DIAT’s School of Robotics to Research and Develop Applications for Military Use

THE School of Robotics at the Defence Institute of Advanced Technology (DIAT) is set to enter into various interdisciplinary areas of research and development needed for the Indian Armed forces and allied defence establishments, the institute has said.

The DIAT which started in 2020 and is based at Girinagar in Pune, is an establishment of the Defence Research and Development Organisation under purview of the Ministry of Defence. Its Mechanical Engineering Department launched the ‘School of Robotics’ in mid 2020, considering the interdisciplinary requirements of the research and development in robotics.

The school is involved in carrying out research in areas such as Humanoids, Mobile and Aerial Robotics, Motion Planning of Robots, Intelligent Robotics, Medical Robotics, Machine learning and Artificial Intelligence in Robotics, Robot Dynamics and Control and Swarm Robotics. The School offers MTech, MS Research and PhD programs in Robotics.

DIAT scientists point out at the wide array of ways — operations in hazardous environments, inspection and detection of explosives, mine removal, for surveillance and airline attacks — in which Robots can be used in military and modern warfare. Further, underwater unmanned vehicles are key to studying the oceans and naval surveillance.

A press statement from the DIAT said, “The School has also planned to expand its facility by proposing aerial robotics and advanced robotics and systems laboratories. Proposed labs will be equipped with advanced work stations installed with high end software and simulators, along with a required amount of actuators, sensors and various test beds, motion tracking set up for algorithm testing, different manipulator arms compatible with different softwares and controllers. Swarm robotics applications are also part of these lab facilities.”

DIAT Scientists said that School of Robotics has collaborated with various research and development labs of DRDO, Defence Public Sector Undertakings, institutes and industries across India to provide an opportunity for students to carry out their research projects.

Some of the present collaborators are of Combat Vehicle Research and Development Establishment, Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics, Aeronautical Development Establishment, Defence Bioengineering and Electro-medical Laboratory Research and Development Establishment (Engineers), Bharat Electronics Ltd, National Aerospace Laboratories, Indian Space Research Organisation, Vikram Sarabhai Space Centre, TCS Pune and IIIT Hyderabad.

Source: Indian Express