Mohammad Raafi
SRINAGAR
On a pattern of NASA’s Curiosity Mars rover, two former Kashmir Government Polytechnic students Saturday launched their own Curiosity Rover robot which they have named SAS313.
The launching ceremony was held at a local hotel here and was attended by students, members of the college where they are currently enrolled.
Shauib Shafi Kaul, Shahnawaz Shafi and their friend from Punjab, Athar Abdali, have designed a robot which they claim will work in Mars.
“It will help in collecting rock samples, sand samples, and can send images from there,” said Shahnawaz Shafi. The robot works on Radio Frequency Model (RFM), he said.
The principal of the college said that it is for the first time in India that such a robot has been made that will work on Mars.
“It is an achievement and I congratulate the students for making such an invention,” the principal said.
Many present in the launching ceremony compared the trio’s robot with NASA’s Curiosity – a car-sized robotic rover exploring Gale Crater on Mars as part of NASA’s Mars Science Laboratory mission (MSL). The rover’s goals include investigation of the Martian climate and geology; assessment of whether the selected field site inside Gale Crater has ever offered environmental conditions favorable for microbial life, including investigation of the role of water; and planetary habitability studies in preparation for future human exploration.
“It is a big achievement for us,” Shauib told Kashmir Life. “We are proud for making such an invention for the first time in India.”
The trio demonstrated the functioning of the robot and gave the details about its functioning.
“The 15-kg robot has six wheels, one camera and is wirelessly charged,” Shauib said. “It works within a range of 1 kilometre. It has a camera that rotates 360 degrees and a wind cock that will demonstrate if there is air on Mars.”
To mention, Shauib and Shahnawaz had earlier made a Copter Drone when they were students of KGP in Srinagar.
