Coding Arena:- The Ultimate Battle ground: Part-1

Coding Arena is the first ever event in Technovanza online and is a tournament to truly test all you self confessed computer geeks. Coding Arena is pool of fourteen events, from various domains of Computers and IT. It primarily comprise of Software Development, Networking, Algorithms and Logic, Game Development, Graphical Aesthetics and Scripting. Our theme is to participate to learn and win ( though the latter seems more inviting). And from what I have heard there are a hell of a lot of prizes to be won by all the participants. As six of the fourteen events have already begun, I would like to talk about them in this blog.

Firstly I shall start about the event Gamming Programmer. In this event, contestants have to design an open source 2D/3D game development project with good gaming effect. They have to use languages like VC++, JAVA and Python. The participants have to submit their entries by the 7th of January and the top five best and coolest games will be displayed on one of the days of Technovanza’08.

Then there is the event Extreme Innovations where participants will have to build interesting miniature application which will have tremendous scope in the real word scenario. These scenarios include building a web page for a travel agency, a web based or desktop application for personal tax management or a web based interface which mimics the desktop computer system. Five to eight teams will be selected and they have to show their project on the stipulated day and a winning team will be chosen from an esteemed panel of judges. And the icing of the cake is that as you guys are developing open source applications, you may as well as sell your applications to interested companies and rake in the moolah.

The Web Demort event is a website designing event wherein the participants will be provided by a Case Study problem ranging from designing a website for a TV guide to a website for an international university. The qualifiers will then have to then design a website on site within a time slot of three hours. The participants will truly have to spin out all their ingenuity for this challenge.

Now this event Animatrix will surely test the artistic and imaginative skills of the contestants. All that required is a little bit of knowledge of animation and a whole lot of creativity, and you have aced this event. This is an online cum an on site event. The participants first have to create a sample clip and the best five will be selected for the next round. In the next round , the participants will have to produce a animated clip within two hours on site. The clip with the best appeal wins.

Debugging is the event in which the teams must correct all coding errors for Java, C++, python codes or bush script by modifying a minimum number of lines. Now you know how the compiler feels.

SSAD scenario: - This event is about the SSAD method which involves the application of a sequence of analysis, documentation and design tasks concerned with the following. And no hassles of coding!! It’s all about planning your system right and how!

Paper Bridge - An Innovative Concept

Men walking on moon… Great Right!Dreams can be turned into reality, we have seen it happening.In addition, we have it in us to achieve many more.Chasing a dream with determination and zeal can easily get you to your goal. This world is full of diversities and our call is to bridge these diversities and gaps.And for this we are building a bridge which is unconventional and an eco-friendly bridge made with old newspapers.You can think of a bridge as any supportive structure that spans a gap. Yes, it will be a supportive structure and this time this will go to withstand your weight.Yes, I am not joking! Come on be a part of record breaking, revolutionary moment…All the beams and decks of the bridge will be made of recycled paper only. If you think that building a bridge wholly out of paper is just impossible but let me tell you that this is not the first attempt. IIT Chennai has already pioneered in making such a bridge. As a part of SHAASTRA 2002, technical festival of IIT-M, a paper bridge of 11mt length was constructed and no less than 10 people walked over it at a time. We, at VJTI, plan to break the record and make an even longer paper bridge!! Today’s dreams tomorrow’s future is not just a Filmy line but a reality made possible due to the untiring efforts and unabated ambition of the engineers. To realize everything we dream into reality is the motivation factor for the budding engineers and the concept of Paper Bridge is just one of them. We the VJTI’ans have built a bridge made up of PAPER and made a foray into the world of living a dream.Come and Walk on it…

Interlinking Of Rivers

We at VJTI always strive for excellence. Expanding our reign we bring to you our annual Technical Festival- Technovanza’08.This will be held on 13, 14 and 15 January 2008.This National Level Festival will see participation from talented students from all over the country and a large number of general public will also be attracted as we host a large number of exhibition events in addition to our participation events. One such event is the ambitious INTERLINKING OF RIVERS- A Solution to India’s Problems.For many years we are having two situations in our country. On one hand we have a regular problem of floods where vast regions of many states are inundated with water leading to a catastrophic loss of life, livelihood, cattle and crops.While simultaneously on the other hand we have vast regions of the nation facing a dire problem of water shortage leading to very harsh living conditions and limited economic prosperity.We at VJTI endeavour to solve both these major national issues in one shot- by presenting you with our Mega Event- Interlinking of RiversAs per internationally accepted standards if annual per capita water availability is· Below 1700- region is termed as water stressed
. Below 1000- region is termed as water scarcePer capita annual water availability (cu.m/capita/year)
· The past· 1951 : 5177· 2001 : 1820· Future estimates· 2025 :1341· 2050 :1140As per internationally water availability standards, India is water stressed today and will be water scarce tomorrow.India has an Uneven water availability indicated by the following:a. India has highly uneven water availability in space and timeb. The country receives rain fall for only 3-4 monthsc. The Brahmaputra-Barak-Ganga basin accounts for 60% of surface water resourcesd. This region is also rich in ground watere. Western and southern India experience severe deficit in both surface and ground water.f. 60% of the country experiences water deficit, while parts of the country suffer from floodsSo the need of the hour is in diverting water from the “surplus” to the “deficit” regions in the country. Thus not only will the incessant floods be controlled but we can achieve drought mitigation to a large extent.This will have numerous advantages.

AGRICULTURAL BENIFITS
The projected benefit in terms of agriculture include 25 million hectares of irrigation from surface water, 10 million hectares by increased use of ground water, totaling to 35million hectares which will be over and above the ultimate irrigation potential of 140 million hectares. India has one of the lowest yields of cereals at 2134kg/hectare of land. Hence expanding the irrigated land area is one way of increasing food production.

POWER GENERATON
It is estimated that net 34,000 MW of hydro-power will be generated as a result of this project. But this figure is a little biased because in most cases of inter basin transfer, it is understood that the requirement for pumping water across basins exceeds that produced by tapping the potential energy of the water. We plan to arrive at an accurate estimate.

INLAND NAVIGATION
We also propose that some of the canals be opened for inland navigation. It will not only connect the North with the South but will also lead to multiple economic benefits and substantial saving in terms of imported fossil fuel.

CHALLENGESPOLITICAL CONSENSUS
We also will address the pitfalls accompanying such a massive undertaking. The major problem will be achieving a political Consensus not only between our states but also involving China, Nepal, Bhutan and Bangladesh. Dams will need to be built in Nepal and Bhutan, in order to store the surplus water and later divert it to deficit regions. Water that flows into Bangladesh will now be diverted from upstream by India. Both Nepal and Bangladesh need to be taken into confidence regarding the project which has not been done so far. Also China controls the flow of water in the Brahmaputra, Indus and Sutlej Rivers. China is considering a proposal to build a dam on Yarlung Tsangpo (which becomes Brahmaputra in India) which will generate 40000 megawatts of energy. If this project goes through, the entire equation of ‘surplus’ and ‘deficit’ in India will change. This project and other similar grand projects being planned by China have the capacity to completely throw India’s plans off the mark.

REHABILITATION
Also there is the question of Rehabilitation. It is a serious issue which needs to be addressed with sensitivity as their will be numerous people especially rural and tribal population who stand to loose their lands and sources of livelihood. Even if they are rehabilitated, will they be ever able to resettle? They are the ones, who are paying the price, are they the ones who are benefiting from the project?

ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT
Also we have to address the question of predicting the large scale environmental impact that this project can have. It needs to be investigated and ensured that it will not in anyway harm the country’s future by inflicting upon it environmental and natural resource destruction which might take ages to reverse.Thus at VJTI we plan to build a to-scale model of the country’s topology showcasing the interlinking of rivers which can solve two of India’s major problems. This has been attempted only once previously by IIT Roorkee and we plan to implement it successfully here at VJTI.Hoping to see you all attend our festival and enjoying the same while simultaneously learning about new ideas and innovations from our students.

Nautilus

The most difficult and demanding profession among all the defense forces is that of submarine personnel”, says a quote on the IMS Vikrant. On the same lines, it is a great challenge to build a capsule capable of free underwater movement. We challenge students to do the same here at VJTI.All of man’s creations have been inspired by nature. A bird’s flight led man to build an aeroplane and defy gravity. Similarly, the fish, freely moving underwater must have intrigued man for a long time. It was only in the year 1801, due to some brilliant designs by Robert Fulton, that the first ever practical ‘Submarine’ was launched into water. It was an improvement over the wooden one man capsule ‘Turtle’ built by the American David Bushnell in 1775. Its name is derived from the perennial life form ‘Nautilus’ which has lived unchanged on the sea bed for billions of years. But, submarines have undergone myriad groundbreaking and revolutionary changes over time. But man’s first dive into deep ocean, marked by ‘Nautilus’, has been the lodestar in this field.And that is exactly the name of one of the most exciting and challenging events in Technovanza08 - NAUTILUS.Here the challenge is to design and construct a laboratory size machine capable of two dimensional underwater movements. The machine will be placed at the starting point under water. It should move on the path provided without touching the floor, walls or plates and reach the destination point. The way is not that easy, you may find some barriers! If you cannot manage that, then you are in ‘deep waters’!


The pioneer in F1 racing in Mumbai, VJTI, is now venturing into underwater robotics competition. A ‘similar’ event, ‘Amphibious’, took place in Techfest07 last year in IIT Mumbai. But the similarity starts and ends with the involvement of water. While Amphibious required a floating robot, Nautilus challenges you to construct a fully submerged robot.Always striving to create something new and exciting and challenging the technical minds with newer and more demanding tasks, Technovanza08 takes the initiative to introduce this concept of underwater robotics. It requires original and off-the-track thinking and a desire to go the extra mile to achieve the goal. So don’t waste any more time and start gearing up. Put your thinking propellers in the right direction and let them take you to a new, exciting journey of underwater robotics. So get inspired and come and participate.

Rail-O-Drag

We at VJTI always strive for excellence. Expanding our reign we bring to you our annual Technical Festival- Technovanza’08.This will be held on 13, 14 and 15 January 2008.Technovanza ’08 has an amazing event that hasn’t ever been attempted before. People have raced their robots on land, sand and even waded them through water, but has anyone ever raced them on RAILS. Well, your eyes aren’t deceiving you my friend; you read correct, “rails’. The students of VJTI have come up with the event rail-o-drag which means just that, drag racing your robot along rails, all the while drawing current from overhead lines and having only one purpose in mind, win.Let me first discuss about the track. It consists of two parallel set of rails of twelve metres each. The robots will have to accelerate and then come to a halt within the 12 metres of the track for successful navigation. The track can be looked upon as a 10 metre main stretch plus 2 metres buffer portion. At this point it is important to mention that if the robots do not stop within the prescribed distance, its leads to immediate disqualification. So it’s not only about reaching the finishing line fast but also of bringing your robot to a complete halt within the distance provided. That’s why there isn’t just a need for speed in this event; you also have to figure out how to dissipate it and within a small distance. Also anyone ending up damaging the rails can kiss their chance of winning this competition good bye, as this also calls for an immediate disqualification. The overhead wire will carry a voltage of +12 volts while the rails will be grounded. All further details of the track can be seen in the below figure.Now I shall move on to the robots which have to race on these tracks and these will truly encompass the talent and ingenuity of the participants. When I say "robot" I mean any convinient carriage or module which can move on the rails and which has a attachment to make it possible to drag the external carriages. They can be either wired or wireless, though the latter would be preferred. The robots have to run by drawing power from the overhead power strip exclusively. These power strips carry a direct current of 12 volts. Batteries can be used for other mechanisms such as braking though. This is a unique event in which the ability in stopping your robot is as important making it run. The robot also must have a hook at its end to pull carriages that will be provided by the organisers.The initial rounds are time based, with participants trying to clock in the least amount of time as their robots race within prescribed lengths of the track and with and without carriages. The qualifiers then enter a knock out round, where two robots are pitted against each other and the one to cover ten metres of track the fastest and not overshoot the two meters of track which acts as a buffer, get to go to the next round. And finally the last robot standing wins the prize which amounts to a cool 10 grand.So basically this event requires a good understanding of electricity, D.C motors and plain old speed. So, do you dare to drag?

Red Shift

Recently, UN published a report on climate change, indicating that the final countdown for a climatic disaster had begun. Many nations, including our own, were quick to deny the report, terming it as exaggerating and pessimistic. This series of events is going to be repeated in the near future at an even greater frequency.According to scientists and astronomers, our Mother Earth is undergoing a huge transformation. Long before life blossomed on our planet, its environment was nowhere close to what it is today. Life was possible on Earth when its temperature and environment became more conducive to life. Dinosaurs became extinct because they couldn’t adapt to their changing environment. Species died out when ice-ages set in. Thus we can see that environmental conditions are the key to the origin and development of life. Human race owes its life to environment. But we seem to have conveniently forgotten all this. Earth gave us Life, and we are sounding our death-knell by destroying its environment-be it air, water or land.So unless we stop this destruction of our own habitat then we are at loss. All we can then hope to do is to find a new home!A new home!!!There have been a number of attempts to detect life in outer space and especially on Mars, which may have water and also has an atmosphere slightly different from that on earth. Also slightly far away Titan holds more promise to support future human habitation.
MARS
Mars is the most likely to harbor liquid water, and perhaps life. Geological evidence gathered by various missions suggests that Mars previously had large-scale water coverage, while observations also indicate that small geyser-like water flows have occurred in recent years.Liquid water cannot exist on the surface of Mars with its present low atmospheric pressure, except at the lowest elevations for short periods but water ice is in no short supply, with two polar ice caps made largely of ice. In March 2007, NASA announced that the volume of water ice in the south polar ice cap, if melted, would be sufficient to cover the entire planetary surface to a depth of 11 meters. Additionally, an ice permafrost mantle stretches down from the pole to latitudes of about 60°.Much larger quantities of water are thought to be trapped underneath Mars's thick cryosphere, only to be released when the crust is cracked through volcanic action.The atmosphere on Mars consists of 95% carbon dioxide, 3% nitrogen, 1.6% argon, and contains traces of oxygen and water. The current understanding of planetary habitability—the ability of a world to develop and sustain life—favors planets that have liquid water on their surface. This requires that the orbit of a planet lie within a habitable zone, which for the Sun is currently occupied by Earth. Mars orbits half an astronomical unit beyond this zone and this, along with the planet's thin atmosphere, causes water to freeze on its surface. The past flow of liquid water, however, demonstrates the planet's potential for habitability.
TITANTitan is the largest moon of Saturn the only moon known to have a dense atmosphere and the only object other than Earth for which clear evidence of stable bodies of surface liquid has been found.Titan is primarily composed of water ice and rocky material. The dense atmosphere prevented understanding of Titan's surface until new information accumulated with the arrival of the Cassini–Huygens mission in 2004, including the discovery of liquid hydrocarbon lakes in the satellite's Polar Regions. These are the only large, stable bodies of surface liquid known to exist anywhere other than Earth. The surface is geologically young; although mountains and several possible cryovolcanoes have been discovered, it is relatively smooth and few impact craters have been discovered.The atmosphere of Titan is largely composed of nitrogen and its climate includes methane and ethane clouds. The climate—including wind and rain—creates surface features that are similar to those on Earth, such as sand dunes and shorelines, and like Earth, is dominated by seasonal weather patterns. With its liquids (both surface and subsurface) and robust nitrogen atmosphere, Titan is viewed as analogous to the early Earth, although at much lower temperature. The satellite has thus been cited as a possible host for microbial extraterrestrial life or, at least, as a prebiotic environment rich in complex organic chemistry. Researchers have suggested a possible underground liquid ocean might serve as a biotic environment.
THE EXHIBITION- FORMAT & CONTENTS
The exhibition will be in the following format. It will be on similar lines to a planetarium show complete with different panoramas.After entering the enclosure we come across giant screen which will first showcase a typical launch from Earth together with a journey through space towards Mars. It will end with a landing on Mars.We then move to the Mars module on the left hand side which includes a giant screen twice the size of the first screen. Over here we project the Martian Surface representing all data known to Mankind collected by various missions to the planet. You will get a feel how your new home will look like and its environment as well! Ahead we have few panoramas depicting future way of life on the planet complete with human settlements and activities. This is like going into the future complete with Audio-Video imagination! In the centre of this module we have assembled model of the Martian Surface together with human settlements and other activities.We then again come to the central screen which will now show the journey through space; from Mars to Saturn’s moon Titan. This sojourn will take place across the dangerous Asteroid belt and then across the giant planet Jupiter and will end with a short journey across Saturn and the landing on Titan. You can thus witness a journey which no human has yet undertaken; you can travel to places where no human has gone before!To the right we then have another big screen which will project whatever little is known about the icy moon called Titan. This module also includes panoramas depicting the expected surface and atmosphere on Titan and will also cover Saturn’s other moons and its breathtaking rings. This module also includes a model of Future life on Titan together with its surroundings. How about this as your new home! You will have a breathtaking view from here which will keep your senses wishing for more!!At the exit we have an exhibition and projection focusing on Global Warming on Earth. It will show what is happening to our once beautiful planet and how it will transform into an inhabitable place unless something concrete is done in controlling Global Warming and all forms of pollution.
So at VJTI we are throwing light on Mars and Titan, two of the most enticing locations at relatively close quarters from our home planet. This is under the aegis of an event called 'Red Shift'. Do visit and explore these frontiers of the future of human migration, getting a glimpse of how reaching these places and living there would be like.

Publicity Round- A successful drive to kickstart technovanza.

The atmosphere near the technovanza-hub on the first day of the publicity drive was one of apprehension and excitement. Around a hundred first year students and many second year students had gathered around the hub and chatting excitedly about the events. Since Techno-Fever had already set in, the students were well aware of all the events in technovanza. Anyway, the publicity co-ordinators explained all the events once again. Eventually, teams comprising two SEs and three FEs were formed and allotted different engineering colleges across Mumbai. { Such a team formation was thought of so that the EXPERIENCED SEs could guide the FEs in making the publicity-drive a successful endeavour. But as it turned out later, many FEs were very co-operative and efficient and sometimes were better than their second year counterparts}
Each team was supposed to arrive at the allotted college in and around the lunch-break of that college. After getting due permission from the Director and the GS to put up posters and the desk, the real drive would start. One of the techno co-ordinators, Lalit, had explained back in VJTI, “ Catch the students in the crowded zone of the college. Explain to them the details of the events in technovanza. Let them know what a large scale festival this is. Encourage the students to register and participate. And most importantly, make the website http://www.technovanza.org/ famous.” His instuctions were followed to the last word.
The response from all the engineering students in Mumbai was very positive and encouraging. Their enthusiasm and eagerness to participate in technovanza promised a tough and cut-throat competition ahead. All this just goes to show how active, aware and technically-oriented Mumbai engineering students are! Hats off to them for their support and encouragement!
For the first time in the history of technovanza, all the colleges across Mumbai were covered within two days! This feat was made possible because of the very co-operative and enthu fist year students who promise a bright future for VJTI. Three cheers for all the FEs and SEs who kickstarted technovanza with a huge success!!!