Robotics at IIT-BHU Plans and Options

1. Robotics at IIT-BHUPlans and Options Srinivasa Narayan on behalf of Mechanical Engineering Batch 1984-1988

2. Robotics Robotics is both multidisciplinary and interdisciplinary. This means that it draws from many fields, such as mechanical engineering, computer science and electrical and electronics engineering, and it also integrates these fields in a novel manner. The base of this program lies in motion and control. Upon this base, sensing, cognition, and action are layered. Finally, robotics involves building artifacts that embody these fundamentals, and as such there is a "hands-on" requirement as well.

3. Plans We can leverage the interest and facilities offered by the Institute to benefit current and future generations of students by providing them with the resources via financial support in the short and medium term and also encourage the Institute to develop a serious curriculum that can then last for the long term and to help train future robotics engineers

4. Near Term Plans – 1 to 3 years • Students will be provided with various resources (software and hardware) that can be housed in the new lab space being provided and the initial money raised. These kits can provide options for creating and exploring ways to build robots that exhibit interesting functional behaviors • Over the course of three years we can build a core team of students with a bootstrapping strategy - seniors train juniors as part of teams and transfer knowledge and leadership to them in a continuous cycle of growth and skill development. • This group can consist of leaders from four departments - ME, CS, EE, Electrical as the concept develops but can start with a lead from ME with the capability to handle the responsibility initially

5. Robotics Kits for Near Term • A few good options to consider are to purchase kits from the list below. We could decide as a group as to which ones look interesting and also taking into account the cost of the kits and available resources. • Robotics Kits - robotics hardware and software support and tools to help assemble and test small robots (in no particular order) 1. http://www.edgefxkits.com/others/robotics 2. Vex web site: http://www.vexrobotics.com/ 3. K-Team Mobile Robotics web site: http://www.k-team.com/ 4. Lego Mindstorms web site: http://mindstorms.lego.com/ 5. NAO robot web site: http://www.aldebaran-robotics.com/ • Expected Initial Investment – 5 lakhs

6. Software Packages for Near Term • To learn to write software for robot applications w/o the need for actual hardware - useful way to provide access to many students without the need to buy expensive hardware. An initial list (in no particular order) 1. Robot Studio for various applications http://www.therobotstudio.com 2. Robotics Developer Studio (MS product – Kinect enabled robots) http://www.microsoft.com/robotics/ 3. Mobile robots operating in uncertain environments (CMU uses this tool to train their undergrads) http://www.fawkesrobotics.org 4. Willow Garage (A US Based Company) http://www.willowgarage.com/pages/software/ros-platform Need to do research on cost for multiple licenses after narrowing down the options - some of these may be available for free but if technical support is needed, then we may have to pay some annual fees. • Expected Initial Investment – 2-3 lakhs (max)

7. Example Course work that IIT-BHU could offer to support the near term efforts • Introduction to Robotics (Offered to ME/CS/ECE/Electrical) This course presents an overview of robotics in practice and research with topics including vision, motion planning, mobile mechanisms, kinematics, inverse kinematics, and sensors. In course projects, students construct robots which are driven by a microcontroller, with each project reinforcing the basic principles developed in lectures using the lab space and robots purchased. This course will also expose students to some of the contemporary happenings in robotics, which includes current robot lab research, applications, robot contests and robots in the news.

8. Intermediate Term Plans – 3 to 6 years • Expand the lab to include more than small robots but also an industrial robot and maybe a mobile robot and also develop a curriculum with emphasis on teaching some fundamentals as well as part of a course offering. • Funding for these robots could be through another fund raising drive later on

9. Intermediate Term: Expand Lab Capabilities • Expand the robotics lab capabilities including purchasing large robots and a mobile platform if possible • Vendors: This website highlights some commercial vendors that may offer discounts on robotic systems for educational purposes. http://www.automationworld.com/manufacturing-assets/robot-vendors-persevere

10. Example Course Work that IIT-BHU could add at intermediate term • Introduction to Feedback Control Systems (ME/EE) This course is designed as a first course in feedback control systems for computer science majors. Course topics include classical linear control theory (differential equations, Laplace transforms, feedback control), linear state-space methods (controllability/observability, pole placement), nonlinear systems theory, and an introduction to control using computer learning techniques. Laboratory work includes implementation of controllers robotic devices. • Kinematics, Dynamic Systems and Control (ME/EE) Basic concepts and tools for the analysis, design, and control of robotic mechanisms. Topics covered include foundations of kinematics, kinematics of robotic mechanisms, review of basic systems theory, control of dynamical systems. Advanced topics will vary from year-to-year, including motion planning and collision avoidance, adaptive control, and hybrid control.

11. Longer Term – 5 to 10 years • Expand the coursework and curriculum further by offering new and more advanced course work as well as upgrade the software and hardware capabilities to match with the times • Possible expansion to coursework could include: Mechanics of Manipulation (Mech) Kinematics, statics, and dynamics of robotic manipulator's interaction with a task, focusing on intelligent use of kinematic constraint, gravity, and frictional forces. Automatic planning based on mechanics. Application examples drawn from manufacturing and other domains. • Computer Vision (CS/ECE/Mech/EE) This course introduces the fundamental techniques used in computer vision, that is, the analysis of patterns in visual images to reconstruct and understand the objects and scenes that generated them. Topics covered include image formation and representation, camera geometry and calibration, multi-view geometry, stereo, 3D reconstruction from images, motion analysis, image segmentation, object recognition. Evaluation is based on homework and final project. The homework could involve considerable Matlab programming exercises.

12. Longer Term – 5 to 10 years • Other coursework could include: • Sensing and Sensors (CS/Mech/ECE/EE) The principles and practices of quantitative perception (sensing) illustrated by the devices and algorithms (sensors) that implement them. Learn to critically examine the sensing requirements of proposed applications of robotics to real problems, to specify the required sensor characteristics, to analyze whether these specifications can be realized in practice. • Gadgetry (CS/ECE/Mech/EE) This course explores the confluence of engineering and design in the context of gadgets: intelligent, interactive electronic devices made from scratch with custom printed circuit boards. Students will learn about circuit board design, microcontroller programming, sensors and actuators, and how to make and evaluate design decisions in the gadgetry space. Students will create several gadgets, with particular attention paid to areas where traditional "dev kit" or "breadboard" prototyping falls short. • Machine Learning (CS/ECE/Mech/EE) Machine learning studies the question "how can we build computer programs that automatically improve their performance through experience?" This includes learning to perform many types of tasks based on many types of experience. For example, it includes robots learning to better navigate based on experience gained by roaming their environments.

13. Some Key Challenges • Purchase and Maintenance of Resources – who will be responsible ? • Evaluation of Progress and Assessment of Benefits to Students – by whom and how often? • Development of Curriculum and follow through - needs to be internally driven at the Institute (such as hiring teachers with appropriate experience) with occasional consulting from us • Availability of Funds – how often do we need to do this ? • Expansion to other departments – when do we expand to other departments (I guess intermediate term) and how to manage this multidisciplinary effort ?