Geek Speak: Anirudh

When one thinks of schooling and the fun associated with it, it is usually only till grade ten. All the fun and frolic the school life can give is usually done by the end of class 10. After that it’s only board exams, then a major leap in the toughness subjects in class 11 and bam comes class 12 where you find yourself preparing for the board exams yet again. Before you know, all your exams are done, counselling is done and you are already a student of some university of repute. But what many of us fail to realize during this time is that education is equally fun and has to be viewed from a holistic perspective that makes it worth the effort of going through all the hardships in the formative years. The ones who take a breath and calm down before deciding on what they want to do in these years are the ones who tend to balance both their fun life and careers. Today we meet someone who thinks he has taken such a stride by joining Kidobotikz. Meet Anirudh, a young roboticist and our focus for today’s geek speak.

Hey Anirudh! Do you mind introducing yourself to our readers?

I’m Anirudh. I’m in the 11th grade. And I belong to Devi Academy Senior Secondary School. 

Can you tell us what led you to join Kidobotikz?

My introduction to Kidobotikz is a rather interesting story. I used to live in the vicinity of KK Nagar. So, I’ve known Kidobotikz ever since their inception. And I have always been pestering my parents about getting me enrolled here. But when I asked mom for the first time, she wanted me to concentrate on my studies because she wasn’t sure if I would fit in or was robotics a good choice for me. Then, I let it go. But as it turns out, my parents had made enquires on Kidobotikz and had understood what was being done here. So, as a surprise for my 15th birthday, my parents brought me to the Kidobotikz center and told me that I had been enrolled here. 

Interesting. So, how does it feel to be a robotics hobbyist? And what impact has Kidobotikz had on you ?

Well, since I am in class 11, I have a extensive syllabi to study as it is. Thanks to Kidobotikz, I have actually learnt a few of these concepts before hand. Also, it is very helpful when it comes to learning concepts because I can now imagine how every theory plays out. This way, the learning becomes easy. Even otherwise, Robotics is a much needed diversion for me after a hard week at school.

Moreover, Kidobotikz has also had one profound impact on students like me. Now that I actually know what the crux of engineering would be like, it helps in the decision making process when it comes to the choice of field for my undergrad studies. 

Now that you say Kidobotikz has helped you with the decision making, what have you decided to do for your graduation?

I’ve always been interested with flying, aviation and the whole gamut of soaring in the sky. So, I’ve kept tabs on things happening in the aviation and aerospace industries. More importantly, I am very interested in the work of NASA, SpaceX and others. So, I am thinking of pursuing aerospace engineering. As of now, I’ve set my sights on the Indian Institute of Space science and Technology(IIST) Thiruvananthapuram.

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IAF's Western Air Command places all bases under drone surveillance

IAI Searcher

The Indian Air Force's (IAF) premier Western Air Command (WAC) on Saturday declared that it was putting all of its bases under a 'continuous' surveillance by drones or Unmanned Aerial Vehicles (UAVs). This has been done to enhance the security cover in and around the 200 bases which come under the WAC.

IAF's Searcher MkII

It was for the first time that such a move had been undertaken. The IAF has Israel-made Heron and Searcher UAVs in its fleet on which differing payload can be fitted. They can, given the payload, be used in a variety of missions. The IAF as yet does not armed UAVs. 

The Delhi-based WAC, given its location and critical Area Of Responsibility (AOR) has been involved in practically all the major wars India has fought. The command also has maintained lines of supply for troops deployed on the Siachen glacier.

MOVE IN THE WAKE OF PATHANKOT TERROR STRIKE 

Heron MALE drone

Indicators are that this is move made in the wake of the terrorist strike on the Pathankot air force station, earlier this year. During that particular operation, it was a UAV which had pointed out the location of the terrorists who'd taken the cover of bushes. Explaining the move, a source said, "When there is an exercise on, the full strength of a base is on an operational deployment. The security pickets and patrols are enhanced and strengthened. Following the terror strike, a lot of measures were undertaken. The UAVs will tell us how good are these measures and the coordination unfolding".

"Deploying UAVs given the flexibility to the commander to immediately cross check the actual deployment of assets and personnel on ground," said another source.

Source: India Today

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The Great Indian Engineering Bungle ! !

If we’ve had a look at the calendars today, not many of us would’ve bothered to look twice. It is a relatively normal date, September 15. But what the many of us do not know is that today is Engineer’s day, a day that commemorates the birthday of Shri. M. Visvesvaraya, a great Indian engineering juggernaut.

However, are we actually celebrating the Indian engineering education scenario? Not quite. India’s education system is often cited as one of the main contributors to the economic rise of India. The size of India’s higher education market is about $40 billion per year. Presently about 12.4 percent of students go for higher education from the country. If India were to increase that figure of 12.4% to 30%, then it would need another 800 to one thousand universities and over 40,000 colleges in the next 10 years. 

India, with more than a billion residents, has the second largest education system in the world (after China). But contrary to the image of India as a youthful engine of economic growth where many urban-based citizens work in some of the best technology-centered jobs in the world, the ground reality is such that many technically qualified students are found to be wanting in technical skills. Skills which signify a person’s cognitive capabilities and technical acumen seem to be relatively low in the new generation of engineering graduates that are churned out of India’s 3,345 engineering colleges.

If there’s a key take away from this, it has to be the fact that the education system seems to falter in a few key areas. Thanks to the Indian attitudes of “रट लेना” , most students tend to just rush through concepts in the last moment, memorize them and leave with half baked knowledge for the examinations. Once they are done with examinations, the whole subject or concept becomes useless to them. The practical learning of concepts is something these students give less credence to. 

When such is the state, how can a culture of innovation and competition thrive in an ecosystem where thousands of engineers with basically zero understanding of concepts are made to sit in front of personnel from the industry who are on the lookout for talent that has a practical understanding of the industry. This is one of the main reasons why a majority of engineers in our country are considered unemployable.

How can this be changed? By endless lectures to bored audiences? A big NO.

The indian engineering scenario cannot be changed at the superficial level. It needs change at the grassroots level- the schooling. If every student is shown the importance of creativity and the significance of practically learning his concepts, whether be it Science or Math, he/she would shun from memorizing concepts and rather try to learn them. 

Concepts in STEM learning can be learnt using innovative activities such as building miniature working models of cars, aircraft or robots. This will help them fine tune their understanding of vital concepts of science and technology and understand the inner workings behind major tech. 

Let us save budding engineers from the indian education scenario and earn them the future they deserve.

Happy Engineers Day ! 

Happy Roboting ! !

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Volvo's autonomous truck navigates itself through a dark mine

Earlier in the year, Volvo unveiled a fully autonomous construction truck that it planned to test in underground mines and that it said would "revolutionize the mining industry." Today, it has revealed more details of the planned testing and released footage of the truck operating beneath the Earth's surface.

Volvo says the FMX is the first autonomous truck in the world to be operated underground Six sensors, including GPS, radar and LiDAR, are fitted to the truck In the event that an obstacle is detected, the truck will stop and contact its control ... Of the sensors fitted to the truck, at least two are said to be able to ...

The Volvo FMX is part of a research project aimed at improving safety and productivity in places like mines, ports and other restricted and controlled environments that have a lot of repetitive driving.

The testing will take place at the Boliden mine in Kristineberg, Sweden. The FMX, which Volvo says is actually the first autonomous truck in the world to be tested underground, will cover a distance of 7 km (4 mi) into the mine and will reach a depth of 1,320 m (4,330 ft).

Six sensors, including GPS, radar and LiDAR, are fitted to the truck to continuously monitor its surroundings. The system creates a map of the mine's geometry and uses it to create a route through the tunnels for the truck to follow, as well to inform steering, gear changes and speed. Each visit allows the truck to further refine its model of the mine and to subsequently optimize its route and fuel consumption.

Of the sensors fitted to the truck, at least two – and often three – are said to be able to monitor any point of its surroundings at any given time. In the event that an obstacle is detected, the truck will stop and contact its control center. To demonstrate this, Volvo has released a video showing member of the Volvo Group's executive board and its chief technology officer Torbjörn Holmström standing in the path of the truck.

"No matter what type of vehicle we develop, safety is always our primary concern and this also applies to self-driving vehicles," says Holmström. "I was convinced the truck would stop, but naturally I felt a knot in my stomach until the truck applied its brakes."

Volvo says the technology employed will ultimately help to optimize mining logistics. Such trucks will be able to operate continuously, eliminate congestion and cut the time taken for loading and unloading. In addition, the trucks need not wait for mines to be ventilated after blasting to continue operating, unlike people.

The testing at Boliden is due to begin soon and Volvo says it plans to have three such trucks being tested within a year.

The Volvo video below provides more information about the Volvo FMX.

Sources: New Atlas, Volvo Group, Volvo Trucks

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MIT Invented a Camera That Can Read Closed Books

With help from their colleagues at the Georgia Institute of Technology, a team of researchers from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) have developed a prototype imaging system that aims to read through closed books. In their recent study, the team tested the system using a stack of papers with one letter printed on each and found that it could correctly identify those written on the top nine sheets.

The new system takes advantage of terahertz radiation – the band of electromagnetic radiation that lies between microwaves and infrared light on the electromagnetic spectrum. Although other wave types – such as X-rays – can also penetrate surfaces, the team chose to use terahertz radiation because it can differentiate between ink and blank paper in a way that X-rays cannot. This stems from the fact that different chemicals absorb different terahertz frequencies to varying degrees, giving each chemical – such as those used in ink and paper – a unique frequency signature.

MIT algorithms designed to capture images from each paper use this absorption difference to make the characters as clear as possible. Afterwards, algorithms developed by Georgia Tech were able to interpret the often-distorted images as letters.

There is a spectral difference in absorption of a blank paper and ink material. The team tuned to that spectral contrast using computational methods to enhance the contrast significantly. This rendered the letters visible to their next algorithm, which recognized the characters.

The terahertz camera in the current prototype of the device emits terahertz radiation in ultrashort bursts. These bursts are reflected back to the camera's built-in sensors from the tiny air pockets that are trapped between each of the pages, which have different refractive indexes.

After hitting the sensor, the radiation is analyzed by an algorithm that determines the distance to each individual page of the book using the difference between its emission time and the time at which the reflected radiation returned to the sensor.

Page distances help the algorithm that renders the images filter out the "noise" created by radiation that bounces around the gaps before returning to the sensor. By pinpointing only terahertz signals with arrival times that are suggestive of real reflections, the device combines this data with measures of the reflections' energy and assumptions regarding the energy profiles of these reflections and noise statistics. Ultimately, this allows the device to shed light on the chemical properties of the surfaces that reflected the terahertz radiation and "read" the letters on each page.

The current device can read up to a depth of nine pages in a stack of paper – after this point, the energy of the reflected terahertz signal is too low for the sensors to be able to distinguish between different terahertz frequency signatures, making letter differentiation impossible. Future research will work on achieving deeper penetration through improving detector accuracy and radiation source power, and the technology could one day be used to look inside books that are too old to open without risking severe degradation.

The findings were published in the journal Nature Communications.

Source: New Atlas, Gizmodo, MIT News

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Introducing VIPER, a must have for roboticists.

“All good things come in small packages”. This is a famous saying that most of us are aware of.

We have now come up with our own version of a “small package” !

SP Robotic Works, the parent company of Kidobotikz is proud to unveil the VIPER series of motor drivers. VIPER is a state of the art speed control motor driver which has been developed to cater to the burgeoning demand for speed control motor drivers in both the industries and the academia. This product builds on the tradition of SP Robotic Works which has churned out several cutting edge motor drivers in the past such as Phoenix and Fireblade. 

This motor driver which has been developed by the in-house R&D team, the same team responsible for the Kidobotikz series of Robotics educational kits, packs in quite a lot of capabilities. It is a highly efficient and easy to use dual motor driver which can be used on a wide range of DC motors that are available on the market. Having a rating of 25 Amps, this can be used in a variety of applications. 

Says Ranganath, a member of the R&D team which developed the Viper, ”For students of roboting across the country, finding a high-quality motor driver with high rating has always been an issue. Not many products are available across the country and consumers always have relied upon imports from western nations for such motor drivers. As has always been with imported products, the costs and warranty has been an issue. The unavailability of such a product has always piqued the interests of the SPRW team. The efforts which culminated in this direction resulted in the development of the VIPER. 6 months of concerted efforts and testing finally paid off.” 

A key difference between VIPER and it’s predecessors is the fact that VIPER involves speed control functions that many products across the market are not capable of. Unlike other relay based controller boards, Viper has sophisticated electronics such as MOSFETS to make the control smoother, enable speed control and also generates the necessary combination of signals for the user. Such advanced features make the control of robots effortless. The functionality of Viper is rich as well. It enables 9 functions on the controls - forward, reverse, spot left, spot right, forward right, forward left, reverse left, reverse right and stop with the additional option of Speed Control. VIPER is one of its kind to have reverse polarity protection which is a feature unheard of in the market. By this feature the endurance and durability of the VIPER is maintained.

While all these features make it a formidable and impressive option for students and roboticists, there’s another major reason why SP Robotic works takes pride in the VIPER. SPRW is the first company in India and only the 4th company in the world to have developed such a product. 

So, what are the applications that can use VIPER?

“VIPER can be used in several industrial DC motors which work on a high current. Apart from this, it can also be used in applications where the speed control is desired to be accurate. These applications could range in sophistication from Unmanned Ground Vehicles to Automated Garage Opening doors.” opines Ranganath, who had himself felt the need for such a low cost speed control driver during his college days. Today he is proud to be associated with a product that actually solves a problem that had plagued his projects. 

Are you robotics hobbyist? Do you like robots that display high torque and insane speed? Is it time to upgrade your existing race robots and sumo robots?

Then this piece of news will surely have you pumped up!

If you wish to get yourself a VIPER, visit here.

Happy Roboting ! !

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3 Ways robots are helping students

Robots changing the education system? Sounds too good to be true, doesn’t it?

Well, the ground reality shows otherwise. As technologies advance, the presence of robots in our life will become more pronounced. But does this mean that we are in a rather futuristic situation where robots have actually replaced the faculty? Not currently! But, if the signs hold true, we are headed in a direction that is quite positive.

However, the current situation is not quite bad either. Robots are still primitive, less futuristic and more of wires, but they have already managed to pull off a significant impact on certain areas.

In particular, their impact on the classrooms of today are one that makes us sit up and observe. Here are three ways that robots have been used that legitimately benefit students:

1. Intelligent toy robots

In the past few years, several new innovations have led to the arrival of cute little toy robots that serve many purposes. These give company to children and take on the role of their pets. Designed to be aesthetically appeasing and cute in general, these robots are in effect stress busters for scores of adults and play buddies for thousands of children. More importantly, these robots help students balance their stressful evenings with bout of joyful interaction.

2. Teaching Students with Autism

It is a known fact that young children autism usually find a hard time in social interactions. They find it very difficult to develop rapport with their teachers and fellow students. However, studies show that they are comfortable with robots. Experts believe this connection is made more easily because autistic children prefer the lack of emotion and eye contact that they get from the robots.

For this reason, some special education classrooms have purchased robots that can lead autistic children in a variety of lessons to improve their fundamental skills. Though robots won’t be replacing teachers anytime soon, having them available to provide supplemental education is a plus for these students who tend to shy away from human contact.

3. Teaching STEM through robotics.

This is by far the most important intervention by robotics into the education system. Thanks to the efforts by several educators and visionaries, the world of robotics is now being used as a stepping stone in mainstream education to make concepts more relatable and easier for parsing for the innovators for tomorrow. Concepts such as robotics kits are now transforming the way students learn their educational concepts. Robotics kits promote a practical way of learning.

We at Kidobotikz are a part of this proud tradition that is using robots to change the classrooms of tomorrow.

Happy roboting ! !

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