“Baikal Beasts” Team from INRTU Demonstrated Innovation and Combat Spirit at the International Battle of Robots Championship
The second qualifying stage of the International Battle of Robots Championship took place on October 11 at the Patriot Expo Center in the Moscow region. The spectacular fights featured mini-robots weighing up to 1.5 kg and robots weighing up to 110 kg. The “Baikal Beasts” team from INRTU (Irkutsk National Research Technical University) fielded a large robot with an upgraded weapon, weighing 24 kg and with a rotational speed of 8,000 revolutions per minute.
Participants were allocated two days before the competition to test their developments on the arena and fix any identified issues. An open draw for the tournament bracket took place on the first day. Each team drew lots in an order determined by a random number generator. The opponents for the “Baikal Beasts” were the “Omnivores” team from Peter the Great St. Petersburg Polytechnic University, which was among the top three last year. Preparation for the battle was especially intense for the INRTU representatives.
INRTU team was led by Maksim Popov, a senior lecturer at the Laboratory of Network Systems and IT Infrastructure of the School of Information Technology and Data Science. He reported that on the day of the competition, the team once again thoroughly checked all systems and entered the arena fully prepared.
“The battle started well. We delivered a quick and powerful blow, which damaged the opponent's mechanisms responsible for lifting adversaries. Then we struck an unprotected corner, but received a counterblow in return. The opponent managed to lift us off the floor and delivered an additional blow from below. This impact deformed the frame, causing part of the drive train and the robot's equipment to jam. As a result, we were defeated. Nevertheless, we are satisfied with our performance; we fought a worthy battle against a strong opponent and sustained minimal damage.
Participating in Russia's largest engineering robotics championship was an excellent experience for us. We exchanged knowledge with the country's best engineers and showed that we are on their level,” Maksim Popov shared his opinion about the past fight.
It is worth noting that INRTU team also included Roman Kononenko, Associate Professor at the School of Information Technology and Data Science; Senior Lecturers from the Laboratory of Network Systems and IT Infrastructure, Vladislav Byankin and Fedor Deryugin; as well as students Arseny Gorshkov and Evgeny Boyarkin.
The “Baikal Beasts” team is already preparing new ideas for refining the robot and intends to return for victory in the next season.
