AI for Good blog

Robotics for Good Youth Challenge at WTSA 2024: Empowering Innovators in India to Tackle Global Disasters

Youth

By Cindy X. S. Zheng

The Robotics for Good Youth Challenge convenes teams from around the globe to develop a robotic solution to answer a global challenge. Organized by ITU, the UN-based educational championship awards the most brilliant young minds in robotics, qualifying them for the Grand Finale at the AI for Good Global Summit 2025. This year’s participants will showcase their talent and skill in developing autonomous robotics solutions for first responders in disaster situations.

Facing global challenges with local ideas

Disaster response provides a timely challenge for the competitors. India’s National Disaster Management Authority states that India’s unique geo-climatic and socio-economic conditions make it vulnerable to natural disasters such as floods, droughts, cyclones, etc. According to their 2023 annual report, 27 out of 36 States and India’s Union Territories are disaster prone (NDMA).

“When there’s a severe storm, or an earthquake, or any kind of disaster- we need to find people, move them, and get them medical care quickly. Robots can help. This is a good example of how AI can help us at the United Nations and help the entire world reach the UN Sustainable Development Goals”, highlighted  Tomas Lamanauskas, Deputy Secretary-General at ITU.

The Robotics for Good Youth Challenge is specifically designed to promote much needed solutions and at the same time, showcase the abilities of young innovators from around the globe through an inclusive approach. As part of AI for Good Impact India at WTSA-24 it marks the inaugural event of the Robotics for Good Youth Challenge.

“This challenge [puts] Indian students and their robotics expertise on the global map. An opportunity to make India shine, this robotics challenge looks at targeting students to offer robotic solutions targeting disaster management, which is a critical focus area across the world,” said S. K. Saha, Project Director at I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), Technology Innovation Hub of IIT Delhi.

IHFC is the official partner of ITU for the Indian Nationals of the Robotics for Good Youth Challenge. Coming from the Technology Innovation Hub of IIT Delhi, it is their mission to promote STEM education from a young age. IHFC offers learning-based challenges year-out and has collaborated with school boards across India to co-develop curriculums and introduce hands-on learning, exposing youth to the vast possibilities of technologies.

“If you empower a handful of youth with the knowledge of the future today, like robotics or AI, you are looking at an empowered society and an empowered future-ready country”, explained Ashutosh Dutt Sharma, Chief Executive Officer at I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), Technology Innovation Hub of IIT Delhi.

Empowering today’s challengers and tomorrow’s changemakers

Participants are invited to design, build, and code a robot to complete the mission inspired in some of the humanity’s biggest challenges. Over 200 students, comprising 51 teams, coming from 11 cities all over India were selected to compete from 120 applicants.

“One cannot work in silos to create something big and impactful, thus teams like these which have been formed to participate in this challenge have the constant endeavour to create a bigger impact with their innovation” emphasized Ashutosh Dutt Sharma, Chief Executive Officer at I-Hub Foundation for Cobotics (IHFC), Technology Innovation Hub of IIT Delhi.

Teams compete in either the Junior or Senior category, starting with the qualifying rounds, followed by the elimination rounds. Participants have the mission of identifying victims of an earthquake and transporting them to the hospital, while evacuating the remaining unharmed individuals to a shelter on the game field.

For the Junior category, four-members team Rescue Rangers emerged victorious: Satyam Chaurasia, Shreyash Singh, Shivam Singh, and Niket Singh all attend Sant Atulanand Convent School at Koirajpur in Varanasi, Uttar Pradesh, the Northern-central region of India. This team is mentored by Monika Srivastava.

In the Senior category, the duo AI Pioneers, consisting of students Pragyan Tawakley and Prakhyat Prati, won the competition. They are students at Delhi Public School in the capital of India, and are mentored by Surabhi Bhargav.

Pushing for global innovations in Robotics for Good

Participants experienced an international robotics competition which inspired Indian youth to think globally and create locally by contributing with solutions on a global scale. The winning teams were honoured by Seizo Onoe, Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) at ITU, S. K. Saha, and Manish Sinha, Member Finance of Digital Communications Commission in the DoT.

Creating opportunities to meet new friends and mentors helps young people explore the world of possibilities for their future. That’s so important in STEM fields and key to our Robotics for Good Youth Challenge. Participation in this first national championship in India has been outstanding and I congratulate all our finalists for your impressive work”, stated Seizo Onoe, Director of the Telecommunication Standardization Bureau (TSB) at ITU.

“By bringing together diverse stakeholders, ITU-WTSA 2024 continues to pave the way for innovation that addresses critical global issues”, declared Manish Sinha, Member Finance of Digital Communications Commission in the Department of Telecommunications (DoT) in the Government of India.

We look forward to the Grand Final at the AI for Good Global Summit 2025 in Geneva where the Rescue Rangers and the other finalists from the 25+ regions of the Robotics for Good Youth Challenge will compete in the Grand Finale.

To learn more about Robotics Youth Challenge India, check out the guidelines, upcoming events and watch the introductory video below: