E-Yantra

E-Yantra (stylized as e-Yantra) stands as a robotics-focused educational outreach initiative originating from the Department of Computer Science and Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology, Bombay. Supported by the Ministry of Education, Government of India, under the National Mission on Education through ICT (NMEICT), its primary objective is to supplement prevailing engineering and robotics higher education frameworks globally. The initiative aims to cultivate engineers equipped with the prowess to address local challenges spanning various domains including agriculture, disaster response, defense, manufacturing, home automation, smart cities, and service industries, leveraging technological innovations.

History
In 2002, Prof. Kavi Arya initiated the distance education program at IIT Bombay, with a primary focus on teaching Embedded Systems. However, the necessary tools and robots for practical learning were often financially out of reach for remote students. To address this issue of accessibility and inclusivity, the e-Yantra Project was conceived and launched.

Mission
The project's mission centers on nurturing a new breed of engineers adept at devising practical solutions to real-life challenges. It emphasizes providing hands-on learning opportunities to engineering students with restricted access to laboratories and mentorship.

e-Yantra Robotics Competition
The e-Yantra Robotics Competition (eYRC) is the flagship initiative of the e-Yantra project. The competition is open to students from an engineering or polytechnic background and comprises 2 stages spanning over 6–7 months. Stage 1 is open to all and is a Robotics MOOC (Massive Online Open Course). During the competition, the participating teams are assigned “themes" with varying levels of complexity that are abstractions of real-world problems.

A selected cohort from Stage 1 is admitted into Stage 2. The leading 5-6 teams from Stage 2 are hosted for the National Finals at IIT Bombay in March every year where they demonstrate their projects before a jury. In 2020, the competition was expanded to international students by reaching out to regional associations like The Association of Southeast Asian Nations, Bay of Bengal Initiative for Multi-Sectoral Technical and Economic Cooperation, and two countries in Africa (Namibia and South Africa). Winners receive a cash prize.

e-Yantra Innovation Challenge
The e-Yantra Innovation Challenge (eYIC) encourages participants to come up with innovative solutions to real-world problems through a common technology stack in the competition.