perceptions and emotions and build confidence in their creative spirit!"
Supporting the above idea, we also invite the solutions to the problems that the innovator thinks, are faced by Indian villagers and farmers during the course of their daily work.

View the Competition Structure »

Dates	Role of the participant
14th September	Submission of abstracts in the format specified below with detailed approach to solve the problem. Allocation of mentors would be done on this basis.
20th September - 30th November	Participants to prepare a model on their project and document it through a technical report and make a video showing the working mechanism. Last date of receiving the video and report: 30th November.
30th November - 20th January	Shortlisted participants to improve upon the working prototype of their project and prepare a presentation for the same.
22nd - 24th January	Final presentation along with the demonstration of the working prototype.

Participants unable to submit their abstracts by 14^th September 2009 or those who haven’t been shortlisted for mentor allocation can still participate by sending us a detailed technical report by 30^th November 2009 (which is the last date for registration).

3.1 Abstract Submission

All submitted abstracts will be screened and the teams will be shortlisted based on these. Among these a few top student teams would be provided with mentors. A mentor would be an expert in the field relevant to the subject of the abstract. He would be of immense help in carving your brainchild into an implementable solution by providing you with guidance at each step.
The last date for submitting the abstract is 14^th September 2009.

The abstracts should be mailed to prayaas[at]techfest[dot]org with the subject "Prayaas: Utkarsh Abstract Reg. No. UTxxxx ". Please do not forget to mention your registration number in your abstract while sending it.

Format for Abstract Submission

It is recommended that the abstract be as concise as possible, however the following points can be addressed while preparing the abstract:

1. Problem that you plan to solve.
2. Concept/theory used for the solution proposed.
3. Rough technical specifications and pictorial representation of the product (block diagram).
4. Rough performance calculation of the expected product.
5. Pros and cons of your product (with respect to the technology/ product currently in use).
6. Future plan of action with structure and cost approximation.
7. Implementation aspects on the large scale (specify if some small region targeted).

The names of the shortlisted participants will be available on the website by 20^th September 2009.

3.2 Model Documentation - Technical Report and Video

After the short listing, participants will have to make a physical model for the solution, which will be reviewed in this stage. The participants will be required to submit a technical report and a video to demonstrate the progress made on their working model. The last date for the submission of the technical report and the video is 30^th November 2009. The panel of judges will analyze the report and the video and will give them a detailed feedback as to how the model can be modified to achieve a better result. The details of the shortlisted participants along with feedback from the judges would be communicated to them by 30^th November 2009.

The report and the video should be mailed by post to the following address:
Techfest Office
Students' Gymkhana,
IIT Bombay, Powai
Mumbai - 400076

3.3 Working Prototype and Final Presentation

After declaration of the finalists, participants will be required to make a working prototype of the project as well as a presentation covering technical and financial aspects in a detailed manner. The teams will have to bring their prototypes to be judged and showcased at Techfest 2010.

The working prototype should be as close as possible to the product you intend to present to the end user. Support in manufacturing aspects of the prototype will be provided to few of the best teams. This would also help decide a better estimate of the cost of the prototype, reflecting closely the actual cost of the product.

No new entries will be entertained after 30^th November 2009.

Utkarsh will be judged by a panel of experts. Following are the broad criteria for judging:

1. Implementability of the solution.
2. Possibility of the product getting produced using local skills.
3. Better use of resources which are available in the local areas.
4. Performance and maintenance of the solution (simplicity of the product).
5. Ergonomics and acceptability of solution.
6. Cost effectiveness and affordability.
7. Environmental friendliness.

View the Rules »

4.1 General Rules

1. The competition is open to all (students, research scholars and professionals).
2. Every team has to register online on our website for the competition. A registration number will be allocated to the team on registration which shall be used for future reference.
3. A team can participate at any point of time before 30^th November 2009. However, the abstracts submitted before 1^st September 2009 would be considered for mentorship. Teams which submit their abstracts at a later stage would be provided with mentors only if their idea is exceptionally good.
4. Judges decision shall be treated as final and binding on all.
5. Note that at any point of time the latest information will be that which is on the site. The information provided in the pdf downloaded earlier may not be the latest. However, registered participants will be informed through mail about any changes on the site.

For International participants: All international participants will have to register before 30^th November 2009, and will have to submit the videos of their prototypes along with an abstract before 30^th November 2009. The shortlisted international team details will be put up on the website by 30^th November 2009.

4.2 Certificate Policy

Those participants whose ideas and plan of action are recommended by the judges on the basis of their ability to get implemented will be provided with certificate of participation.
The top entries from this event would be provided with certificate of excellence.

4.3 Team Specification

The participating entries must be in a team of a maximum of six people. If the participating team feels that their idea requires more participants in their team, they can forward their request, with suitable reasons, to prayaas@techfest.org with the subject "Utkarsh team number increase".

Register here for Utkarsh

5.1 Abstract Round Results

The following teams have been deemed as excellent on the basis of the abstracts:

1. UT1014
2. UT1024
3. UT1025
4. UT1031
5. UT1032
6. UT1038
7. UT1045
8. UT1059
9. UT1062
10. UT1067
11. UT1070
12. UT1097
13. UT1101
14. UT1108