NITK Surathkal Engineering Students Shine on Global Stage in Tokyo
A talented group of undergraduate students from the National Institute of Technology Karnataka (NITK) Surathkal has brought international recognition to India's technical prowess. The team, representing the department of electronics and communication engineering (ECE), secured the prestigious second place, known as the Gekirei-sho or Encouragement Award, at the RTOS Application Category of the TRON Programming Contest 2025 held in Tokyo, Japan.
The Winning Team and Their Vision
The achievement was the result of a collaborative effort by students Aayush Srinivasan, Adithya A, and Asrith Singampalli from NITK Surathkal, along with Adarsh A from IIT Hyderabad. Competing under the team name 'VISION', which stands for Visual Inertial System Integrating On-board Navigation, they presented a groundbreaking project titled 'Visual Inertial SLAM'.
Their work directly tackled significant challenges in modern robotics, specifically the high cost and computational demands associated with navigation systems. The team's innovative solution aimed to make advanced robotics more accessible and affordable.
Innovating Beyond Expensive Hardware
The core of their award-winning project was an Edge AI-based approach designed to overcome reliance on expensive hardware. In traditional robotics, high-precision navigation often depends on LIDAR (Light Detection and Ranging) systems, which are not only costly but also bulky.
The VISION team developed a method to generate synthetic depth data using standard cameras and motion sensors. By intelligently fusing visual inputs with data from inertial sensors, their system creates accurate maps and enables precise navigation. Crucially, this is achieved on compact, resource-constrained embedded devices, making sophisticated robotics technology more viable for a wider range of applications.
International Acclaim and Future Implications
The TRON Programming Contest is a major international event organized by the TRON Forum, Japan, and co-sponsored by the IEEE Consumer Technology Society. It focuses on cutting-edge areas like high-performance Real-Time Operating Systems (RTOS), embedded computing, and Edge AI, bringing together top university and industry teams to solve complex computing problems.
The international jury was particularly impressed by the technical complexity of the NITK-led project. They highlighted its successful implementation of computationally intensive algorithms on embedded hardware with limited resources. This recognition underscores the high quality of engineering education and student innovation emerging from Indian institutions.
This achievement not only celebrates the hard work and ingenuity of these students but also positions Indian technical talent prominently in the global fields of embedded systems and artificial intelligence. It serves as a strong encouragement for other students to pursue innovative research with real-world impact.
