Department of Mechanical Engineering

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IIT Jodhpur

Objects in space often exhibit a tumbling motion around the major inertial axis. In this paper, we address the image based visual servoing of a robotic system towards an uncooperative tumbling object. In contrast to previous approaches that require explicit reconstruction of the object and an estimation of its velocity, we propose a novel controller that is able to minimize the feature error directly in image space. This is achieved by observing that the feature points on the tumbling object follow a circular path around the axis of rotation and their projection creates an elliptical track in the image plane. Our controller minimizes the error between this elliptical track and the desired features, such that at the desired pose the features lie on the circumference of the ellipse. The effectiveness of our framework is exhibited by implementing the algorithm in simulation as well on a mobile robot. © 2018 IEEE.

World University root node

IEEE International Conference on Intelligent Robots and Systems

Image Based Visual Servoing for Tumbling Objects

Flavor is an expression of olfactory and gustatory sensations experienced through a multitude of chemical processes triggered by molecules. Beyond their key role in defining taste and smell, flavor molecules also regulate metabolic processes with consequences to health. Such molecules present in natural sources have been an integral part of human history with limited success in attempts to create synthetic alternatives. Given their utility in various spheres of life such as food and fragrances, it is valuable to have a repository of flavor molecules, their natural sources, physicochemical properties, and sensory responses. FlavorDB (http://cosylab.iiitd.edu.in/flavordb) comprises of 25,595 flavor molecules representing an array of tastes and odors. Among these 2254 molecules are associated with 936 natural ingredients belonging to 34 categories. The dynamic, user-friendly interface of the resource facilitates exploration of flavor molecules for divergent applications: finding molecules matching a desired flavor or structure; exploring molecules of an ingredient; discovering novel food pairings; finding the molecular essence of food ingredients; associating chemical features with a flavor and more. Data-driven studies based on FlavorDB can pave the way for an improved understanding of flavor mechanisms.

Fulltext

NUCLEIC ACIDS RESEARCH

FlavorDB: a database of flavor molecules

Because of multi-functional properties with high specific surface area, ZnO nano architectures are finding immense utilities in variegated applications viz., sensing, diagnostics, etc. To investigate the concept behind the long and vertical growth of the ZnO nano structures, understanding of surface energy, molecular interaction, their reactions at certain physical environment such as temperature and pressure, etc., is utmost important. The high aspect hexagonal crystal growth inside aqueous chemical solution is rarely explained by researchers. This crystal growth mechanism involves variety of variables such as solute concentrations, seed orientation, reaction rate, other impurities, etc. Based on the experimental observation herein, a theoretical modeling for ZnO crystal vertical growth is proposed and its epitaxial growth rate along with side length and with function of time is investigated. © Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature 2018.

Applied Nanoscience (Switzerland)

On the growth mechanism of ZnO nano structure via aqueous chemical synthesis

This paper introduces a simple and novel mechanism for wheelchairs that assists in climbing stairs. The design mechanism consists of two 2 degrees of freedom legs. Each legs consist of two four bar linkages joined to each other in a certain manner. Each leg is fitted with two actuators which assist the chair to move the legs as required. The proposed design has statically stable leg motion with adjustable height. Inverse kinematics analysis has been performed and the position values for each leg is determined. Seating position remains horizontal on climbing ensuring the comfort of the person. This would assist in resolving the balancing issues while climbing the stairs through wheel chair. © 2018, The Korean Society of Mechanical Engineers and Springer-Verlag GmbH Germany, part of Springer Nature.

Journal of Mechanical Science and Technology

Novel design of stair climbing wheelchair

Photo-catalysis is one of the most explored phenomenons to obtain potable water in remote areas. The term “photo-catalysis” is understood as a chemical reaction which is caused by photo-absorption of a matter also known as “photo-catalyst”, which remains unaltered throughout the reaction. In this process, water molecules adsorbed over the surface of photo-catalysts in normal environments are used to participate in the reaction to decompose pollutants in water. Since the photo-catalytic reactions are possible in air, the oxygen reduction is the significant phenomenon in photo-catalytic reduction. This chapter aims to cover the fundamental aspect of photo-catalytic phenomenon and its significant role in water purification. Explicit examples on the amalgamation of photo-catalysis and various photo-catalytic set-ups developed are also illustrated. © 2018, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Energy, Environment, and Sustainability

Role of Photo-catalysis in Water Remediation

Water has always been one of the most essential entities for survival of living systems almost since the evolution of life form. It is pertinent to study water systems in respect of enhancing the quality of water as it can be a significant source affecting the living systems in a direct or indirect manner. Nowadays, increased level of water consumption and correspondingly high levels of pollution have generated a prominent need for managing the water quality by maintaining safe levels for the water to be used in specific applications. In this respect, water remediation methods have taken a forward thrust in order to increase the water quality of potable water as well as that of industrial grade water in order to prevent contamination of natural water resources due to the discharge of industrial effluents. Several methods of water remediation such as physical, chemical, electrochemical and biological are discussed and worked out worldwide. This monograph gives a review of the importance of water remediation, various methods that are employed to remediate and some automated techniques which have been breakthroughs in the field of water quality control. © 2018, Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd.

Introduction to Water Remediation: Importance and Methods

Layout analysis, mainly including binarization and page segmentation, is one of the most important performance determining steps of an OCR system for complex medieval document images, which contain noise, distortions and irregular layouts. In this paper, we present high performance page segmentation techniques for medieval European document images which include a novel main-body and side-notes segregation and an improved version of OCRopus (OCRopus,) based text line extraction. In order to complete the high performance layout analysis pipeline, we have also presented the application of the percentile based binarization (Afzal et al., 2014) and the multiresolution morphology based text and non-text segmentation (Bukhari et al., 2011) methods over historical document images. presented layout analysis techniques are applied to a collection of the 15th century Latin document images, which achieved more than 90% accuracy for each of the segmentation techniques. Copyright © 2018 by SCITEPRESS – Science and Technology Publications, Lda. All rights reserved

Department of Electrical Engineering

ICPRAM 2018 - Proceedings of the 7th International Conference on Pattern Recognition Applications and Methods

High performance layout analysis of medieval european document images

The processing parameters are known to influence the dispersion as well as size of clusters during dispersion of nano fillers in a matrix. To understand the complex interactions among processing parameters and properties of nanocomposites, statistical design of experiment provides techniques that can be used to efficiently explore these interactions. In the present work, epoxy clay nanocomposites which contain 3 wt%, 4 wt% and 5 wt% nanoclay have been synthesized by in-situ polymerization. A systematic study based on Taguchi's design of experiments has been carried out to comprehend the relationships between processing parameters (temperature, impeller speed, ultrasonic mixing time) and tensile properties of epoxy clay nanocomposites. Analysis of variance (ANOVA) and main effect plots have been used to determine the significant parameters and determine the optimal level for each. The analysis reveals that temperature during premixing step is the most significant factor affecting the tensile modulus. Since the viscosity of resin decreases drastically with an increase in temperature, the results suggest that the viscosity should be low during the processing step. Also, it was observed that an increase in ultrasonication time beyond 1 h has a deteriorating effect on all mechanical properties. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd.

Materials Today: Proceedings

Effect of Mixing Parameters on Mechanical Properties of Organoclay Epoxy Nanocomposites

The performance of the fiber reinforced epoxy nanocomposites incorporating silylated clay minerals exposed to seawater ageing vis-à-vis the amount of grafted silanes has been studied. The novel glass fiber reinforced epoxy nanocomposites incorporating clay minerals treated with different concentrations of two different silane coupling agents (3-Aminopropyltriethoxysilane and 3-Glycidyloxypropyltrimethoxysilane) have been exposed to simulated seawater at two different temperatures i.e. 25 °C and 55 °C. All fiber reinforced epoxy-clay nanocomposites showed an increase in weight due to seawater absorption. The water uptake studies were analyzed with an assumption that weight loss due to hydrolytic degradation of epoxy would be insignificant as compared to weight gain by fiber reinforced composites due to absorption of seawater. The rate of diffusion of seawater in glass fiber reinforced epoxy-silylated clay nanocomposites was slightly less than that of glass fiber reinforced epoxy-clay nanocomposites incorporating a commercially available organically modified montmorillonite Cloisite 15A®. The water uptake behavior and durability of nanocomposites were significantly influenced by the polarity of the organic moieties, the morphology of clay minerals in epoxy and temperature of seawater. Clay minerals modified using small quantities of silane coupling agents in fiber reinforced epoxy-clay nanocomposites led to better retention of tensile and flexural strength after hygrothermal ageing owing to silanization effect on exfoliation, as well as forming covalent bonds with the matrix. However, if silane coupling agents are used in excess, it will lead to the development of siloxane network which will also encapsulate clay minerals. The presence of such networks would act as concentration sites and lead to a significant decrease in tensile and flexural strength, as observed. © 2017 Elsevier Ltd

Polymer Degradation and Stability

Seawater ageing of glass fiber reinforced epoxy nanocomposites based on silylated clays

An unmatched glass-metal joint between borosilicate glass and austenitic stainless steel SS 304 was developed for parabolic trough receiver tube application. 40SiO2-54B2O3-4Na2O-2Al2O3 material was used as the glass sealant to join the SS304 metal ring and borosilicate glass tube. The research work reported was carried out with objective of investigating the role of glass sealant, joint design and pre-oxidation conditions on the wettability and adhesion strength of the glass-metal joint. The work also aimed at analysing the types of oxides formed at the glass-metal joint interface. The pre-oxidation behavior of SS304 was studied by varying the pre-oxidation temperature and pre-oxidation time. The oxide formed on the surface of SS304 substrates were examined using x-ray diffraction and energy dispersive x-ray spectroscopy. During the glass-metal sealing process the oxides at the glass-metal interface were characterized using x-ray diffraction and scanning electron microscopy. In-situ wetting behavior of glass sealant 40SiO2-54B2O3-4Na2O-2Al2O3 over austenitic stainless steel SS 304 was examined using the in-house developed image acquisition system. The optimum condition for joining 40SiO2-54B2O3-4Na2O-2Al2O3 glass sealant with SS304 is obtained by pre-oxidizing metal specimen at 700 °C for 3 min, where optimum oxide layer mass gain of 5.8666 × 10−04 g/cm2 and optimum oxide layer thickness of 87.57 μm was achieved. The maximum strength of joint during adhesion test was measured around 2.57 N/mm2 (MPa) corresponding to pre-oxidation temperature of 700 °C and 3 min pre-oxidation time. The FeO and ((SiO2),AlNa(SiO4)) oxide phases were observed at the interface of glass and the metal during joining. During in-situ wettability analysis the contact angle between the glass sealant pallet and SS304 substrate was measured at different temperatures. The contact angle of the glass sealant pallet decreased during heating process and the contact angle increased as the glass sealant pallet cooled from sealing temperature. © 2018 The Society of Manufacturing Engineers