Software & system sweethearts who captured India's military minds

Women scientists powering India's silent artificial intelligence and robotics sphere during their first-time ever media outing in Bangalore recently. Express Photos: Jithendra M

By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service

Bangalore: They march in step with their male counterparts. Their contributions one notch up than men, many times. They make the men who call the shots aware that the times are changing. The ladies have arrived. And, they are here to stay.
Welcome to the Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR). Guests onboard this part of the series are all women. Their stellar contributions over the years have scripted many software and system sagas that went on to aid India's defence and intelligence. These software sweethearts come from star cities like Chennai, Kolkata and Mumbai, while there are many who represent places like Kadalur, Kasegaon and Kurnool. They have time and again won the heart and soul of the military minds with their smart systems, that make men 'more intelligent.' And, if numbers matter to you on a Sunday morning, they are a healthy 30 per cent of the CAIR's 350-strong research community.
The CAIR stands apart from the rest of DRDO labs in many ways with a modern crèche that facilitates a young mother to swap between the lab and the apple of their eyes. The lab also boasts of a very high number of women scientists who have done their Ph.D, M. Tech and MS at India's best institutes. “Women leaders have an important role to play. They demonstrate an inclusive, team-building style of leadership, problem-solving and decision-making. Their strong people-skills, willingness to see all sides of a situation, coupled with their natural instincts, enables them to empathise better with individual concerns, and incorporate them into the scheme of things when appropriate,,” says DRDO chief V K Saraswat.
The lab's recent acquisition of status as an ISO 9001:2008-certified laboratory owes a great deal to the sheer grit and persuasive qualities of Manimozhi Theodore, Scientist-G, who heads the Software Quality Assurance Group. D Padma, Scientist-F, who heads a team that created Communication Middleware as part of the systems for the Indian Army. Dipti Deodhare, Scientist-F, heads the Artificial Intelligence and Neural Networks team, and has established leadership in these esoteric technologies. Their numerous invitations to participate in international scientific forums, publications and collaborations are just glimpses of their hidden prowess.
The next-gen women leaders are groomed to take on the future needs of the armed forces. Persia V and Anshu Bhardwaj, have been in the forefront of cutting-edge R&D, while Chitra Vishwanathan balances her role as the mother of two teenagers admirably with her work. Shyni Thomas keeps a virtual eye on her three-year-old daughter, back in the crèche after a day at the play school, even as she takes on the tough questions of military officers reviewing her work in artificial intelligence, and runs off to face her PhD defence at IISc, balancing it all with practised finesse at multi-tasking. “I have my role models to inspire me,” she said smiling.
Adversities don't seem to stop these women; if at all they seem to motivate them to perform better. "Even under hostile military conditions, in any remote corner of the country, we are more than willing to step up and participate in the fielding of systems that we have helped create," says Smita Srivastava, Scientist-D. "Working on a niche technology like virtual reality is a one-in-a-million opportunity,” feels Sangeeta Shrivastava, Scientist-E, who has contributed to creating a first of its kind terrain fly-through using stereo visualization at the CAIR.

Copyright@The New Indian Express

Tomorrow, Part 8: Battle Management Systems

Robo-snake SERP is out | Robotics set to play key role during low-intensity conflicts in India

 By Anantha Krishnan M

Express News Service

Bangalore: The robo-snake SERP is here, sans the hiss! Out of the lab-hole to undertake roaming trials, Indian scientists are confident of releasing it on smart missions soon. Inspired by biological snakes which uses its entire body for locomotion, Bangalore-based Centre for Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) developed SERP capable of carrying variety of sensors and tools suitable for military and civilian operations.
This robo-reptile makes use of 18 independently-controllable joints, battery as power source and a wireless camera for visual feedback. The electronic controller on the robot generates wave motion for locomotion. It has various locomotion gaits which include lateral undulation, side winding and caterpillar gait as observed in the biological snakes. In addition, the robot has unique methods of locomotion not found in nature such as whole body roll and helix gaits.
“The SERP can be easily maneuvered inside narrow opening which are inaccessible by other locomotion techniques. It can relay a video to remote location through its onboard camera. It can be used in search and rescue operations during earthquakes to find survivors under debris. It can be made to sneak into buildings to obtain situational awareness during low-intensity conflict (LIC) operations,” CAIR sources said. Presently, CAIR is working on advanced version of robo-snake with higher maneuverability and payload carrying capacity.
With homeland security becoming prime concern for India, specialized forces trained to deal with terrorist attacks have become much in demand. From the lessons learnt from 26/11 attack in Mumbai, the National Security Guard and Anti-Terrorism Squad are in need of specialized equipment to deal with LIC operations.
“Robots are one such tool which should be available to specialized forces for gathering situational awareness without directly exposing themselves to the enemy fire. The robots can transmit videos during day and night to the commanders located away from the combat zone. They can be fitted with detectors to sniff out the presence of explosive devices and can be mounted with non-lethal weapons to momentarily paralyze the enemy,” sources said.
Today, CAIR’s robot menu includes those capable of climbing wall, stair and walk with hybrid-legged wheels. “The wall-climbing robot can be maneuvered along the external walls of the building and peek inside windows. The stair-climbing robot can be guided inside building to various floors to get a picture of the scenarios. If easy access is not possible then snake robot can sneak inside through pipes and other narrow openings,” say CAIR scientists.
For perimeter surveillance, CAIR’s 'smart sentry robot' can be called in for duty, which can autonomously patrol along a designated path inside a campus while relaying a continuous video feed.

(Copyright@The New Indian Express)

(The story is being uploaded on to Tarmak007 a day late.)

Tomorrow: Robotics for industry & common man

CAIR turns 25 as India marches ahead with smarter tools

The Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) facility in Bangalore.

By Anantha Krishnan M
Express News Service

Bangalore:  The Centre for Artificial Intelligence and Robotics (CAIR) – one of the lesser-talked-about establishments of the Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) in Bangalore turned 25 today. From a rather humble one-room office located in another defence facility in Bangalore in 1986 and manned be a skeletal three-member staff, CAIR has grown into one mighty unit  developing systems and solutions in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, automation computer networking, communications, and security.
Topping its tempting tech menu are C3I systems (Command, Control, Communication, and Intelligence), Tactical Communication Systems (TCS), Communication Secrecy systems, information assurance technologies.  With a strong bonding developed between the industry and research institutions, today CAIR's combined strength stands at 350.
From developing an artificial intelligence expert system shell called nipuNA during its early days, which eventually got ported to a PC,  CAIR has spread its wings to smarter solutions aiding the armed forces. “Development work in robotics was one of the priority areas from the inception of the lab. Concentrating on the development of totally indigenous robots, the lab developed a variety of controllers and manipulators for Gantry, Scara, and other types of robots. With the experience gained from these initial years, the lab developed an autonomous guided vehicle (AGV). The expertise in control systems required for robotics was applied to the development of control laws for Tejas fighter,” CAIR director V S Mahalingam told Express.
A neural network-based software for processing application forms was developed by CAIR, which runs on a personal computer. “The software can correct various human errors in handling forms and also correct spelling mistakes committed by the applicants. After processing, the software would automatically update a database,” Mahalingam said. 

And, when an expanded charter came calling in early 2000, CAIR began the development of a major command and control system for decision support. “After several rounds of user trials, the system was formally handed over to the Indian Army. In a supportive role, the CAIR has provided software for fusion of sensor information for battlefield surveillance. Today, a versatile geographical information systems (GIS) is emerging from CAIR for the diverse requirements of defence forces,” the CAIR chief said.
In the area of artificial intelligence, CAIR has made significant R&D efforts in natural language text processing, intelligent data mining and inferencing engines. These are expected to benefit the next-generation C3I systems. “We have established a 3D virtual reality terrain visualization system with fly-through capability. The present focus is on miniature and micro miniature mobile robotic platforms. They are vital for futuristic reconnaissance and combat supportive roles,”says Mahalingam.
DRDO chief V K Saraswat says that the future conflicts, however big or small they could be, will be won by the backing of intelligent systems. “Today the confidence CAIR is giving to Indian armed forces in developing intelligent tools and solutions is a proof towards the technological leap we have achieved. With network-centric software set to play a key role in future, CAIR has set its eyes in developing many critical and intelligent systems,” Saraswat said.

Part-2 tomorrow: Cyberspace intrusion and detection

Copyright@The New Indian Express

(Intelligent India is a new series that went live in The New Indian Express today. The series would focus on developments in the fields of artificial intelligence, robotics, network security and computing that's aiding India's armed forces. Enjoy reading the same on Tarmak007.)