By Prasun Sonwalkar, IANS
London : In the latest example of British universities collaborating with Indian institutions, the University of Ulster and the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kanpur, have begun working on developing intelligent robotic devices to help severely disabled people become independent.
Experts from both institutions have teamed up to build the world’s first robotic arm, which responds to brainwaves and can be mounted on the wheelchair. The three-year, 154,000 pounds ($300,000) project is jointly funded by India and Britain under the UK-India Education and Research Initiative (UKIERI).
Elsewhere, the Newcastle University Business School has announced an alliance with the Indian Institute of Foreign Trade (IIFT) to further strengthen its international ties and allow student and staff exchange, research and the development of new courses.
British universities have raised their profile considerably in India in the last decade, recruiting students on various courses as well as forging collaborations for staff-student exchange, joint research, curriculum development and joint delivery of courses.
While the quality of Indian research in some fields such as IT, mathematics and management is universally respected, Indian students are valued by British universities for their familiarity with the English language, higher academic performance and ability to pay high fees applicable for international students.
Explaining the University of Ulster-IIT research project, Girijesh Prasad, project leader and senior lecturer at Ulster’s School of Computing and Intelligent Systems, said: “Thousands of people suffering from neuro-muscular disabilities such as motor neuron disease (MND) and spinal cord injury (SCI), may be completely paralysed.
“While these people have all their senses intact to see, feel and dream, they may have no means of communicating with the external world at all. In order to provide greater independence to such people, the project aims to investigate intelligent systems that facilitate development of a low-cost assistive robotic device.”
The project is expected to speed improvements in the lives of people with movement disability due to old age, disease or injury.
The main project objectives are to investigate a brain-computer interface (BCI) that allows a disabled person to control a smart wheelchair and robotic manipulator combination by thinking, a visual tracking system for operating the wheelchair as an automated guided vehicle (AGV) to provide mobility, and the development of a robotic arm for the natural execution of actions desired by the disabled user.
This project involves the recruitment of three new postgraduate research students to assist in the joint programme of research. It also includes intensive research exchanges between the two institutions by Ulster and IIT Kanpur researchers and senior research students.
Martin McGinnity, director of the Intelligent Systems Research Centre, said: “We are delighted to have been successful in gaining this award. There is intense competition for UKIERI research funds and our success is thus all the more pleasing.
“The project itself addresses important technical and medical issues and we are looking forward to a fruitful collaboration with one of the most prestigious research institutions in India.”
Announcing the Newcastle University-IIFT collaboration, Newcastle chancellor Lord Chris Patten said: “We want to see more Indians in Newcastle and more of our researchers in India. As a world-class university with a highly regarded business school, we feel it is very important to attract world-class minds.
“This means raising our profile and associations with Indian businesses and institutions as well as attracting more Indians to study and research with us. Newcastle has a long tradition of working with India. Our earliest alumnus dates back to 1954 and our interest in supporting and collaborating with India is clear.”
Patten is also the British chairman of the India-UK Round Table.
Ravi Shanker, chairman of the IIFT, said: “We are very pleased to announce our collaboration with Newcastle University Business School. This is a great opportunity for both parties to further develop international relationships and bring Indian and UK business and education closer together.
“I am very much looking forward to building alumni relationships between the two institutions and I’m sure this will help build an excellent network of international business professionals.”