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Papers

Below are abstracts of my original technical papers, technical reports and seminars. Click on the title below to read more about them. Full text is available for download for some of them.

Original Papers
An Innovative Design of a Flexible Robotic Gripper for use in Prosthesis
Finding the shortest path for a mobile robot in an unmapped maze from minimum runs
Reflex System of a Robot for Collision Avoidance

Technical Reports
3D Gaming Engines & How to program them

Seminars
Multiple Robot Systems: Task Distribution, Coordination & Localization

Note: The download material is either is PDF or Powerpoint format. Powerpoint files require the Microsoft Powerpoint software, while PDF files require the freely available Adobe Acrobat Reader. You can obtain Acrobat Reader by clicking on the link below.

An Innovative Design of a Flexible Robotic Gripper for use in Prosthesis

This paper describes the complete design of a Robotic Hand which can be used for prosthesis. This design aims to overcome the gripping problems in earlier prosthesis, while still maintaining the simplicity of design, miniaturization and lightness. The objective has been to design hand which can grasp objects of a variety of softness and shape, and grip tightly without damaging them. To achieve this, a backbone of a spring system has been used in conjunction with the actuation system. Three of the five fingered hand have 2 DOFs while the rest two have only 1 DOF, which is more than those available in currently available prosthetic hands (there are, however, in total only two active DOFs). Sensors form a closed loop feedback to detect and avoid slippage in case of a change in weight of the object. The input from the user is taken by using electromyogram (EMG) classification, better known as myoelectric signals. This results in a hand which can grasp a multitude of objects and grip with force as much as is required to avoid slippage, at the same time it is comfortable and easy to use for the user.

This paper was selected for the finals in Original Technical Paper Presentation, Instrumentation and Control Department during the IEEE NSIT technical fest, Innovision 2003. It could not be presented due to unavoidable reasons.

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Finding the shortest path for a mobile robot in an unmapped maze from minimum runs

This paper describes an algorithm which can be used to program robots to find the shortest path to any point in an unmapped maze. The algorithm contains integration of various different calculations to decide at each point where to go, and in the end, to use further optimizations to minimize the distance traveled. The base is a recursive engine, which tries out all possible routes. Optimizations like Direction Weightage, U-turn removal, Visited Map and Back-stepping help decide at each step where to go, thus finding the shortest path from minimum runs.

Also developed is simulation software with features like single-stepping, etc. and a random maze generator to test the program.

This paper was presented in the International Conference on CAD, CAM, Robotics and Autonomous Factories (INCARF 2003), IIT, New Delhi

Complete Paper - [230 KB]
Presentation for conference - [102 KB]

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Reflex System of a Robot for Collision Avoidance (with Joy Sharma )

One of the amazing things about the human body is the inbuilt reflex system. The idea of the reflex system is to take the load off the brain and to provide spontaneous reaction. In normal circumstances, the nervous system sends electric pulses to the brain via the spinal cord. The brain then analyses the pulses and hence decides what to do. However if somebody is pricked by a pin, the electric pulses go to the spinal cord where a reaction is produced. This reaction does not depend so much on what has pricked you, but more on where you have been pricked and actuation takes place accordingly. This is because there should be only one reaction, which is to move away from the pin.

If we look at the central processor of a robot as the brain, and the mechanical systems as the body, then there should be a system analogous to the reflex system also. The system that we have designed aims to do just that. We've further improved this system by extending the sensing to outside the body, and hence used it for collision avoidance.

This paper won the second prize in Original Technical Paper Presentation, Instrumentation and Control Department during the IEEE NSIT technical fest, Innovision 2002.

Complete Paper - [275 KB]

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3D Gaming Engines & How to Program Them

This technical report describes 3D gaming engines, and brief details about the way to program it. It talks in reference to FPS (First Person Shooters). It is not exhaustive is dealing with this topic, but provides a good introduction to the design and programming of 3D engines. It does not assume a good technical background of the reader, it only assumes the reader is familiar with basic mathematics and knows minimal programming and plotting minimal graphics.

Complete Technical Report - [304 KB]

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Multiple Robot Systems:
Task Distribution, Coordination & Localization

As part of the final year evaluation, it was required to present a seminar on any one of the emerging and new technologies. I chose Multiple Robot Systems because of a high level of personal interest in the field. The report introduces the Multiple Robot Systems to the reader. It then describes each of the aspects to consider when designing, producing or using any multiple robot systems. It has been divided into sections related to Task Distribution, Coordination, Spatial Interference and Localization. It also describes one method of handling each of these sections for a MRS (Multiple Robot Systems). Experiment or simulation results have also been shown wherever possible.

Complete Report - [414 KB]
Presentation - [169 KB]

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