Alumni turns generous, lends help for the lab

S Vishnu Sharmaa, INN/Chennai, @Svs037

Indian Institute of Technology, Madras (IIT-M) will soon get a robotics research and teaching laboratory. Alumni of the prestigious institution has donated Rs 1 crore towards the establishment of the facility.

The laboratory is expected to make significant contribution towards robotic education in India and promote learning and research in the field of robotics.
Considering the growth in robotic technology and applications, this facility is expected to attract highly motivated students and enhance the overall standing of IIT Madras in the field of robotics teaching and research.

Professor T. Asokan, head, Department of Engineering Design, IIT Madras said they thanked the donor immensely for this support and they are confident that the research and teaching facility in robotics will make a large impact in the long run and the students and the faculty will be hugely benefitted.

The facilities to be setup at the laboratory are Serial Manipulators for collaborative manipulation (cobots), Parallel Manipulators, Robotic automation systems, Robotic vision system, Aerial robots, Underwater robots, Medical robots and haptic systems, Robot calibration systems, Controller design and analysis and Robotic system design and programming.

Professor Mahesh Panchagnula, Dean (International and Alumni Relations), IIT Madras said alumni have made a big difference to several of our research and teaching initiatives at IIT Madras.

This interdisciplinary lab on robotics will help train several generations of students for our emerging high tech workforce, he said.