Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications
Monday, Jun 09, 2008
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Business Daily from THE HINDU group of publications Monday, Jun 09, 2008 ePaper | Mobile/PDA Version | Audio |
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Industry & Economy
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Science & Technology A robot for every need Our Bureau Hyderabad, June 8 Do you like to see your grandparents enjoying an evening in the lawns while operating a semi autonomous robot to cut the grass? Are you not excited to deploy a robot to clean your home effortlessly while another helps you to move the objects or household goods? If your answer is ‘yes’, welcome to the world of robotics. These are a few prototype robots designed by engineering students in a national ‘Robocamp’ organised by the International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H) here. “Our semi automatic lawn-mover will help do away with the manual one being predominantly used now and can be operated remotely. We prefer to call it as ‘Grandpa’s lawn-cutter’ as elderly people can enjoy the pleasure of gardening without physical labour, with the help of the robot,” G. Rahul, an M.Tech student from the University of Hyderabad, told Business Line. Rahul teamed up with Y Dinesh and S Vinaya of VNR Vignana Jyothi Institute of Technology to develop the robot. The search for an idea to reduce the quantum of domestic work, especially for women, drove Shruti, Sridevi and Anuradha, second year engineering students from BVR Institute of Technology (BVRIT), to design a ‘cleaning robot’. “We have made this using Infrared sensor which alerts the robot on finding an obstacle in the form of dust or trash. It will immediately pick it up to be kept in an attached storage area, Shruti said while demonstrating her device. Some robots with applications in exploration and scientific research were also among the dozen devices displayed in the camp. A light rider robot built with micro controllers by Shriya Jain and Arun Giri from the Indian School of Mines, Dhanbad, can be used for optical positioning of solar panels. “If we reverse the motor connections, this can also function as anti-collision device in cars and other automobiles,” said Giri. Taking inspiration from space exploration research, Bhargavi from Chaitanya Bharati Institute of Technology (CNIT) and Vishal Joshi from IIT - Kharagpur designed a computer interface robot. “This robot can measure the distances and can send its maps also to an attached computer. The rovers used for exploration of unknown planets also function on this principle,” explained Bhargavi. Other interesting displays include a robot that can dance to mobile tunes or any other sounds and a device to purify water. More than the demonstration of robotic power, what came to the fore at the five-day Robocamp was the interest of engineers in the making in working on innovative concepts in robotics that can make human life easier. “I interacted with over 130 engineering students from different branches of study representing institutions such as IITs, NITs, BITS and many engineering colleges. There was lot of exchange of ideas,” Anshul Singh, a student of IIIT-H, said. More Stories on : Science & Technology
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