Opportunity brief
The Wrecking Ball Challenge is Techfest, IIT Bombay's premier autonomous robotics competition. Participants are tasked with designing, building, and deploying a self-contained, autonomous, battery-powered spherical robot to navigate a high-stakes 75-meter obstacle-laden arena.
The challenge evaluates advanced engineering principles—balancing internal mechanical actuation (Center-of-Gravity stabilization) with real-time vision algorithms to autonomously navigate ramps, smash low-density barriers, and evade a swinging pendulum.
Do you have what it takes to engineer a rolling sphere that can master autonomous vision-based navigation under pressure? Benchmark your innovation against the top student teams across the country and compete for cash prizes, internships, and subscriptions!
Eligibility & Team Structure
- Eligibility: Open to all currently enrolled undergraduate, postgraduate, or diploma students from recognized academic institutions.
- Team Size: Up to 6 members per team.
- Inter-College Teams: Permitted.
- Registration: All teams must register on techfest.org to receive an official Team ID.
Round Details & Structure
Phase 1: Registration & CAD Abstract Submission (Deadline: October 20, 2026)
- Format: Online Document Submission.
- Deliverable: Submit a CAD assembly illustrating the internal electronic layout, center-of-gravity placement, system architecture schematic, and dimension compliance.
Phase 2: Virtual Design & Simulation Audit (Deadline: November 15, 2026)
- Format: Virtual Evaluation.
- Deliverable: Technical Simulation Report including mathematical analysis validating actuator torque across inclined planes (specifically the 0.8 ft ramp), balance stability calculations, and wireless emergency kill-switch implementation.
- Finalist Announcement: November 20, 2026.
Phase 3: Grand Finale (On-Campus at IIT Bombay — Dec 16–17, 2026)
- Day 1 (Dec 16): On-Site Technical Inspection & Qualifying Heats
- Dimensional compliance check (2.0 to 2.5 ft diameter), weight verification, electrical isolation, emergency kill-switch validation, and preliminary practice runs.
- Day 2 (Dec 17): Official Timed Final Heats
- Teams execute official timed runs across the 75-meter arena.
- Teams get 3 restart attempts, with only the top performance logged.
The 75-Meter Arena Layout
The track is guided visually by color-coded boundary cones (Red on the right, Yellow on the left):
- Sector 1: The Gate Runway (0m–15m): Straight acceleration stretch with wide chevron-patterned cone gates for vision calibration.
- Sector 2: The Step-Up Ramps (15m–35m): Three consecutive incline ramps (0.2 ft, 0.4 ft, and 0.8 ft heights).
- Sector 3: The Wrecking Zone (35m–55m): Low-density barriers (foam, thermocol, cardboard) that the robot must plow through while staying on course.
- Sector 4: The Pendulum Gauntlet (55m–75m): Final sector featuring a continuously swinging mechanical pendulum before the finish line.
Technical & Constraint Guidelines
- Robot Dimensions: Outer shell must be strictly spherical with a diameter between 2.0 feet and 2.5 feet.
- Peripheral Limits: External sensors or camera mounts cannot extend more than 0.5 feet beyond the shell surface.
- Autonomy: 100% autonomous operation; no manual remote control, tethered lines, or external offload processing permitted.
- Primary Sensing: Onboard camera system must serve as the primary path-tracking sensor (IMUs, encoders, distance sensors permitted internally for balance).
- Safety: Must include a working wireless emergency kill switch that halts motor power immediately.
- Penalties: Touching, knocking over, or running over any boundary cone incurs a +5 second penalty per instance.