editorial - iit bombay · 2013-10-30 · nano-electronics group, involving more than forty...

IIT Bombay 8 2

IRCC is actively working towards fulfilling the research anddevelopment mission of IIT Bombay. Several consultancy andsponsored projects have been offered, agreements signed anddistinguished awards given. IIT Bombay has received consider-able attention with its participation in various exhibitions andits engagement with intellectual property issues such as thelaunch of Creative Commons and a WIPO course on Patents.

This issue of UPDATE has fascinating details aboutrecent research developments. We are carrying two long arti-cles on cooperative robots and the nature of high performancewithin institutions. How do culture and values get institution-alized within organizations? What are the inherent chal-lenges? The article on robots examines in some detail how adual arm cooperative robot can minimize risk to its employees.

The pages of UPDATE are filled with a series of smallarticles on several technologies being indigenously developedat IIT Bombay, including, water quality monitoring, hybridelectric vehicle transmission, internet based product designand manufacturing, compact drive mechanism, designing LTAsystems and multi-utility heat pumps and plastic solar dryers.

UPDATE will continuously strive to cover new areasof research and development that IIT Bombay is currentlyworking on and share its endeavors with the over ten thou-sand people and organizations that subscribe to our magazine.

Editor,Shishir K. Jha

In BriefIn BriefIn Brief

Editorial

Academic institutions the world over are transforming intoorganizations with greater commitment to innovating for thesocial and economic benefits of their stakeholders. IITBombay has been increasingly focused on delivering researchresults for the greater society. Today, with the country on aneconomic upswing and substantial demographic expansion,expectations are on the rise. There can not be a better time torise up to the task of externalizing its innovations.

As a country, our people are increasingly appreciatingthe results of home grown research and are sensitized to theneed for nurturing an indigenous research culture. As a result,faculty are able to see the tangible benefits of their research,beyond their publications, derived by utilizing variousavenues that exist today for maturing their lab-scale explo-rations into full-fledged technologies. Students see the value-addition from participating in and contributing to facultyresearch. While IIT Bombay has begun to capitalize on thesepositive developments, several challenges remain.

Today's problems demand a multi-disciplinary prob-lem-solving approach, especially in areas such as education,healthcare, energy and environmental conservation.Developing solutions for such problems will demand that fac-ulty from erstwhile independent areas, each with its own ter-minology, research methodology and culture come together,to exploit each other's inherent strengths and research facili-ties, and collaboratively tackle issues.

For Indian academics, who have historically been rel-atively more closeted in their own technical areas than theircounterparts in the developed world, this would mean a con-scious departure from the past. Self-assessment and intro-

spection, along with external pressures as well as incentivesare called for. IITB has already put in place processes for theformation of cross disciplinary research groups and for theidentification of thrust areas. The highly visible work of thenano-electronics group, involving more than fortyfaculty/scientists from almost half the departments at IITB, isa laudable example of this endeavour.

For a research institution to flourish, a large multi-plying effect must be associated with our researcher efforts.To be fruitful in these efforts we need to ensure that our sup-port systems are at par with our needs. Foremost, thisrequires that we sensitize funding agencies, especially pri-vate ones, to finance beyond the usual, expect more than theobvious, and be willing to entertain risky propositions.Secondly, we need to ensure availability of well-maintainedresearch infrastructure. We need to work in a direction toestablish administrative policies and processes that offerreasonable career incentives to well-qualified technical sup-port personnel. As part of this we plan to put in place a num-ber of processes that will help, (a) to intensify fundamentalresearch programs and (b) to identify multi-disciplinaryteam-based R&D programs with well-defined targets anddeliverables.

This issue of Update is appearing after a hiatus. Wewill now be going back to a semi-annual publication mode tohelp timely dissemination of IITB's R&D results. As always, welook forward to your feedback.

Krithi Ramamritham

Dean R&D

IRCC Notes

Patron: Ashok Misra (Director) r Advisory Board: Prof. Krithi Ramamritham (Dean R&D) Ø Prof. K. Kurien Issac (Associate Dean R&D)

Editor: Shishir Jha r Assistant Editor: Padma Satish r Illustrator: Arun Inamdar r Production: Radhika Nadgaonkar

Prof. Krithi Ramamritham, Department of Computer Science and Engineering and Vijay and Sita Vashee Chair Professor,has been appointed as Dean of Research and Development from 17th July 2006.

Prof. K. Kurien Issac, Department of Mechanical Engineering has been appointed as Associate Dean (R&D) from 4th August2006.

Major New Consultancy Projects

Major New Sponsored Projects

IIT Bombay 8 3


Civil Engg

Industrial Design CentreElectrical EnggElectrical EnggCivil EnggMechanical EnggCivil EnggChemical EnggComputer Science & EnggMechanical EnggComputer Science & EnggElectrical Engg

Electrical Engg

Mechanical EnggElectrical Engg

Expert Advice on Structural Condition of RCC Multistoried OfficeBuildingsDesign of Forklift TruckSuper Resolution Imaging Applied to Scientific ImagesExpert Advice in Wireless CommunicationEvaluation of Slope Stability MeasuresDesign of Mechanical Face SEALS Physical Model Studies for Sump Pump Development of Pipe Leak Detection ApplicationIT Consultancy Two-phase Flow Measurement in a Compact Plate Fin Heat ExchangerConsultancy ServicesAssessment of Additional Electricity Transmission System Requirementsin India with Reference to Proposed Ultra Mega Power ProjectsDesigning of Specifications for Low Tension Load Management Systemfor Electrical Distribution CompaniesDevelopment of Laboratory for Instruction in MechatronicsDesign and Optimization of High Power MOSFETS

Investigator Department Project Title

oooo K M Bajoria

oooo V P Bapatoooo S Chaudhurioooo U B Desaioooo D M Dewaikaroooo H Hiranioooo V Jothiprakashoooo A S Mohariroooo D B Phatakoooo S V Prabhuoooo G Sivakumaroooo S A Soman

oooo S A Soman

oooo S Suryanarayananoooo V R Rao/

Mahesh Patil

Chemical EnggChemical EnggMechanical EnggElectrical Engg

Mechanical Engg

Met Engg & Mat Science Engergy Systems EnggChemical Engg

Chemistry Electrical Engg

Director IITBChemical Engg Industrial Design CentreCSRE

Met Engg & Mat Science

Computer Science & Engg

Computer Science & Engg

Optimisation of the Performance of Integrated Reformer-Fuel CellSystemsDesign and Development of a Process for Nano-Engineered ParticlesDesign and Development of Wireless Sensor Networks for Real TimeRemote MonitoringDevelopment of Reliable Arterial Models for Large Sized PipingComponents Subjected to Fatigue Ratcheting through Finite ElementModeling and Multivariate Optimisation Development of Intermediate Temperature Solid Oxide Fuel CellsStudies in Underground Coal Gasification for Indian Coals

Application of Olefin Metathesis in Organic SynthesisNanocrystal Flash and Advanced Device Reliability

Centre for Nanotechnology

Multi-Purpose Composite Modular Housing SystemDevelopment of Drought Vulnerability Indices for Preparedness andMitigationDevelopment of Advanced Forming Technologies TowardsManufacturing Light Weight Auto ComponentsE-Outreach: Creation and Distribution of Open Source Content inEngineering and ITLaboratory for Intelligent Systems

Investigator Department Project Title

oooo P Aghalyam/R D Gudi

oooo U Bhandarkaroooo U B Desai

oooo A De/D N Pawaskar

oooo P Gopalanoooo A Ganesh

K C Khilar/S Mahajani/

oooo S Kothaoooo S Mahapatra/

J M Vasi/D K Sharmaoooo A Misra /

K C Khilaroooo K Munshioooo R Nagarajan

oooo K Narasimhan

oooo D B Phatak

oooo S Sudarshan/S Chakrabarti/ P Bhattacharyya/G Nagaraja/ V Apte/ B L Menezes/ K Ramamritham / A A Gumaste

Awards

Mr R Ananthakrishnan, research scholar, Department ofComputer Science and Engineering, working on machinetranslation won the second prize at TechVista of Microsoftresearch India for his work, "Some Issues in AutomaticEvaluation of English-Hindi MT: More Blues for BLEU". Hisresearch advisors are Prof Pushpak Bhattacharyya, IITB andDr Sasi Kumar, CDAC Mumbai.

Prof B Bandyopadhyay, Systems and Control Engineering,has been awarded the Fellow of the National Academy ofSciences, for his contributions to propose new algorithm onMultirate Output Feedback based Sliding Mode Control.

Mr Abhijit Badwe and Mr Vinay Bavdekar, PhD stu-dents, Department of Chemical Engineering, received theIIChE Ambuja Cement Young Researcher Award- 2006.

Prof Jayesh Bellare, Department of Chemical Engineering,has been awarded the Fellow of the Indian National Academyof Engineering for application of the cross-disciplinary, emerg-

ing areas of nanobiotechnology, microengineering and ultra-microscopy to a broad range of applications.

Prof Umesh Belur, Department of Computer Science andEngineering, has received the IBM 2006 Faculty Award of$26000 in the area of Autonomic Computing.

Prof Deepankar Choudhury, Department of CivilEngineering, has received the INAE Young Engineer Award -2006.

Ms Sneha Gupta, student, Department of Metallurgical andMaterials Science, has been selected for the Indian NationalAcademy of Engineering INAE Innovative Students ProjectAward 2006 for her project on 'Nanocrystalline Silicon forma-tion through Aluminium induced Crystillization', with guid-ance provided by Prof R O Dusane.

Prof Tarun Kant, Department of Civil Engineering, hasbeen awarded the Fellow of the Indian National Science

IIT Bombay 8 4

Select MOUsOrganization Date Signed Scope

oooo University of Ulster, Ireland April 2006 To Promote Co-operation and Research Collaboration inNanotechnology, Wireless Technology, Network Technology andICT and Modelling Micro Fluidics

oooo IBM, India April 2006 Partnership in VLSI Design Research Consortium

oooo IBM-CAS, India June 2006 Research Collaboration to Develop Technologies and Capabilitiesof Common Interest

oooo University of Queensland, Australia June 2006 General R&D Collaboration

oooo Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan

August 2006 International Co-operation in Research, Education in the Area ofPhotonics Nanodevice Integration Engineering

oooo Robert R. McCormick School of Engineering and Applied Science, Northwestern University, USA

September 2006 Academic Collaboration in Engineering Research and Education

oooo Kellogg's Graduate School of Management, Northwestern University, USA

September 2006 Collaboration in Management Education

oooo Technische Universitat Darmstadt, Germany

October 2006 Academic Collaboration in Engineering Research and Education

oooo Deakin University, Australia November 2006 General Academic and Research Co-operation

oooo Korea Industrial Technology Foundation, Korea

November 2006 Scientific and Technological Co-operation

oooo British Gas India Pvt. Ltd. November 2006 To Promote and Enhance Petroleum Geoscience Teaching andResearch

oooo Siemens Information Systems Ltd. November 2006 Long Term Collaborative R&D Programme

oooo Reliance Industries Ltd. November 2006 General Research Agreement

oooo CANMET Materials Technology LabNatural Resources, Canada

January 2007 To Promote Scientific and Academic Co-operation and Interactionin Mutually Beneficial Areas

oooo University of Waterloo, Canada January 2007 Promotion of Research Collaboration in Science and Engineering

oooo York University Toronto, Canada January 2007 Promotion of Research Collaboration in Science and Engineering

oooo University of McMasters, Canada January 2007 Promotion of Research Collaboration in Science and Engineering

oooo National Research Institute of Astronomy and Geophysics, Hekwan, Cairo, EGYPT

March 2007 Scientific Co-operation


Academy for his outstanding contributions in developing con-tinuum and discrete finite element higher order shear-normaldeformation models for improved response characteristics ofmultilayered fibre reinforced polymer composites.

Prof Abhay Karandikar, Department of ElectricalEngineering, has been awarded the 13th IETE Prof KSreenivasan Memorial Award by the Institution of Electronicsand Telecommunication Engineers in recognition of his con-tribution to engineering education in communication networkand wireless communications.

Prof B P Kashyap, Department of MetallurgicalEngineering and Materials Science, has been awarded theFellow of the Indian National Academy of Engineering for hisfor his technical and professional contributions in the area ofsuperplasticity and thermo-mechanical processing.

Prof S Kotha, Department of Chemistry, has been awardedthe Fellow of the National Academy of Sciences, for his con-tributions in the area of organic synthesis/synthetic methods.

Prof Pradeep Mathur, Department of Chemistry, has beenawarded the J.C. Bose National Fellowship by the Departmentof Science and Technology in recognition of his academicacheivements.

Prof Ashok Misra, Director IIT Bombay, has been awardedthe following: (a) the National Systems Gold Medal Award,2006, by the Systems Society of India in recognition of hisexcellent contributions in the field of education, research anddevelopment of entrepreneurship activities in the country; (b)the S. S. Bhatnagar Memorial Award, 2007, for his significantand lifetime contribution to the development of science andtechnology in the country; (c) the Chemtech-CEWOutstanding Contribution Award by the CHEMTECHFoundation for his contributions as a teacher and a researcherfor over three decades; and (d) as an Honorary Fellow ofIndian Plastics Institute in recognition of outstanding aca-demic achievements.

Dr T R Rama Mohan, retd. faculty, Department ofMetallurgical Engineering and Materials Science, has beengiven Life Time Achievement Award by the PowderMetallurgy Association of India (PMAI) in recognition of hiscontribution to PMAI in the synergy achieved in bringing sci-entists, researchers and industrialists working with variousparticulate materials together under one roof.

Prof N K Naik, Department of Aerospace Engineering, andProf Tarun Kant, Department of Civil Engineering, receivedthe 'Prof H H Mathur Excellence Award in Applied Sciences' inrecognition for their work in the areas of 'mechanics of com-posites materials and structures' and 'polymer matrix com-posites' respectively. This award is instituted by IIT Bombayalumni Mr Rakesh Mathur.

Prof Krithi Ramamritham, Vijay and Sita Vashee ChairProfessor, Department of Computer Science and Engineering,has received the Honorary Degree of Doctor of Science fromthe University of Sydney, Australia, in recognition of academ-ic eminence, and distinguished creative achievement.

Prof Girish Saraph, Department of Electrical Engineering,has been selected as a joint-winner in the prestigious TiECanaan Partners Entrepreneurial Challenge for VegayanSystems, an IIT Bombay incubated company. The event wasjointly sponsored by the IndUS Entrepreneurs and CanaanPartners.

Prof H S Shankar, Prof S Mahajani and Prof J Bellare,Department of Chemical Engineering have been awarded the'Indira Manudhane Applied Research Project Awards 2006'.

Prof H B Singh, Department of Chemistry, has been award-ed the Fellow of the Indian Academy of Sciences, for his sig-nificant original contributions to the area of organochalcogenchemistry.

Prof Raghavan Sunoj, Department of Chemistry, has beenselected as a Young Associate of the Indian Academy ofSciences, Bangalore for the period 2006-2009.

Prof Chandra Venkataraman, Department of ChemicalEngineering, has been awarded the prestigious VikramSarabhai Award of 2005, in atmospheric and space science inrecognition of her work on aerosol emissions and climateeffects in the Indian region.

Prof K V Venkatesh and Prof Chandra Venkataraman,Department of Chemical Engineering, have been awarded the'R. G. Manudhane Faculty Research and DevelopmentExcellence Award 2006'.

Prof Pramod Wangikar, Department of ChemicalEngineering, has been selected for the 'National BioscienceAward for Career Development- 2006' by the DST, for out-standing contributions in the area of modeling, optimizationand monitoring of fermentation.

IIT Bombay 8 5

In BriefIn BriefIn BriefIn BriefIn BriefIn Brief

IIT Bombay 8 6

EventsEventsEvents

Participation of IIT Bombay in Various Exhibitions

IIT Bombay has participated in various exhibitions in therecent past where Research and Development activities wereshowcased to various audience. These exhibitions were verywell received and appreciated by all visitors. The differentevents included:

yy Second Global Conference and Exhibition on India R&D2006: Mind to Market, inaugurated by Dr A P J Kalam, Ex-President of India, and held at Vigyan Bhawan, New Delhiduring 4-6 December, 2006. The event was organised byFederation of Indian Chambers of Commerce and Industry(FICCI) in partnership with the Department of Science andTechnology, Department of Industrial Policy and Promotionand The Council of Scientific and Industrial Research.

IIT Bombay along with 28 other R&D establishments fromboth private and public sectors participated in the exhibition,displaying various technology developments and R and Dachievements.

yy Exhibition at PAN IIT Global Conference 2006 held inMumbai during 23-25 December, 2006 showcasing the recentachievements in Science and Technology, inaugurated by Dr AP J Kalam, Ex-President of India.

yy Participation in the Science Expo-2006 held at NehruScience Centre, Worli, Mumbai, during 13-17 January, 2007.This Expo inaugurated by Dr Vasant Gowarikar, Chairman,Rajiv Gandhi S and T Commission, Government ofMaharashtra was aimed at high school children and the gen-eral public with an endeavour to promote and spread scien-tific awareness. A variety of exhibits from various depart-ments, schools and centres of the institute were showcased inthe form of working models, demonstrations, posters and filmshows that highlighted research and technology developmentefforts and illustrated scientific concepts that would intereststudents. As part of the Expo, Prof Swati Patankar, School ofBiosciences and Bioengineering, gave a popular science lec-ture, titled 'Biology: The Study of Life'. About 8,000 people,mostly school children, visited the exhibition.

yy Participation in Techfest 2007. The annual immensely pop-ular technology festival was held during 26-29 January, 2007at IIT Bombay. Various events were organized. As a new ini-tiative, a major thrust was given to the R and D exhibition anda dedicated stall was set up featuring some of the R and Dbreakthroughs along with exhibits from the Royal Society ofLondon.

The IPR cell of IIT Bombay organized an eight-day continuingeducation programme on patent drafting from 10-18 April,2006 in collaboration with World Intellectual PropertyOrganisation (WIPO).

This programme addressed conceptual and practicalaspects of drafting and filing patents. The core skillsimparted included drafting of descriptions and claims, com-pliance with procedural requirements and skills develop-ment for working with inventors. The course aimed atbuilding capacity in a field that is critical to IP asset devel-opment in India. This workshop targeted participation fromacademic institutions, Indian research institutes, Indian

SMEs, and government funded research organizations.

Prof Dipan Ghosh, Deputy Director IIT Bombay inau-gurated the programme and the inaugural address was givenby Dr G S Jaiya, Director, SMEs, WIPO. Some of the other dis-tinguished faculty included Ms Cynthia Cannady, WIPO, MrMarcus Englehard, Boehmert & Boehmert, Germany, Mr TomEwing, Chalmers University of Technology, Sweden, MrSanjay Prasad, IP Value Managemnet Inc., Mr S Majumdar, SMajumdar & Co., Mr R R Hirwani, Head URDIP, CSIR, Puneand Prof (Ms) Karuna Jain, SJMSOM and IPR CellCoordinator, IIT Bombay.

Short WIPO Course on Patent Drafting

IIT Bombay Research Paper Award for Year 2005 has been conferred on the following:

M C Deo and K Thirumalaiah, Department of Civil Engineering, "River Stage Forecasting Using Artificial NeuralNetworks", Journal of Hydrologic Engineering 3(1), 26-31 (1998).

H K Pillai and Shiva Shankar, Department of Electrical Engineering, "A Behavioural Approach to Control ofDistributed Systems", Society for Industrial and Applied Mathematics of Control and Optimization, 27(2), 388-408(1998).

IIT Bombay Review Paper Award for the Year 2005 has been conferred on:

S Kotha, K Lahiri and D Kashinath, Department of Chemistry, 'Recent Application of the Suzuki-Miyaura cross-cou-pling reaction in organic synthesis', Tetrahedron 58 (2002), pp. 9633-9695.

IIT Bombay Young Investigator Award for the Year 2005 has been conferred on:

Prof Anindya Datta, Department of Chemistry and Prof Pramod P Wangikar, Department of ChemicalEngineering.

IIT Bombay 8 7

TechnologiesTTechnologiesechnologies

Lighter-Than-Air (LTA) systems occupy a niche in Aerospacesystems owing to their special capabilities, such as the abilityto stay aloft even when stationary,owing to the force of buoyancy. Airshipsand Aerostats are two applications ofthis technology that are finding increas-ing application worldwide for manytasks such as aerial surveillance, wire-less communication, product promo-tion, and long endurance high altitudeplatforms.

Airships provide a low cost alter-native for transportation of passengerand cargo in remote areas, where sur-face modes of transportation are diffi-cult to provide. They do not require longrunways and have very low fuel con-sumption. The operation of the airshipproduces low noise and vibrations thusreducing crew fatigue and increasingtheir working efficiencies, especially forlow speed long endurance operationssuch as aerial photography, search andrescue operations and relief operations.

As part of the LTA technologydevelopment efforts at IIT Bombay,aerostats and remotely controlled air-ships have been designed, fabricatedand flight tested at various locations inthe country. A feasibility study of opera-tion and development of manned air-

ships for transportation of goods and passengers over moun-tainous terrains in Uttarakhand has been completed.

Subsequently, several study proj-ects in LTA technology developmenthave been completed such as shapeoptimization of aerostat envelopes fromaerodynamic, structural and manufac-turing considerations, application ofneural networks for design of controlsystem of indoor airships, assessment oftechnical feasibility of airships as a highaltitude platform for precision naviga-tion system.

In an ongoing project, sponsoredby One World South Asia, the efficacyof aerostats as an aerial platform forwireless communication for rural con-nectivity is being investigated. Duringfield trials conducted in May 2007,wireless communication at a line ofsight of approx. 7.5 km from the aero-stat was successfully established. Thissystem is re-locatable, easily re-config-urable, and can be used for providinglow cost data and voice communicationin remote areas, especially for disastermanagement.

Contact: [email protected]

Visit: www.aero.iitb.ac.in/~airships

Design and Technology Development of L-T-A Systems

Creative Commons, India was formally launched on 26January 2007, at IIT Bombay. Creative Commons (CC) is analternative copyright licensing system that reserves somerights and waives other rights in favour of the user as opposedto copyright which seeks to reserve all rights by the author.

There were a series of events to mark this significantoccasion. There was a formal launch event on 26 January andtwo parallel workshops conducted on 26-27 January. Therewas also a stall that provided literature by Creative Commons,India, Creativedot.linux and Novell. Creative Commons, Indialicense is now ready and available for use (creativecom-mons.org/license).

The well attended formal launch on 26 January hadthe following speakers: Prof Ashok Misra (Director), Mr JoichiIto (Chairman, CC), Dr Catharina Maracke (GlobalCoordinator, CC), Prof Deepak Phatak (KReSIT), Mr NanduPradhan (President, Red Hat India), Mr Anurag Kashyap (Filmmaker), Lawrence Liang (Legal Lead, CC, India) and Shishir KJha (Project Lead, CC, India). Prof Misra gave a brief welcomeaddress. Mr Joichi provided an excellent view of the variousdimensions of Creative Commons initiative. He particularly

emphasized the radical opportunities presented by the internetand how the creative community has seized such an opportu-nity. Dr Catharina provided a view of the CC legal licenses.Prof Phatak spoke out the ongoing work at IIT Bombay thatboth converges and intersects with Creative Commons. MrAnurag spoke about the importance of having access toresources for those working in creative areas such as film anddocumentary making. Lawrence and Shishir provided viewsabout the significance of Creative Commons for India and itsimportance for the educational community at large.

Launch of Creative Commons India, at IIT Bombay

IIT Bombay 8 8

Events & TechnologiesEvents & TEvents & Technologiesechnologies

An Indian Patent titled "A compact drive mechanism of areciprocating machine" was granted to IIT Bombay on 5 June2006. According to the inventor, Prof S L Bapat, Departmentof Mechanical Engineering, the objective of the invention is toprovide a compact and efficient drive mechanism for a recip-rocating machine that is free from side thrust.

The utility of this drive mechanism ranges from recip-rocating compressor and pump (also vacuum pump) to stir-ling cycle machines (coolers as well as engines), internal com-bustion engines and pulse tube cryocoolers. The drive mech-anism consists of two horizontal circular discs parallel to eachother, both having a coinciding circumferential groove ofsame size and shape. One of these discs is stationary while theother (driving disc) is rotated using a prime mover. A vertical(driven) disc with external surface matching the curvature of

the grooves is placed in betweenthe two horizontal plates. Itrotates in the grooves about thecentral axis of the mechanismand also about its own horizon-tal axis, which ends up in a plan-etary motion. This vertical dischas equally spaced circularholes, with same pitch circlediameter through it.

Similarly, the horizontalstationary disc has same numberof holes to hold tubes acting ascylinders. Two circular rods arecoupled to each other at rightangle to obtain a L-shaped mem-ber. The horizontal limbs of suchL-shaped members are insertedthrough holes in the vertical discand the guide sleeve where theyrotate and reciprocate and act as

load bearing limbs. The verticallimbs act as pistons and reciprocate (and simultaneouslyrotate) in the respective cylinders mounted on horizontal sta-tionary disc. One rotation of the vertical disc is equivalent totwo strokes (one upward and one downward) of each piston.Thus, the rotary motion is converted to reciprocating oneusing this compact drive mechanism. The drive mechanismenable it to have large stroke to diameter ratio. Moreover, theorientation of the drive mechanism has no effect on the per-formance of the application for which it is used. The line con-tact between the mating members ensures least frictional loss.The number of piston-cylinder combinations and angularphase difference between them can be adjusted within thegeometrical constraints.


A Compact Drive Mechanism of a Reciprocating MachineBy S L Bapat, Department of Mechanical Engineering

The Intellectual Property Day was celebrated on 26 April2006 at IIT Bombay. The chief guest and keynote speaker forthe event was Dr Gopa K Nair, Ex-President of Indian DrugManufacturers Association. He spoke on "Research and OtherExemptions under Patent Laws", a topic of relevance to all fac-ulty and members of the IIT community.

Research and other exemptions such as teacher's, areof considerable importance to researchers in academic set-tings. This exemption also known as the Bolar provision, is anexemption to the rights conferred by patents. Accordingly,

despite the patent rights, performing research and tests forregulatory approval does not constitute infringement for alimited period before the end of patent term. Teacher'sexemption like ‘fair dealing’, refers to the extent that aca-demics and students can use intellectual property rights indigital works, web sites, and similar publications that havebeen created using institutional resources, or which are con-sidered to be topically related to the courses taught or theresearch undertaken.

Intellectual Property Day Celebrated

Today’s manufacturing industries worldwide are facing severalchallenges such as shorter product life cycles, frequent designrevisions, stringent demands on product quality and need forshortest time to market. Product development activities havebecome customer centric rather than manufacturer driven.Globalization has added a new dimension to this scenario mak-ing manufacturers to look for solutions to tap physical andknowledge resources distributed across the globe.

During the past five years, the internet has emerged asa powerful tool to enable integration of distributed data to pro-vide collaboration and interoperability. However as of now,internet applications are mostly developed for e-commerce,facilitating communication in the form of transmission of data,pictures and videos. Realizing the potential of Internet,researchers worldwide are attempting to develop network cen-tric CAD/CAM applications for global product development.

WebNC is an internet based product design and man-ufacturing system indigenously developed by Prof S S Pandeand his team at Computer Aided Manufacturing Lab,Department of Mechanical Engineering, IIT Bombay.

About WebNC

WebNC is an internet based software for feature based prod-uct modeling and intelligent process planning to manufactureprismatic parts on 3 axis CNC machining centres. It caters to

part shapes commonly occurring in automobile, aerospace,consumer goods and electric part manufacturing industries.Due to its Client - Server architecture, WebNC can enableintegration of globally distributed product designers, processplanners and remote CNC machines for collaborative productdevelopment and telemanufacturing. In addition it is anexcellent didactic tool for education, training and virtualproduct development.

Fig. 1 shows the modular architecture of webNCsystem. It primarily comprises of four functional modules:communication, feature based modeler, intelligent processplanning and CNC simulator.

Communication module establishes 'AnywhereAnytime' connectivity between globally distributed users(clients) and CNC machines. Working on Thin Client - ThickServer architecture, it handles issues like user authentication,data transfer and collaboration with remote site CNCmachines for telemanufacturing. Fig. 2 shows the UserInterface of webNC.

Feature Based Modeler (FBMod) provides a very userfriendly graphical part modeling environment to create solidmodels of parts using design by features philosophy. A richlibrary of part feature families such as holes, pockets, slots,

IIT Bombay 8 9

WebNC: Internet based Product Design and Manufacturing System By S S Pande, Department of Mechanical Engineering

Fig. 2 - WebNC User Interface

Fig. 3 - Design Session in Progress

Fig. 4 - Web Based CNC Simulation


Fig. 1 - Modular architecture of WebNC

IIT Bombay 8 10

The sharply rising crude oil prices have put a technical chal-lenge to the automotive sector to reduce the fuel consumption.Automotive business is looking towards electric vehicles toreduce the dependence on oil. However, battery technologydevelopment has been found deficient to support electric vehi-cles. Fuel cell powered vehicles are being sought as permanentsolution but infrastructural demands of transporting hydrogencurrently cloud their progress. Hybrids assimilation of electricvehicles and current IC engine based vehicles have beenshown to reduce fuel consumption by Toyota (Prius, Lexus RX-400h), Honda (Insight, Civic) and Ford (Escape).

The fundamental difference between a hybrid vehicleand an IC engine based (conventional) vehicle lies in theirpower train. A hybrid uses at least two prime-movers where-as a conventional vehicle uses only one. This implies that thetransmission gearbox be able to accept two inputs rather thanone that is, it needs to be a two degrees-of-freedom mecha-nism. Additionally, the gearbox needs to be compact. A plan-etary gear train (PGT) is the most basic two degrees-of-free-dom mechanism. But a single PGT gearbox (as in ToyotaPrius) means that the wheels never receive the full torque ofthe prime-mover, whenever the vehicle is being run by a sin-gle prime-mover. A compound PGT with two such basic PGTsinterconnected, then becomes a natural solution. However,most compound PGT configurations suffer from a seriousproblem of recirculating power within the gearing, leading toadverse affect on efficiency of the system and overloading ofgear teeth, possibly causing failure of the system.

Technology being offered

The technology developed by Prof Bharat Seth and his stu-dent in Mechanical Engineering Department relates to onesuch compound PGT meeting all the desirable features suchas: (a) harmonious addition of the power of both the prime-

movers without recirculating power going to disastrous lev-els; (b) operation of the engine in favourable region of itstorque-speed map; (c) a good torque multiplication at low-end speed a characteristic extremely important consideringthe increasing vehicular traffic density around the globe; and(d) fail safety that allows the vehicle to be operated by any ofthe prime-mover (operating alone), should the other energyarm of the power train fail for any reason.

Further the transmission mechanism is implementablein real-time, that is, one devoid of any a prior knowledge ofdrive cycle, scalable, non-myopic (a myopic operation ofvehicle misleads into notions of lower fuel consumption basedon one round of a drive cycle) and balanced (such that, noneof the two energy paths, electric motor and IC Engine, areoverloaded at any time, whereby health of both the energypaths is taken care of, at all times).

A Novel Hybrid Electric Vehicle Transmission By B Seth, Department of Mechanical Engineering

steps, array patterns and complex features like freeform sur-faces, compound types, derived from actual industrial partshas been provided. Users can easily synthesize/edit/visualizeCAD part models using the feature library provided.

Intelligent checks have been provided in FBMod forautomatic validation of CAD models based on design for man-ufacture (DFM) strategy. Users can dynamically view the CADmodels during design session using Virtual Reality (VRML)tools. Fig. 3 shows a typical design session in progress.

Intelligent Process Planning (webCAPP) module auto-matically generates efficient, error free CNC code from thefeature based CAD model by performing four functional tasks.These are automated multi-setup planning, intelligent opera-tion sequencing using genetic algorithms, automatic tool andprocess parameters selection and set up wise CNC programgeneration. The CNC code is post processed to FANUC andneutral data formats to enable running it on any industrialCNC machine. A customizable tool database has also beenprovided to suit industrial shop conditions if desired.

CNC simulator (webSIM) provides the user with avirtual CNC machining environment to graphically simulatethe CNC code before running it on the machine. Fig. 4 showstypical web based CNC Simulation in progress.

Product Testing

WebNC has been extensively tested from various locations inIndia and abroad on typical parts taken from actual indus-trial shops. Part programs generated by webNC were used tocut components on CNC machines. webNC was found togenerate optimum, error free CNC part programs consis-tently. A PC with net connection is sufficient to use webNC.No proprietary CAD/CAM software is required at the userend. This software is available for commercial use by theindustries and educational institutes.


Visit: www.me.iitb.ac.in/~sspande/


The engine is connected to the transmission via anauxiliary gear set that lends it the scalability for various typesof engines (gasoline or diesel) or for various categories ofvehicles (hatchbacks or SUVs). Additionally, this auxiliarygear set ensures that speed longitude (on torque-speed map)in which the engine operates is narrow and is at the lower endof speeds (1200-3000 RPM), a characteristic extremelyimportant for current (as well as those in future) Lean BurnSI Engines and also Common-Rail Diesels.

The augmenting control architecture is simple andreal-time since it decides based on measurable quantities suchas battery state of charge (SOC), vehicle speed and change inthrottle movement. The decision for gear number in nextinstance is based on state of these variables in this instance,thereby devoid of any a prior information of drive cycle andhence can be practically implemented. The control architec-ture exhibits negligible increase in fuel consumed for 25rounds of the New European Drive Cycle (NEDC) comparedto one round of NEDC. This implies that the IITB controller isnon-myopic. Further, the controller alters the engine torquecontribution based on a "SOC-correction factor" whichensures that the battery is sufficiently charged always.

The result of this unison-act of transmission and con-trol architecture gives (for a Tata Indica class of vehicle of1010 kg mass, co-efficient of drag of 0.25, frontal area of 1.9m2 equipped with 67 hp, 1.0 L VTEC Gasoline Engine and 10kW permanent magnet DC motor) a consumption of 2.7 litresper 100 km over New European Drive Cycle. On the US-EPAdrive cycle the fuel consumption is estimated to be 3.0 litresper 100 km and on the Japanese 10-15 mode driving cycle thefuel consumption is only 2.3 litresper 100 km over with amaximum speed of 190.5 kmph.

This performance estimates compare well with per-formance simulated for Toyota Prius. The invented transmis-sion is a generic two degrees-of-freedom transmission and isnot specific to IC Engine plus motor hybrids, hence can beadapted on to a two-motor architecture for fuel-cell vehicles.Patents have been filed in India, US and European countriesand currently negotiations are on to find a suitable automo-tive industry partner for prototyping and commercializing theIIT Bombay technology.


IIT Bombay 8 11

A vast majority of our population does not have access tosafe drinking water and this has a significant bearing on theirhealth. In rural areas drinking water is largely obtained fromnatural sources and these water sources are getting increas-ingly polluted due to heavy use of fertilizers or excessivedrawing of ground-water resulting in high levels of nitrates,fluorides, arsenic or iron. At present, the purity of water canonly be tested in laboratories using expensive equipment andhighly trained technicians or with chemical test kits of poorreliability. The development of a polysensor aims at provid-ing a low-cost and simple system of testing for impurities inwater that can be used by a lay person with a little training.

The system consists of a set of electrochemical sensorsand an electronic measuring instrument. The sensors are spe-cific-ion electrodes with potentiometry as the measurementprinciple. The instrument is battery-operated and portable forfield use. The measured contaminant levels are comparedwith those specified by WHO with a green/red LED lightingup indicating that the sample is potable/non-potable. For adetailed report, there is a 20 char × 4 line LCD display that

reads out the measured concentrations. The sensor-cartridgeis screen-printed, low-cost and can be easily replaced.

The instrument is currently capable of testing for elec-trical conductance, total dissolved solids, salinity, pH, chlo-ride and nitrate. Sensors for fluoride, iron and mercury havebeen developed while sensors for arsenic and microbial con-tamination are being developed. With some modifications,the system will be suitable for testing for soil condition andadulteration of milk. It is proposed to develop a system forhealth-care diagnostics based on biosensors that have beencreated in IIT Bombay labs over the past fifteen years.Contact: [email protected]: www.mlasia.iitb.ac.in/poly

Polysensor - A Sensor System for Water Quality MonitoringBy A Q Contractor, Department of Chemistry


Parameter WHO Limit Polysensor Window

Lower Higher

pH 6.5 to 8.5 5 9

Chloride < 600 ppm 5 ppm 1000 ppm

Nitrate < 45 ppm 1 ppm 100 ppm

EC < 2500 S/cm 10 S/cm 3000 S/cm

Salinity < 987 ppm 8.5 ppm 1640 ppm

TDS < 1600 ppm 6.5 ppm 1920 ppm

Multi-Utility Heat Pumps is based on patented technologywhich will help reduce cost of pre-cooling milk, fruits andvegetables while simultaneously drying fruits, herbs or spices.Heat required for low temperature drying is delivered free ofcost, while simultaneously increasing the cooling capacity andcoefficient of performance of the refrigeration system.

Waste heat from refrigeration units of milkchillers, cold stores and fruit pre-coolers can be recov-ered using novel patented Tube-Tube Heat Exchangers.These vented double wall tube and tube heat exchangers(Indian Patent # 205 362) enable recovery of the wasteheat in a reliable and cost effective manner.

This recovered heat, in the form of hot water at45 to 600 C can then be used in plastic heat exchangersto dry various products. Hot utility can be used to dryagro products to generate additional revenue.

Plastic Solar Dryers are based on patent pendingtechnology wherein, light weight plastic collectors gen-erate hot air to dry fruits, vegetables, herbs or spices.Hot air required for low temperature drying is circulatedusing PV operated fan for off-grid applications. Grapes,tomatoes, onion, guava, can be dried with the hot air,with out exposure to direct sunlight. Low temperaturedrying usually results in better quality products resulting inhigher value realization.

Benefits

The heat pumps can be used for on-farm pre-cooling of freshfruits like guava or grapes, while simultaneously drying guavapaste or grapes. Pre-cooling is said to increase shelf life by afactor of three, thereby reducing the loss during storage,transport and retail sale.

Distress sale of harvested perishable produce can beavoided with the help of pre-cooling or cold store facility.Economics of pre-cooling and cold store operation will improvesignificantly due to additional revenue generated from drying.Limited availability of electric power and unpredictability ofpower cuts can be factored in by incorporating low cost icebank tank (IBT) or chilled/hot water storage tank/s.

Techno-Economic Viability

The technology of the heat pumps has been tested for industri-al, commercial and residential applications. Suitable modifica-tions will be undertaken to meet the needs of the rural appli-cations. Payback period of 0.5 to 1 year is possible for such gridconnected robust heat pumps for the rural market.

Plastic Solar Dryers based on novel light-weight high-efficiency Plastic Solar Air Heaters costing about Rs 5000 to6000/m2 aperture area can be coupled to efficiently heatambient air to 50 to 900 C for use in dryers. Air in these low-pressure drop solar air heaters is circulated using PV drivenfans of 5 to 10 W. These solar dryer can be used effectivelyused in off-grid locations. Expected payback for drying vari-ous agro produce like onions, grapes, ginger, herbs is in therange of 1 to 1.5 years.

There are several lucrative opportunities to benefitfrom heat pump and solar dryer technologies in our country.Based on survey at the Rahata Block in Maharashtra, INDIA,these systems could be used for milk chilling, pre-coolingguava and grapes; while drying grapes, onion, guava paste,herbs and spices.


IIT Bombay 8 12


Multi-Utility Heat Pumps and Plastic Solar DryersBy M V Rane, Department of Mechanical Engineering

IIT Bombay 8 13

An analysis of the Best Employers in India by Business Today(anniversary issue January 21 , 2001) found that an impor-tant characteristic of successful organizations, impacting theireffectiveness, is "living their values". The culture in all thecompanies studied did not evolve by accident but developedfrom carefully thought out processes, a conscious set of deci-sions, work climate and the selection of specific policies andprocedures. Best employers also inculcate and reinforcedesired behaviour through training and recognition. Theabove survey identified Infosys as the best employer charac-terized by 'wealth and values'. Narayan Murthy of Infosysstates "The task of the leadership is to make people believe inthemselves, the organization, the value system and the phi-losophy of the organization".

After opening of the Indian Economy in the early1990s most Indian organizations have written Values, Visionand Mission statements, which inform the customers, employ-ees, external stakeholders and others about their organizationvalues. They describe the kind of behaviour that is met withapproval, the policies and procedures that are formulated andpracticed, inspiring, guiding and controlling. These state-ments reflect the values cherished by the top-level manage-ment and are usually in sync with the socio-cultural frame-work in which the organization exists.

The Significance and Components of Culture

Culture provides the "social glue" that generates the "we-feel-ing", and thereby counteracts the impact of differentiatingprocesses that are unavoidable in a work setting.Organizational culture encourages a shared system of mean-ings that is the basis for communications and mutual under-standing. If these functions of culture are not fulfilled the effi-ciency and productivity of the organization reduces. Cultureof an organization can be understood in terms of the values,norms and artifacts. Values are beliefs of what is good or rightfor the organization and what should or ought to happen. Thestronger values are in an organization the more they influ-ence behaviour. Values are translated into reality (enacted)through norms, artifacts and through rituals, stories andmyths. Norms are the unwritten rules that guide (informally)behaviour. They tell people what should be done, said,believed. They are passed on by word of mouth and enforcedwith reactions in case of violations. Artifacts are the visibleand tangible aspects of culture that can be seen heard and felt- the working environment, language in letters, the way mem-bers address in meetings or over the phone.

While values are the bedrock of any corporate culture,these must be shared through out the business for it to bevalue driven. This is not just dependent on mere articulationof values. Implicit values are deeply embedded in the cultureof the organization and are reinforced by the behaviour ofmanagement, which is very influential. Values that areespoused but not reflected in managerial behaviour may havelittle or no effect. It's the "values in practice" that guide desir-able behaviour and most organizations should avoid discrep-

ancy between what is espoused and what is practiced. If thereis a discrepancy it would result in reducing the "we feeling"which culture is supposed to provide. Thus management hasto realize that an organizational culture does not develophaphazardly or by accident but it has to be evolved by con-scious effort. Values have to be institutionalized to encourageethical behaviour and develop a culture that promotes effi-ciency and high performance.

Institutionalization of Espoused Values: Clarity,Leadership and Alignment

This is a process whereby the organization attempts to devel-op a values driven culture, instill values and go beyond merestating. There are various steps that have to be given atten-tion to by the organization.

To begin with the there should be clarity and clearcommunication of values that leaders and employees view asimportant. An organization's values determine what leadersand other employees will view as important and proper, theyprovide direction and consistency in decision making in theabsence of policy, procedures and precedents. However whenan organization attempts to identify its core values it is impor-tant to respect the personal value system of the employees,providing them a role in defining and identifying those val-ues. This is important for their perception of ethical congru-ence, employees should see harmony between what is expect-ed of them and what they personally believe is right.

Company leaders should be personally committed andwilling to take credible action on the values they espouse.This creates sharedness of values at all levels, enhancing eth-ical effectiveness of an organization which is guided andspread by the decisions and actions of its leaders. Leaders pro-

Institutionalization for Evolving a Culture that Promotes High Performance By Pooja Purang, Department of Humanities and Social Sciences

OrganizationOrOrganizationganization

IIT Bombay 8 14

vide the role models for what the organization requires andexpects from the employee body.

Support for ethical practices from the organization hasto come from all functions and divisions of the organization.The strategies, goals, policies should emanate from the ethicsand value statements of organizations. This support is notalways automatic, and therefore, must be cultivated and nur-tured by the leader's role modeling.

Ethical Education and Behaviour

Values, policies, procedures, goals and objectives can have apositive impact on performance if employees are trained onthe hows and why components of these ethics. This is essen-tial especially in case of new employees who need to be ori-ented towards what are the acceptable norms and guidingvalues of the organization. It is through training that employ-ees are prepared to act in their responsibilities for ethicaleffectiveness of the organization.

In order to clearly demonstrate its commitment to itsvalues and ethical standards, the organization should recog-nize and reward those values and ethics related decisions thatit wants to sustain and promote. In issues like performancemeasurement, and career development, it should be seen ifemployees are following the prescribed value system.

There is an underlying climate in every organization,which is an outcome of the employee's collective perceptionsabout the organization's value, norms and expectations.Perceived congruence between these perceptions and individ-

ual (personal) values encourages commitment of the employ-ees towards the organization. Ethically founded and valuedriven organizations constantly evaluate the impact of values,vision and mission statements, to see their effectiveness in adynamic business environment and bringing in a changewhen required.

Relevance of Institutionalization

Focusing on instilling and implementing values helps theorganization develop a culture that enhances alignment ofpersonal and organizational values, which is the road map toa high performing work culture. While culture of an organi-zation is intangible but evolving an organization as a valuedriven one results in tangible gains. This alignment providesa work place to the employee's that fulfills their values, needsand goals and hence enhances their commitment, loyalty andperformance. Also following the selection-attraction-attritionprocess, those employees would be attracted to the organiza-tion who would accept the values and culture prevalent in theorganization. Those unwilling to accept the culture mayeither leave of their own accord or can be removed by theorganization. Culture is the focus because organizations thatsupport ethical behaviour, strengthen the relationships andreputations companies depend on. Culture is the ingredientthat crystallizes other elements of success like excellent prod-ucts, capable people, modern technology. An organizationrich in culture is rich in profits.


A Dual-arm Cooperative RobotBy Amar Banerji and Ravi N Banavar, Systems and Control Engineering

Introduction

Industrial units that handle hazardous items often feel theneed for robotic devices to minimize risk to their employees.Chemical units, bio-waste disposal agencies and nuclearpower plants are a few such entities where robotic arms helpreduce the risk of injury and infection to humans. An effort inthis direction was made by the development of a dual-arm

robotic system as a collaborative project between BhabhaAtomic Research Centre (BARC) and IIT Bombay.

In contrast to automation systems, where the task andthe product is well defined and routine, a dual-arm robotic sys-tem must have reasonable flexibility in the task definition. Theideal system should have the dexterity of a pair of humanhands and the intelligence to judge the easiest way to finish a

Organization & TechnologiesOrOrganization & Tganization & Technologiesechnologies

task. A single robotic arm may perform well on routine pick-place jobs but may not be competent to handle complexmanipulation like transferring a liquid from one container toanother or handling a flexible sheet.

Arm Configuration, Electronics and Interfacing

Each of the pair of robotic arms, (Figure 1) has an anthropo-morphic (human type) elbow configurations with six joints.There are three joints at the wrist that support the gripper (theend-effector) and the arm itself has three more joints to posi-tion the wrist at the desired location. A parallelogram mecha-nism is added to the links to provide dynamic balancing anddecoupling of the link Coriolis forces. The arms are capable ofhandling upto 15 Kg weight. The link lengths are 425 mm and400 mm respectively, giving a wrist reachable distance ofapproximately 800 mm. The end-effector is presently a fork-type pneumatically actuated gripper. This can be replaced byan instrumented gripper, having a force-torque embedded sen-sor and controlled gripping movement to handle delicateobjects. The end-effector can also be a tool or a sensor to cutand inspect the object, if required. The weight of each robot isabout 50 Kg. The complete system with its control hardwarerequires about 3 meters × 3 meters space.

The control system (Figure 2) is designed so as to facil-itate continuous upgradation and experiments in the hard-ware. The robots are powered by DC servomotors. The motorcontrol is achieved by a feedback control system based on aPC. These motors are coupled to encoders to generate feed-back information. There are limit switches at the joint ends totrip the power supply in the event of malfunctioning. Themotors are connected to their respective amplifiers which usePulse Width Modulated (PWM) signals generated using theoutput from the PC Interface Card. Feedback from the sensorsand limit switches are connected to a PC Interface Card. Thiscard is also like an independent computer. It has one DSPprocessor with memory modules, D/A converter and EPROMto store data and code. It can communicate with the host com-puter using an ISA bus. The card has its own program struc-

ture that can be used toprocess encoder data andset different parametersto establish a closed loopcontrol. For simple appli-cations this card has suf-ficient memory and pro-gramming capabilities tobe used without anyinterfacing with a PC.

The PC is used to com-pute the set points or thedesired trajectories ofthe robots. It is also usedto program the interfacecard’s internal codemodule and set itsparameters. The soft-ware is developed in-house and the sourcecode therefore, is readily

available for improvementand analysis. The pair of robots is easy to operate. A graphi-cal user interface is available to command the robots usingthe mouse. Alternatively, a pre-planned trajectory can be fedin the form of a data file using the facility in the software.

Research Implications

Tasks such as pouring a liquid from one container to another,pushing a piston into a cylinder or turning the tap of a valve,are few such examples that need two arms to work in coop-eration and in synchronism. These tasks, though appear ordi-nary, call for extraordinary dexterity properties in the robots’workspace. In the case of single arm robots, to avoid the dex-terity constraints, the workspace is pre-planned and struc-tured, with pick-up points and placement point positionedaccording to the task’s requirement of desired orientations.However, in the case of dual-arm manipulators, the roboticarms need to maintain the orientation of their end-effectorswith reference to each other, either constant or at some desiredmagnitude throughout their trajectories spanning a large areaof their workspace. An example can be given as pushing a pis-ton into a cylinder. In this task the two end-effectors must main-tain the same orientation while moving towards each other inorder to push the piston. The successful execution of this appar-ently simple task is surprisingly dependent on many factorssuch as the length of the travel, the distance between the tworobots, initial orientation of the cylinder and joint limits. It is,therefore, essential that the task is carefully planned in the sec-tion of the workspace where task specific orientation and loca-tion demands are satisfied. The studies on this aspects haveresulted in the development of algorithms that makes the plan-ning of the tasks more systematic.

The dual-arm system, developed from scratch, alsogives an opportunity to students of various disciplines such asElectrical, Electronics, Mechanical, Computer Science andIndustrial Design, to modify, improve, experiment and provetheir skills on a working system.


IIT Bombay 8 15


editorial - iit bombay · 2013-10-30 · nano-electronics group, involving more than forty...

Documents