7th ExYLeNT 2013 – Day 7

9:30 AM, Done being fast, now everyone was furiously determined to climb to the top. Bots made, bots broken, Bots remade, broken again, and rebuilt, same story everywhere! This continued till 11:30 AM, after that all the participants were assembled in the SEECS parking for a tour to SMME. After about a 5minute bus ride in the scorching heat of the sun, all the participants stepped out, in front of SMME. After entering the workshop all the participants were explained about all the tools and machines present there, as all listened to each and every detail. After the workshop it was time for them to see the electric cars; fascinated, they circled around it and tried getting into it. Moving on, it was the time to experience the flying rides. Eager, all waited and peeked at a helicopter that the students were working on. This ended the phase of a long wait and climbing a spiral staircase, finally, the participants witnessed the ***** . Fascinated, all circled around it, wanting it to dance. But, unfortunately, that was not possible due to time constraints. Disappointed all forced a smile as a flash reflected it on the cameras memory. All moved back to the bus as it dropped all at SEECS.

After the break, at 2 AM, the Bot Climb Challenge started. Starting with 20⁰ ascend, which all the participant Bots comfortably made, the challenge moved to 30⁰, it was also not difficult at all for most, but that round echoed goodbye for the Robot Hunters. Moving on, the real challenge began as the robots now had to make it through a 40⁰ ascend, which turned out to be impossible for 3 teams. And now 8 teams faced the challenge of 45⁰ ascend, almost made by every team. But the 50⁰ ascend breathed defeat for another two teams. 6 teams, now breathing hard, challenged the 55⁰ ascend. 3 roared their victory while the rest experienced the fall. Now, Alpha Rex, Men of Steel and Mind Stormers held their faces high as their sweat and blood climbed 60⁰, but, unfortunately it was the end for all as not even a single one made it through. So, the pattern of judgment changed to the longest survivor. Men of steel dropped out first. Then, after a very close match and long breathtaking moments, the Alpha Rex snatched the crown off the hands of mind Stormers and sat on the throne of victory. The time passed, as Alpha Rex danced on the tone of victory for some time. And then realizing the trill of the next challenge, of head on collisions of power, the participants moved to working again. They worked till 5PM, then wiping the sweat of their foreheads and hoping for a good challenge, next day, all went home.

Written by: Shaheer Muzammil, Sophomore Student of Bachelors of Software Engineering at SEECS, NUST

7th ExYLeNT 2013 – Day 6

Another good day started with some excited smiles. Boys and Girls eagerly waiting to go for another trip to another industry; this time it was Pakitan Ordinance Factory, Wah Cantt. The bus came and all entered, ready to explore some weapons again. The time passed and landscape changed, as everyone enjoyed the journey, some by talking to one another, while others sang, trying there hardest to entertain others as well. And after about 50 minutes the bus arrived at the gates of the factory. The bus stopped, as all, passing through the display area, getting the glimpse of the products entered the seminar hall. A dimly lit large room with huge chandelier shadowing the seating area, and huge photos of Quaid-e-Azam and the Army Chief crowning the two side walls with a guide standing behind the desk by the side of the projector screen, welcomed all the boys and the girls. The introduction to the factory started with a videos, showing of the force behind the proud forces of Pakistan. As all the people were served with cold drinks, they got explained the variety of weaponry that is being produced by the capable people at POF Ordinance factory. It was interesting to know, that they also have an educational institute, where various technical courses and training are offered to secondary passed students. And in the colony that comes under POF has a literacy rate of 98%. Following that another video was shown showing off another side of the factory that was responsible for the tailoring of all types of uniforms used by the Pakistani Armed forces. Then the questions session summed up the first phase of the tour.

Moving on, the tour was escorted to the display area where each n every product of the factory was displayed from simple pistols and rifles to missiles. After getting explained everything and various photos with many displayed products, especially rifles and machine guns, all were gathered at the stairs for a group photo. Posing for the photo, the tour was moved to the third phase where everyone was seated in two buses which moved through all the workshops and all the productions and the processing was explained to them. There from not that far still not that close, the tour witnessed the making of peace and war. Seeing that all the people were moved to the refreshment section, gaining back the energy everyone was escorted back to the bus.

Seeing the sad faces and an hour still left, Sir Raza Kazmi cheered them all by changing the course to Taxila museum. All got excited hearing that, but it was not meant to be as the museum was closed. Sir Raza Kazmi struck again, and lots and lots of lychee was eaten that day. Eating, singing, irritating, gossiping the trip went back to SEECS. Seeing tired faces all were given a break!

Around 2:30 all gathered around Sir Raza Kazmi as he gave an interactive lecture on snap circuits. Fascinated by the kits and the components, the participants started going through the kits, and soon different circuits like solar bell and water level detectors were made. After that Madam Samin Khaliq becoming active share her knowledge on Ultra-Sonic sensors. Concluding the day the participants worked with those sensors till it ticked 5.

Written by: Shaheer Muzammil, Sophomore Student of Bachelors of Software Engineering at SEECS, NUST

7th ExYLeNT 2013 – Day 5

The fifth day started at 1000 hours, as all the participants started where they have left work the previous day. After some time they were asked to gather in front of the board, as Saad Bin Khalid got ready to explain light sensors and their use. Getting explained that they were, now to make a line tracking robot. The time passed by as the participants brain stormed, with the help from the TAs and instructors, and the clock ticked one. The students were given a break for the Jumma Prayer and lunch.

At about 2:30 PM, as the participants came back, Aymen Zehra Naqvi, Google Student Ambassador NUST, gave an interesting and very informative lecture explaining to the people what Backrub, now known as Google, really means to the world. And what in the world those interactive google doodle conversions are. Absorbing all the fun talk all the students along with the organizers squeezed in as the flash reflected the vibrant smiles. Moving on, the participants were now given a deadline to finish the line tracker by 4. Hearing that, things got serious. Gearing up the mind the participants rushed to cross the finish line. The group crowned victorious was “Thunder Roboters”, formulated by Alina Rafaqat and Aisha Zafar. This marked the start of a line of bright young minds, presenting their proud completion of the task. The Clock ticked four as Saad Butt emerged with a Rubik’s Cube. Excited, the participants, gathered around him, and they were divided into groups of five and each group was given a cube. The lesson started with the first layer and the students were guided step by step and guidance was given individually. The lecture ended as he showed the students different types of puzzles similar to Rubik’s Cube. The lecture marked the end of another day, as the students departed with the excitement of the coming weekend.

Written by: Shaheer Muzammil, Sophomore Student of Bachelors of Software Engineering at SEECS, NUST

7th ExYLeNT 2013 – Day 4

Lunch boxes made, bags packed, Participants excited and ready, eagerly waiting, standing together in the SEECS Parking lot, marked the beginning of the fourth day. At around 9:45 AM, on the arrival of all the faculty members, the bus was brought to the current location of all the participants and as the participants came aboard, the bus began its journey to Heavy Industries Taxila.

The time flew by, and no one even noticed that 45 minutes have passed, as everyone was busy laughing, trying to make some sense of the acts played by some of the boys and girls, while playing Dumb charades. And so the bus entered through the gates, and in no time we were at AARDIC, where all were escorted to a seminar hall, where we were briefed about the industry and its productions which includes Tanks, Armored Personal Carriers and some bullet proof vests and vehicles. After being served with sandwiches, samosas and tea, all were escorted to the display area, where all the productions were displayed, the participants were most interested in the tanks, and as soon as they heard that they can go inside them, everyone was in them! All the products were properly explained to us and then all the people were asked to move out as it was the time to visit the workshops. The tour included the visit of two workshops that were Tank Repair and rebuild workshop and the Descon workshop. The Descon workshop consisted of two workshops, one where shafts and bearings were being made while in the other one gears and tumblers were made. All the participants did a thorough visit of both the workshops, and completing the visit they were guided to the bus as it started its journey back to the university. And the time flew this time as well playing dumb charades, and the bus entered the NUST gates. The bus stopped in front of SEECS and all the participants tired of all the excitement moved to the cafeteria to get refreshed.

At 2:30, as all participants gathered in the lab they were taught about the bearings and the touch sensor. Then they were assigned a task to build a car bot with a bumper which when touches an obstacle stops, moves back, turns, and then again starts moving, using the touch sensor. All the students worked on it till 4:30 PM as all were tired of the tour. And 4:30 PM ticked the end of another fun filled day of Exylent Workshop.

Written by: Shaheer Muzammil, Sophomore Student of Bachelors of Software Engineering at SEECS, NUST

7th ExYLeNT 2013 – Day 3

The third day started in the lab as the students were assigned the task to restructure their, already assembled, bot to make its top flat. All the groups participated properly in the activity, after about some time when most of the groups had presented their share of creativity, Sir Kashif came into action and assembling all the groups together explained the proper art of controlling the turning capabilities of the bots by programming their motion. Getting to the task given to them, the participants started programing their bots and in a while we saw bots tracing 5s and ‘S’ and 8s.

Then came the story time, and all the participants were to contribute with their wild imaginations. There were AK47s, rogue drivers and dangerous Grandfathers. The story ended and the participants went back to work till 3 o’ clock. At 3 o’ clock the students were escorted to the seminar hall where they were shown some TEDex videos on different fun topics. After learning how to properly tie laces of their shoes, and how to bath without water, and much more, the day came to its end. The students left with the message that a person should make the best use of his circumstances, and be thankful of what he has.

Written by: Shaheer Muzammil, Sophomore Student of Bachelors of Software Engineering at SEECS, NUST

7th ExYLeNT 2013 – Day 2

The Day started as Brigadier Maudat Rana appeared on the stage of the seminar hall to give a delightfully motivating lecture on nurturing human brain to be as creative as possible. Many pointers were given, participants got fully involved. Muslims were advised not to be proud of having a complete and concise source of inspiration and facts, i.e. Quran, but to read it, learn it, understand it and then thoroughly find it. His ended his lecture with an interesting activity, involving two volunteers from the participants, which clearly demonstrated his point of view and the point of discussion.

The end of the lecture called forth the next phase of the day, after a short break of fifteen minutes, participants were assembled in the Lab and kits were handed over to the pre-decided groups as they all gathered around the trainer and he explained to them a bit of the programing of the bots they were to make, after that they were asked to design a simple tribot. The time passed and at twelve thirty an hour break was given. After the break the participants were assembled in the seminar hall and a movie on self-driven cars was played as the air conditioning of the lab was being fixed for the convenience of the students. At about three o’ clock the participants were again assembled in the lab and the work restarted. This time Sir Kashif Sharif gave a thorough lecture on bot programming, and after that the participants were introduced to an interesting and interactive software called Scratch programming language (GUI programming) to make them understand different concepts of programming in an entertaining manner. Then the participants were asked to design a three minute story using Scratch programming language (GUI programming). As the time passed the students were helped and all the ambiguities of the participants were solved by the TAs, Madam Sara S. Khan and Sir Kashif Sharif.

The clocks ticked five announcing the end of another day of ExYLeNT, as the participants were led out of the lab and to their waiting parents.

Written by: Shaheer Muzammil, Sophomore Student of Bachelors of Software Engineering at SEECS, NUST

7th ExYLeNT 2013 – Day 1

The day started with the arrival of kids from different parts of the world, including Oman, Egypt, and Palestine, along with their parents and guardians, at SEECS. A reception desk was arranged right beside the Seminar Hall, sitting there and guiding the people to the Seminar Hall was a volunteer student at SEECS, Tooba Arshad, accompanied by the project lead Sir Kashif Sharif. On the arrival of all the participants, the wait for the Chief Guest, Murtazza Zaidi, and Principle SEECS, Dr. Arshad Ali, started. Meanwhile, a motivational video was played to get the kids excited and all the instructors, TA’s and the other organizers introduced themselves and a brief about environment in which the students will be working was given. Finally, the guest came and the first phase of the day started. Hassnain Arshad started the session and introducing Dr. Arshad Ali, with a long list of his achievements, called him on stage. The Principal SEECS gave a motivational speech comprising a briefing on the day to day activities assuring the people that their children are in safe, friendly and capable hands along with a lecture on time management and punctuality. Sir Kashif Sharif was called upon the stage who concentrated on the aim and motto of the exercise i.e. improving the logic building and problem solving mindset of the future of the nation which will help them in better contribution towards the development of the society. After him the respected guest was invited on the stage. He was deeply inspired by all the work and effort that made the event possible. And convinced the listeners that youth, energy and talent when utilized leads to the beginning of a new era.

The end of the speech brought forth the end of the introductory session, concluding it with the presentation of a shield to the Chief Guest, Murtazza Zaidi. Different projects of the last year’s event and the participant’s interviews were also shown to the participants to encourage and motivate them. A tea break was given to all the people of about an hour, followed by the ice-breaking activities.

Children were escorted to the seminar hall for the ice-breaking activities, after the teas and cakes and lots of chattering. Sir Kashif Sharif very enthusiastically yelled the starting of the first activity of the ice break session. A paper was given to the participants with interesting questions along with their introduction. After five minutes of the distribution they were asked to come to the stage to read in front of all what they had written. Quantity of children wanting to be carrots, if they were a vegetable, was disturbing! The second activity started when the children were asked to arrange themselves in the order of their heights. Then they were distributed in groups of four, and sent on a task of discovering four common things that the complete group liked. A job Very well done by all! The third activity involved people in a pair, as they were asked to stand face to face, looking in the eyes. The one who laughed first was to be eliminated. Three round were held. Must say, Very Funny expressions!

The Third activity concluded the Ice breaking session. As the participants were escorted to the café for lunch.

After the break the participants were, finally assembled in the lab where they were introduced to the kits and the schedule of the days and there day to day activities by Madam Sarah. After that the participants were asked to assemble in groups of two, and each group was given an NXT kit and asked to assemble a 5 minute Bot, using a full step by step guide. The groups enthusiastically indulged themselves in work. And finally after about twenty minutes we had a Robot made and running. The

successful group of such bright students was ‘Limited Edition’. And then came a series of bots up and running. These bots concluded the day’s work as the, now, tired participants left the lab to share their little adventure with their family waiting to pick them up.

Written by: Shaheer Muzammil, Sophomore Student of Bachelors of Software Engineering at SEECS, NUST

6th EXYLENT 2012 | Brig Mowadat Rana

6th EXYLENT 2012- Day 10

The closing ceremony was held as it was the last day of the workshop. Rector NUST was the Chief Guest for the ceremony. Students were awarded with the participation certificate & shields. Later the winners for different competitions were announced, they were awarded with certificates and cash prizes.

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6th EXYLENT 2012 – Day 9

The day started with the evaluations of the demos and short documentary films of the Idea Robots. It was a treat to watch the documentary films. Students enjoyed showcasing their masterpieces and applauded each other’s efforts. Students also had a chance to explore the “Multi-touch Interactive Tabletop” designed by SEECS’ students. They were mesmerized to interact with the table. They got to try out the Windows Desktop and various applications like never before. They did not wish to leave the Surface Table as they loved playing Angry Birds on it. Participants then moved on to construct a car racing robot. A car racing contest was held to see who could design the fastest car. There was a close competition between the semi-finalists but ultimately we had a winning robot. Students then played around with colours and participated in a T-shirt Painting competition. They brought to light their artistic and creative skills. The students spent the night in the lab designing, constructing and programming the Sumo Wrestling Robots.

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6th EXYLENT 2012-Day 8

The day started off with an educational trip to Pakistan Ordinance Factory WAH. A welcome reception was arranged for the EXYLENT participants, and a briefing was given after which the students were taken to different parts of the factory. The students thoroughly enjoyed this whole trip and were really excited to see the amazing works and processes at the factory.

Next a Guest Lecture was arranged for the students with Dr.Inam-ur-Rehman, who  enlightened the students with the ethical values essential for becoming a successful innovator.

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6th EXYLENT 2012- Day 7

Today’s day was dedicated to the Idea Robot Day. Students were expected to construct and program a robot of their own choice. They then documented their work via directing and acting in their own short video documentary films. Students came up with some amazing ideas. Some of the Robo ideas included Shirt folding robot, shoe polishing robot, hand wash dispenser, luggage picker and carrier, bionic arm, grabber robot, cleaner robot, mouse trapper, grass cutting robot and many more. Students thoroughly enjoyed the activity and put in their best efforts to come up with the most creative and innovative designs.

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6th EXYLENT 2012 – Day 6

The second week of the workshop started off with a presentation on the Colour Sensor. Students practiced the use of the Colour Sensor by first adding a Colour Sensor to their robots and programming it to stop at a black line. Another practice exercise consisted of moving the robot to and fro between a red and a black line using a loop construct. The morning session ended with the  programming of a Line Follower Robot that could follow the shape of a square and an ellipse. In the early afternoon students visited various schools of NUST including SMME, SCME and SADA. Students were mesmerized by the Nao Robot and did not wish to part with the Robot. They learnt the degrees of freedom of the Nao robot, its sensors, various design specifications, etc. The day came to an end with the construction and programming of a Colour Sorting Robot.

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6th EXYLENT 2012- Day 5

Students programmed the Intruder Robot in the first half of the morning session. Later Smart Brain team taught students how to use a Japanese Abacus for counting and for performing simple arithmetic operations (addition and subtraction). Students were given practice sheets to perform arithmetic operations. They picked up the concepts very fast and were able to do calculations on their own. The day ended with a guest lecture by Mr. Mohsin Lodhi, in which students were taught on different aspects of creativity and innovation. Students were quite excited to questions, and were given chocolates as a token of appreciation.

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6th EXYLENT 2012- Day 4

Students were given a presentation on sensors with emphasis on Ultrasonic sensor. Students built and programmed a robot with the Ultrasonic sensor. Later the students programmed a navigator robot to traverse a maze using the Ultrasonic Sensor. Students also constructed an Intruder Robot that could look around 360 degrees and sound the alarm whenever an intruder entered the Robot’s sensing territory. Students were also given a tutorial on loops, nested loops, switch construct and using the colour sensor as a colour lamp.

In the afternoon, students were taken on a trip to the Holy family hospital. It was a very interesting experience for the students. Dr. Asif Zafar and Dr. Faisal Murad explained the robotics surgery and informed students about telemedicine. A live demo was also given of telemedicine by conneting to a clinic in Attock via Video Conferencing. The techniques of laparoscopic surgery were also explained through a video presentation of a laproscopic operation. Later, Dr. Faisal gave a demo of laparoscopic simulators present in their labs.

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6th EXYLENT 2012- Day 3

Third day of the workshop started off with students being familiarized with the usage of gears. They learnt how to speed up and slow down by using different gear ratios. Students were asked to assemble the structure of either a racing car or a wall climber using gears.  All the 48 candidates of EXYLENT had their spirits up for the racing competition and at the end of the competition the winner team was awarded 100 points.

After the break the students were given the concept of “Idea Robot”. Each student gave his\her idea of personal favorite robot which could help people in their daily lives.

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6th EXYLENT 2012- Day 2

The day started off with a competition in which students had to implement S-tracking without using any sensor. Students were instructed about controlling motors and fine tuning them using their own logic. Second competition consisted of 8 tracking, with circles of different diameters, letting students explore the role of axis and to discover differential drive. Obstacle detection using touch sensor and decision-making using ‘switch’ construct was also implemented by the students. In the afternoon session, students were asked to make a 2-way ball thrower to give them more practice on structure building. The ball thrower was placed in the middle of two boxes. The robot first had to move a fixed distance to throw the ball in one box, and then move back a fixed distance to throw the ball in the second box.

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6th EXYLENT 2012- Day 1

The 6^th Exylent Robotics Workshop, 2012 kicked off this morning with an all-time record high number of participants from all over Pakistan. The Chief Guest, Mr. Badar Khushnood (Google Country Consultant, Pakistan) emphasised the need to improve the image of Pakistan through the use of social networking tools that have become so popular today. He encouraged students to put in their best efforts during the workshop as it would surely prove to be one of the best learning experiences of their lives. He applauded the efforts of Dr. Arshad Ali (Principal SEECS) who came up with the idea of implementing the Robotics Workshop for the high school students. Dr. Arshad Ali stressed the importance of self-learning by the kids at an early age and allowing them to explore the world on their own. This would help improve their Creative thinking and sharpen their problem-solving skills. Ms. Samin Khaliq presented the introduction about the workshop and highlighted the importance of ‘Creativity and Innovation’ that is the hallmark of the workshop.

The formal workshop started with a motivational lecture and a video presentation by Dr. Sohail Iqbal highlighting the objectives of the workshop. Students were introduced to major parts of the LEGO kit including the NXT brick, sensors and motors. Students built robotic cars and used basic programming techniques to bring their robots to life.

A presentation was shared by Ms. Samin Khaliq about the general parts of a Robot and different types of Robots. Students were given a detailed presentation on different parts of the LEGO kit. Students made use of beams, axles and various types of connectors in different formations to understand robot construction techniques. The session ended with construction of a “5 minute Robot” in which the students programmed the robot to move in a straight line and spin-in-place.

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5th EXYLENT 2011 : Day9

The day started with the lecture of Dr. Inam-ur-Rahman, an eminent nuclear scientist from Pakistan Atomic Energy Commission (PAEC). He enlightened students with the ethical values essential for becoming a successful innovator. After the guest lecture, students were introduced with Bluetooth communication protocol. They were given a demonstration of a robot which was imitating another robot via Bluetooth. Students were then taken to different colleges of NUST including SCEE, IESE, SCME and SMME. Students took keen interest in the robotics lab at SMME.
Later they were called for T-shirt design competition at SEECS. All the participants enjoyed this activity.

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5th EXYLENT 2011 : Day 8

EXYLENT participants visited National Radio and Telecommunication Corporation (NRTC) near Haripur today. It is a high-tech industry engaged in manufacturing of telecommunication equipment in Pakistan. Students were first introduced with NRTC products which include Software Defined Radios, exchanges and terrestrial radios, and then they were taken to NRTC factory where they were shown SMT/PCB assembly line and testing equipment for quality control. Students were later taken to their mechanical and chemical engineering departments for the demonstration of electroplating process.
Overall, it was an informative visit where participants got the chance to get exposed to upcoming research and development activities with in

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Pakistan.