Bangladesh Fire fighting robot ‘Team Atlas’ won the gold medal in the IT and Robotics category of the World Invention Competition and Exhibition 2023 (WICE). The fifth edition of the competition was jointly organized by Indonesia Young Scientists Association and Malaysia’s Mahsha University. September 22 to 26—Over four hundred teams from 20 countries compete in five categories of competition. There were opportunities to participate both online and offline. Hence it is called hybrid model competition.
Why Fire fighting robot Team Atlas is different
A bronze medalist in the International Robot Olympiad and a gold medalist in the Bangladesh Robot Olympiad, Sunny Zubair has been interested in robotics since his school days. Under his leadership, a few students interested in science and robotics formed Fire fighting robot ‘Team Atlas’ in 2016.
50 students from various educational institutions including Dhaka University, BRAC University, North South University are working in this team. Sunny Zubair, founder of Fire fighting robot Team Atlas and a student of BRAC University, said, ‘My aim was to work together with science-minded students like me. Not only university but also school-college children can be members of our team One advantage of being a large team is that the space for knowledge sharing and skill application is much richer.’
Not only are the members from different educational institutions, but their subjects are also different. Everyone plays a role in the team’s own lab. The Fire fighting robot team has worked together for several years. Has won awards from multiple competitions.
A very excited team to be the first in WICE 23. Fahim Shahriar, a student of Dhaka University, a member of the Fire fighting robot team, said on the phone, ‘Mahsha University is one of the educational institutions working with technology in the world. It is undoubtedly a great pleasure to be the first in such a place.’
The robot that fights the fire
Team Atlas has worked on how to improve and strengthen the rescue methods used in wildfires around the world. Team Atlas has built a robot for this purpose. The name is Defender. Atlas member Shihab Ahmed, a student at North South University, said, ‘If there is a fire somewhere, our robot will directly find the source of the fire and try to put it out. Then, taking into consideration the importance, the fire spread around will be extinguished. The robot will run automatically, can also be controlled by remote. That is, the Fire fighting robot team can control it from outside the scene. Trapped people will also get first aid supplies by opening the box with the robot.
In addition, the robot is equipped with a smoke vacuum, which will help remove toxic fumes containing carbon monoxide through the tube. Team leader Sunny Zubair added, ‘This robot made of aluminum is capable of working at a temperature of about 1000 degrees Celsius. Apart from this we also talked about our ongoing projects in the competition. A ship may be in distress at sea or on a river or emergency medical supplies may need to be sent aboard. Or maybe there’s a fire. How to carry out rescue operations with robots to put out fires on ships or other rescue-related tasks is also part of our ongoing project.’
BRAC University Senior Lecturer Saiful Islam worked as a consultant for the team. Apart from this, the members of Team Atlas participating in WICE are Sunny Zubair (BRAC University), Shihab Ahmed (North South University), Fahim Shahriar (Dhaka University), Mehrab Islam (BRAC University) and Mehran Islam (BAF Shaheen College). Sakibul Ahsan (BRAC University) and Sanjida Siddiqa (Ideal School and College) supported the team through online.
Other Achievements of the Year
Throughout the year, many achievements have come to Bangladesh through the hands of Team Atlas. In March this year, the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur held a traditional competition—Techkriti-23. Team Atlas won second place in Technovation category among 1500 competitors from different countries.
The World Robotics Competition 2023, one of the largest robotics competitions, was held in India in July. More than 300 teams from 22 countries including the United States and Russia participated in this World Cup of Robotics. The Fire fighting robotTeam Atlas came in second, proving the capabilities of their self-made robot.
