Tag: robotics

IIT Kharagpur and Indian Navy joins forces to drive innovation through research partnership

Indian Institute of Technology Kharagpur and Indian Navy signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) on 20th March, 2024 at Naval Headquarters, New Delhi, symbolizing their commitment to promote technology development, innovative solutions and joint R&D. Rear Admiral K Srinivas, Asst. Chief of Materiel (Dockyard & Refit) at Naval Headquarters and Prof. Rintu Banerjee, Dean, R&D, IIT Kharagpur signed the MoU in the august presence of Prof. Virendra Kumar Tewari, Director of IIT Kharagpur.

 MoU signing with Indian Navy : New Delhi

The spheres of studies include propulsion systems, systems and controls, instrumentation and sensors, industrial engineering and operational research, nanotechnology and MEMS, hydrodynamic study of fluids, computer aided design, study of mechanical design of systems & equipment, surface treatment, study of acoustics, reliability, quantum computing and quantum mechanics, AI, ML, Big Data Analytics, Mechatronics, Robotics etc. Other special developmental studies pertaining to Computational Fluid Dynamics for hull appendage interaction, hull sea inlet interaction, aerodynamic/plume trajectory, optimization of ship structure, steel technology etc. and other engineering disciplines will be included.

“This partnership will promote academic cooperation, enhance scientific understanding of technologies related to defence and undertake research in mutually beneficial areas including taking up research projects by Indian Navy sponsored students on the topics pertaining to areas of interest of Indian Navy,” said Prof. V K Tewari, Director, IIT Kharagpur

The strategic collaboration focuses on joint research and development initiatives involving teams from Indian Navy and IIT Kharagpur. The MoU will be co-ordinated by INS Shivaji, Lonavala. This alignment signifies a move towards a symbolic relationship between the Academia and the Military, fostering an environment conducive to innovation and knowledge exchange.

Media Coverage:

Indian Navy PIB Economic Times
The Hindu Telegraph Statesman
UNI Republic World India Today
The Print Deccan Herald News 18
Career 360 ETV Bharat The Bengal
Force India Bengal Post The News Agency
Humming Bird News KGP News Dainik Jagran

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By: Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

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Robotics and Artificial Intelligence for the School Children in Regional Language

Following the mandate of National Education Policy 2020 (NEP 2020), Prof. Dilip Kumar Pratihar, Institute Chair Professor, Mechanical Engineering Department, IIT Kharagpur, has developed one new course on “Robotics and Artificial Intelligence” of 11 hours duration in Regional Language (Bengali) for the School Children starting from Class-9 to Class-12, with the initiative of Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (RKMVERI), Belur Math.

Recently awarded the Fellowship of the Indian National Academy of Engineering (FNAE) and presented the Fellowship Certificate in the Induction Ceremony held as a part of the Annual General Meeting of Fellows on 11th December 2023 at SOA University, Bhubaneswar, Dr. Pratihar developed this online course on Robotics & Artificial Intelligence for School Children in Regional Language i.e. Bengali  with the initiative of  Vivekdisha , an ICT-based Network of  Ramakrishna Mission Vivekananda Educational and Research Institute (RKMVERI), Belur Math. In future, initiatives will be taken by the RKMVERI, Belur Math, to translate this course to various Regional Languages across the country.

Watch the course live on YouTube:

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLiuTvXtM4PTZ0MnbdgqZ0q3XXKCryibsJ

Prof. D K Pratihaar remarked, “This innovative course has already been started, and the students are enjoying and learning from it. With the recent advancements in technological transformations, we cannot only rely on what was once taught to us in terms of science education. Today the students need to be updated with the emerging technology that changes the way we have addressed the rising challenges of the world. The scope for Artificial Intelligence is vast in this technology driven world and the expertise of knowing its applications will be up for grabs in the recent future.”

VASVIK Award 2022 in Mechanical & Structural Sciences & Technology

Prof. Dilip Kumar Pratihar, has received the prestigious Vividhlaxi Audyogik Samshodhan Vikas Kendra (VASVIK) Award 2022, for his notable contributions in Industrial Research, in the field of Mechanical & Structural Sciences & Technology, during its 50th year of celebration held on 19th January 2024 in Mumbai. His significant contributions in Industrial Research include Root causes of failure analysis of Gas Turbine Unit, Pigtail Analysis, Optimal design of Leaf Spring for the heavy vehicles, Root causes of failure analysis of multi-stage Centrifugal Pump, and others, in which the fundamentals of Solid Mechanics, Fluid Mechanics, Combustion, Principle of Gas Turbine, Gas Dynamics, Heat Transfer, Machine Design, and others have been used. He also carries out fundamental research on Robotics, Artificial Intelligence, and others, extensively.

This Award is generally given to one person in one year from each of the 10 fields. This time, the VASVIK Award was presented by Dr. R. A. Mashelkar; Prof. M.M. Sharma; Dr. Mohan I. Patel, the Founder of this Award; Mr. Nayan Patel, Director, VASVIK, Prof. A. Pandit, and others.

The Video of the Award Ceremony is available in the You-tube Link: https://youtu.be/YWEcdTbCQNQ

 

Prof. Dilip Kumar Pratihar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur 

He has been awarded the “Technologist of the Year,” one of the most prestigious IEEE India Council Award, for his pioneering contributions to the fundamentals and applications of Artificial Intelligence (AI). Prof. Pratihar made significant contributions in design and development of intelligent autonomous systems in various fields of Engineering Science namely robotics, manufacturing science and others. He has proposed adaptive motion planning schemes for intelligent robots using the principle of soft computing, whose performances have been tested on real robots. In relation to automation in manufacturing processes, he has developed expert systems using soft computing to establish their input-output relationships both in forward and reverse directions. He is also the founder of Soft Computing Lab in the Department of Mechanical Engineering, and Centre for Excellence in Robotics.

Inputs by: Prof. D K Pratihar, Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Kharagpur
Email: dkpra@mech.iitkgp.ac.in

By: Poulami Mondal, Digital & Creative Media Executive (Creative Writer)
Email: poulami.mondal@iitkgp.ac.in, media@iitkgp.ac.in, Ph. No.: +91-3222-282007

Follow us: Facebook – IIT Kharagpur; Twitter – @IITKgp;  Instagram – @iit.kgp; LinkedIn – Indian Institute of Technology
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IIT KGP Develops Agro-Robotic Solution for Plant Disease Management

IIT Kharagpur Develops Robotic Solution for Plant Disease Identification and Pesticide Use

India is moving at an accelerated pace towards digitization automation. The farm sector which employs about 58% of India’s workforce and contributes to about 14% of the current GDP, has adopted technological advancement to warrant uniform progress. However, farm mechanization in India still has less than 50% penetration. The Govt of India has been taking several measures and a significant drive towards this end is the multi-body project “Development of autonomous multipurpose agricultural robotic platform” funded by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology and run by C-DAC Kolkata as the nodal implementing institute along with IIT Kharagpur, BAU Ranchi and KCT Coimbatore. Under this project, IIT Kharagpur has designed a robotic system capable of identifying the plant diseases (say vegetables, maize etc.) through the camera-captured image analysis and spraying the appropriate pesticide, as the situation demands. 

The robotic system is a tracked mobile manipulator that aims to achieve the conflicting objectives of increased productivity, improved quality. This robotic system consists of (i) a tracked vehicle suitable for negotiating rough terrain field, (ii) a serial manipulator mounted on the tracked vehicle capable of holding the camera and pesticide spraying nozzle, (iii) a pesticide spraying module, and (iv) camera-based vision module. 

Prof. D K Pratihar, from the Dept. of Mechanical Engineering who is leading this innovative project said, “Our device can detect the plant diseases using camera and image analysis thus model the uncertainty associated with the human vision system and consequently remove it. This will help the farmers to detect the disease(s) correctly. Further use of such a device instead of manual operation of spraying pesticide will protect the farmers from related probable health hazards.”

The device has been fabricated by Sun Fab Industries Pvt. Limited, Mumbai (in collaboration with TECHNIDO).

“The serial manipulator will have sufficient dexterous workspace making it capable of spraying the pesticides from the top, bottom and various sides of the plant, which may be difficult to achieve utilizing the widely used drones,” said Prof. Alok Kanti Deb from the Dept of Electrical Engineering.

The developed robotic system is battery-driven one and once it is fully charged, it will be able to perform its duty in the field for about two hours. The robot will be operated remotely using buttons placed on a control panel and thus, a specialist technician may not be required for operating the robot in the field.

“We will soon resume the final assembly of the robotic system and field testing as we are recovering from the present COVID-situation. We have further plans in the future to make this robot autonomous and intelligent,” confirmed Prof. Pratihar.

The Government of India is giving a major boost to innovative rural livelihood technologies. In May 2020, the Finance Ministry had announced an economic stimulus of ₹1.5 trillion to boost agricultural infrastructure and logistics.

Talking about the potential of such technologies Director, Prof. V K Tewari, who himself is an expert in farm machinery design and precision agriculture said, “If we are looking at a comprehensive development towards Atmanirbhar Bharat, the strategic importance of such technology development is profound. Most importantly such technologies need to be taken from the lab to the land.”

Media Coverage:

Hindustan Times News18 Careers 360
Dainik Jagran NDTV Khabar Millennium Post
The Week Outlook ABP Education
Zee Business

Project Contact: Prof. D K Pratihar, dkpra@mech.iitkgp.ac.in

Media Contact: Shreyoshi Ghosh, E: shreyoshi@adm.iitkgp.ac.in; M: +91 8145 736 048 

For News Visit: https://kgpchronicle.iitkgp.ac.in/ 

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