Leonardo da Vinci; the name immediately brings to mind the much talked about and amazing work of art Mona Lisa. Beyond what he is known for in the art world, the exhibits inside ‘Da Vinci’s Villa’ at College of Engineering Trivandrum’s techno fest ‘Drishti ‘12’ on the theme ‘frugal innovation’ speak more on da Vinci as an architect and as an engineer.
The working models are an attempt of the student members of the Innovation Centre at the College to explore the practical side of realising the structures that da Vinci designed.
Yet, it is intriguing to know that the students developed them using scrap materials, including the old damaged furniture in the college, bottle caps and chart paper. “What we had in hand were the raw drawings of the artist. So as to make them absolutely perfect, we created them in a 1:10 ratio,” says Gokul Sreenivas, a seventh semester Mechanical Engineering student.
The parabolic swing bridge, which was designed for trade in Venice and swings to the sides to give way for the boats to pass through, is an attraction. A good number of them are various models for military purposes. The models of scythed chariot, double-decked bridge, siege ladder, armoured tank, giant crossbow, flywheel etc are among the displays.
Next to them, the students have displayed a detailed description of each model to introduce them to the viewer. Sixty students worked at the fabrication lab at the college for 12 days to create the models.
The smart home designed by the Electrical and Electronics Department is about controlling every equipment inside the home using a mobile phone.
“A receiver (a mobile phone) is attached for controlling all the equipment at home. On leaving a missed call to that phone, the house owner can control the functioning from any part of the world. Nine devices at home can be controlled in this way,” says Haseel V, a fourth semester Electrical and Electronics engineering student.
Next to that comes a model of green building design, which stands for energy efficiency.
A glider workshop was also held at the fest.
In the young engineer competition, school students have showcased their scientific talents. The fest was extended to one more day following Saturday’s hartal and it will conclude on Monday.