Kerala - Palakkad   

Robotics expert plans mass production of GeNUS

G. Prabhakaran

Robotics expert says GeNUS is the next-generation humanoid

PALAKKAD: Prahlad Vadakkepat, international robotics expert, is working on a project to make humans and robots live in harmony.

Talking to The Hindu here on Friday, Dr. Prahlad, who hails from Kadampazhipuram in Palakkad district, said he is working on a project for mass production of `Snake Robot,' which can be used for rescue operations in disasters such as the World Trade Center building tragedy or other such calamities.

He demonstrated his GeNUS, the next generation humanoid, a robot that can sense like human, at the Fluid Control Research Institute (FCRI) here.

He said GeNUS was the next generation humanoid of MaNUS with new and enhanced capabilities in term of mechanical and electrical specifications. Mechanically, in comparison to Manus, GeNUS was similar but with added degrees-of-freedom (DOF) in the waist, joint and arms. Its special capabilities are that it can balance on one leg. It weighs 2.5 kg. and is 48.5 cm. tall.

GeNUS, a new mechanical structure with 22 servomotors (DOF) of humanoid, is capable of performing several tasks. It has two hands in contrast with MaNUS, with which it can function quite like what we humans are capable of — get down to a lying state and get up. The hands also assist in balancing while in motion. It is capable of balancing on one leg with two hands outstretched.

GeNUS is enhanced with trajectory planning in its control of the motor-joints, which makes the humanoid produce smoother and stable motion.

Dr. Prahlad said GeNUS uses an Omini-vision camera module where the camera is mounted upwards looking at a convex mirror to receive information from a 360 degree angle. Unlike humans, such a module assists GeNUS to receive information from all angles. This enables it to track objects actively. He said better and natural gait generation (walking like humans) is being worked out.

"I hope to impart interactive capabilities to GeNUS in the near future, wherein humans will be able to interact through visual cues and audio," he said.

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Robotics expert plans mass production of GeNUS

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