Arts
Stepping into their innovative world
Entering a new world: Note the robots made of circuits and old computer parts
A plastic thumbs up sign pointed the way to the Department of Electrical Engineering and the Department of Computer Science Engineering of the Moratuwa University where EXMO 2017, the exhibition by the Faculty of Engineering late last month drew in around 100,000 students and adults. They came eager to see the innovative ideas presented by the young scientists.
Our first stop was the Computer lab, where 24-year-old Damitha was explaining the mechanics behind the Brain Computer Interface (BCI), to a group of excited students.
Research on BCI was first carried out by the University of California, and today this technology- the device known as the EmotivEPOC headset has been developed by EMOTIV. Inc, a bio-informatics and technology company. It is an enhanced or wired brain and is the direct communication pathway to an external device. The device taps into the neurons in the brain and uses the small electric signals that transmit from neuron to neuron, to generate movement on the avatar in the screen.
The device is placed on the head of a student and as he moves his head or blinks an eye, the movements are projected by the avatar on the screen.
In another corner is ‘AMPLUS’ an intelligent digital signage platform revolutionizing the advertising industry.
The technology developed by a team of four students from the University won them second place at the Microsoft Image Cup Finals, 2016. Team member Chathusha Wijenayaka, explained that the technology uses a web camera and an active internet connection. The advertiser can upload an advertisement through the ‘AMPLUS’ website and determine the time and location he wants it to project. He can also check the number of views and viewers’ reaction to it. The ads are also shown to the people in an intelligent manner. For example it can detect the gender of a person viewing it and accordingly project an ad targeting that particular gender.
Students watching one of the undergrads demonstrating an industrial robot. Pix by Anuradha Bandara
The other members of the team included Lakmal Meegahapola, Charith Eranga and Chanaka Lakmal.
At the Mechanical Engineering Department, we find the D- Mora P1 racecar, which was designed and manufactured by the Department.
The first Sri Lankan team to enter the Formula Student competition, 2016, one of Europe’s most established educational motorsport competitions where Universities from across the globe are challenged to design and build a single seat racecar which demonstrates their engineering skills and the performance of the vehicle, the team bagged three awards at the event.
The car was built by a 19 member team. They used a 600 cc engine of a Honda CBR 6 RR bike and the 70 horsepower engine could reach a maximum speed of 196 kmph.
The next exhibit displayed by the Bionics Laboratory of the department is a prosthetic arm, which could be controlled by the brain. It was developed as a final year project by a team of three students.
Kalinga Nisal (24) explains that the device is especially designed for a transradial amputee. “This electrically powered arm is made to work as a normal hand would,” he says.
The specialty of this hand is that the elbow is controlled by the signals we receive from our muscles, while the fingers are controlled by brain signals. This is because the amount of muscles that remain in a transradial amputee is low and hence, the entire device cannot be controlled by muscle signals alone.
The war has left several amputees, most of whom don’t have the chance of getting a prosthetic arm like this, because of the cost involved. The team thus designed the arm in a way so that it could be accessible at a low cost.
Right next to this exhibit, we observe a miniature robot seemingly crawling on the hull of a ship. The team which developed it explains that the robot aims to replace the conventional methods used to inspect the hull.
“The conventional methods have many disadvantages,” W.A.V Stephenson, a team member says -they are time consuming, require a lot of manpower and the job can be risky.
The robot, which uses four magnetic wheels, can be controlled via a remote. The team had also added a camera to the device. “So we can control this with the controller as well and get a visual inspection of the hull,” Stephenson says.
There was much more, all the products of innovative thinking by the students who did their University proud.
Kalinga Nisal explains how the prosthetic hand works