The focus of a new MTech programme at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Jodhpur is robotics and mobility systems. Students with backgrounds in instrumentation and control, mechanical engineering, automotive engineering, aeronautical engineering, engineering physics, computer science, and engineering are all eligible to apply.
Robotics and mobility systems’ interdisciplinary research platform (IDPR) offers the curriculum. Students will have the chance to participate in difficult areas of advanced technology through this MTech degree. It intends to provide a platform for concepts in robotics and mobility system design, development, and testing. IIT Jodhpur researchers have created robotic trainers for physiotherapy and lower limb rehabilitation. The setup and inner workings of the gadget are covered in an article written by Jayant Kumar Mohanta and other co-researchers from the mechanical engineering department that was published in the International Journal of Advanced Robotic Systems.
Patients with lower limb disabilities are now treated by existing robotic systems using movements in the sagittal plane, which divides the body into its left and right halves. Sagittal movement is not enough for full limb movement, claim researchers at IIT Jodhpur. Additionally crucial are motions in the coronal (front and back) and transverse (upper and lower body) planes. IIT Jodhpur’s design for the robotic trainer suggests a robotic manipulator setup that can give the ankles the necessary motion in the sagittal, transverse, and coronal planes.
Mohanta, an assistant professor at IIT Jodhpur, explained: “If the right combination of therapies is used, complete rehabilitation is feasible. Robots won’t tyre out while performing it.” The trainer is an exoskeleton-like wearable device that supports the leg. To carry out the necessary limb therapeutic motions in the transverse, horizontal, lateral, sagittal, and longitudinal planes, it is equipped with a cartesian (3-directional) parallel manipulator. The mechanical layout of the design is modular, making it simple to operate and repair.
The idea was put to the test by conducting therapeutic motions advised by medical professionals utilising computer-based simulations with motion control techniques. During the test, the design was capable of carrying out crucial therapeutic movements for rehabilitation such as abduction, adduction, flexion, and extension.
