Solving Rubiks Cube highlights of Day 2

KOLLAM: The Rubik’s Cube solving competition and the ‘Dragster’ robotic car racing, in which participants from various parts of the country vied for top honours, were the highlights of day two of Vidyut 2012, the techno-management fest of Amrita University. The competitions were held under the guidance of John Lewis, a Limca Book record holder for solving Rubik’s Cube.The competition was held in four categories. The robotic car racing ‘Dragster’ was a crowd- puller with competitors racing with indigenously developed remote-controlled robotic cars, on a custom made race course with hurdles and flyovers. The winners of these contests took home lots of cash prizes.Hundreds of students visited the model science village and exhibits by students of Amrita University.The science village showcased sustainable development by utilising renewable sources of energy, eco-friendly techniques for waste disposal and importance of water harvesting. The science village consists of four model houses developed primarily to convey the importance of adopting sustainable technologies for living in harmony with nature.Some of the interesting exhibits included domestic use of solar energy and generating electricity from a mixture of ash and water.Another major event held on the day was ‘Autofactory’, an event that gave opportunity to participants to get hands on experience in working with automobiles under the guidance of auto experts certified by SAE INDIA and SGT International.Sriram Kizhakkemadam, technical head of Samsung, delivered a lecture on Thursday. Popular Malayalam band ‘Avial’ performed on the campus on Thursday evening  as part of the fest.On Wednesday, ‘Robozuna’, a battle of robots, was held. Several robots fought it out with each other in a wrestling ring and offered a rare treat for the audience.Research Student Sets Record Bhargav Narasimhan, research student at Vels University, Chennai, competed in various categories of Rubik’s Cube solving, during the competition held in Amrita University on Thursday.The previous record for 2 x 2 average category was 5.34 seconds and Bhargav’s average stood at 4.91 seconds. The previous record for 3 x 3 one handed-single and average were 22.17 and 24.73 seconds respectively, while Bhargav’s single and average for 3 x 3 one handed-single and average were an impressive 20.51 seconds and 24.19 seconds respectively. All the 3 previous records were created at IIT Kanpur last week.