Abhyast is an autonomous vehicle being undertaken as a joint activity of IIT Kanpur and Boeing Coorporation. The objective is to develop a robot which acts as an aid to the operator in carrying specific task rather than an entity which is in need of continuous attention of operator. Its a 30cm x 30cm x 30cm robot capable of navigating from source to destination using various local and global sensors and is capable of communicating to the user using pre-established GSM networks.
Abhyast Phase-II is an extension to Phase-I robot. Their were new features added to the previous robot to make navigation better and faster. This project consists of Laser scanner, a new version of Beagle board, IMU and Compass. Apart from the main robot, what made this phase special was swarm robots. These were many small robots, which could localize themself and could communicate to the master robot using X-bee module. The implementation of swarm robotics expanded the choices of navigation fields. The master robot could remotely communicate with swarm, while they can navigate in areas which are difficult for the mother bot to cover.
Abhyast is currently in its third phase and this time we will implemented 3D vision in the robot using kinect sensor and panda board to make navigation more generalize and efficient.
Assistant Professor
Department of Mechanical Engineering
Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur
Kanpur 208016, INDIA
Phone : +91-512-2596056 (Office)
Fax : +91-512-2597408
E-mail :
bhattacs@iitk.ac.in
Abhyast is an autonomous navigation vehicle.The task of the vehicle
is to localise itself(its position in terms of the coordinates) on
the given terrain and navigate to the destination place by avoiding
obstacles.The vehicle is planned to establish its connection with the
operator via pre-existing GSM network, hence its application is not
restricted to the range of any user established wireless networks.
The payload of the vehicle is to capture images of the destination
place and come back (or if possible send them via MMS using the same
GSM network). Our objective here is to develop a robot which acts as
an aid to the operator in carrying out a specific task rather than an
entity which is in need of continuous attention of the operator.
Our UGV is a sensor-rich mobile robot consisting of sensors both
for the internal and external environments. The external sensors
interact with the environment to determine the external
environmental conditions of the robot and the internal sensors
continuously monitor the robot's response to these environmental
conditions.
Boeing is the world's leading aerospace company and the largest manufacturer of commercial jetliners and military aircraft combined. Additionally, Boeing designs and manufactures rotorcraft, electronic and defense systems, missiles, satellites, launch vehicles and advanced information and communication systems. Headquartered in Chicago, Boeing employs more than 160,000 people across the United States and in 70 countries. This represents one of the most diverse, talented and innovative workforces anywhere.Boeing has customers in more than 90 countries around the world and is one of the largest U.S. exporters in terms of sales.
Boeing has launched the University Relations program in India to promote aerospace engineering as a career alternative among students. Creating a strong pipeline of talented engineers will go a long way towards creating a vibrant aerospace ecosystem. Boeing has formed partnerships with IIT Bombay, IIT Madras, IIT Kharagpur and IIT Kanpur as part of the University Relations program. The Indian Institute of Science (IISc), Bengaluru has been selected as one of eight Boeing Strategic universities worldwide and only one of two outside the US. As part of this strategic alliance, Boeing and IISc have entered into a multi-year agreement to perform fundamental research in the domain of aerospace materials, structures and manufacturing technologies. The University relations program provides scholarships to undergraduate and masters students based on merit and their interest in Aerospace related engineering disciplines. It also supports design competitions through which students gain hands-on exposure to unique aerospace related engineering challenges. These competitions have already yielded working prototypes of autonomous vehicles and radio controlled aircraft completely designed and built by students themselves. In addition, the University Relations program also engages Boeing executives with university students to provide them the opportunity to understand career options in the sector by directly interacting with aerospace practitioners. Boeing partners with leading universities and research institutes in India to undertake industry-relevant research in areas of mutual interest. Boeing researchers work hand in hand with faculty and researchers at these institutes to develop next generation technologies that will find application on aircrafts of the future.
Abhyast is a completely student driven activity, where all the research is done by the students itself. We would like to know your prespective about the project so that we can improve it. You can post any query or suggestion, we will be thankful for your contribution.