Akshith Rajkumar

My Portfolio

Roboticist

India     Contact me     CURRICULUM VITAE

Akshith is an Electronics and Communication (ECE) engineer pursuing his final year Bachelor’s degree in Vellore Institute of Technology (VIT), Vellore, India. His interest is focused on Embedded Systems, Power Electronics and Control systems. He has extensive experience with developing terrestrial robots and robotic manipulators. He also has significant experience with sensor data acquisition and instrumentation. He has a strong coding background with C/C++, Python, Java and Embedded languages.

His strong leadership qualities along with the technical attributes has helped him lead and guide a team of 25 members in developing Mars prototype Rovers to compete in University Rover Challenge (URC) and Indian Rover Challenge (IRC). His work ethics and skillset also has led him to co-lead Creation Lab, a research-oriented laboratory with various Robotics projects such as CanSats, UAVs and Rovers. He has over 10 months of work experience in a Robotics Start-up based in Bangalore working on an Assistive technology. He is currently working as Research Intern at York University on developing dynamic equations for Fanuc Robotic arm and developing Close-loop position-based visual servo control algorithm. His work will involve a real-time and vision-based pose and motion estimation. He is a Rastrapati award recipient and has over 10 years of experience as a Scout in Bharat Scouts and Guides, India.


Core Interests:

  •   Embedded Systems
  •   Power Electronics
  •   Control Systems
  •   Robotic Manipulators
  •   Human - Robot Collaboration

Education

Vellore Institute of Technology - Vellore, India

Undergraduation
Electronics and Communication Engineering
Focussed on Robotics, Mechatronics, IoT systems and Product development.
July 2018 - April 2022 (scheduled)
vit

Chettinad Vidyashram - Chennai, India

School
Computer Science- Central Board of Secondary Education (CBSE)
Computer Science, Physics, Maths and Chemistry
June 2004 - March 2018
school

Skillset


Tools and Libraries


matlab sw fusion ros proteus cube keil eclipse arduino

Programming Languages


python c++ ec java shell verilog

Experience

Indian Institute of Science Bangalore, India

Research Intern
  • Working on Human collaborative system in order to improve safety and reliability.
  • Working on Universal Robots UR5 cobot for human collaboration. Implementing various control systems, planning algorithms and perception techniques.
  • Working on implementing Virtual Reality to improve perception in HRC.
  • Supervised by Prof. Abhra Roy Chowdhury in Robotics Innovations Lab (RIL).

    • Manipulators Oculus ROS Gazebo Unity

September 2021 - Present
york

York University Ontario, Canada

Globalink Research Intern
  • Build dynamic equations for a general 6 DOF robotic manipulator.
  • Adapt the equations for a Fanuc 6 DOF robotic manipulator (20iD25) with the physical and geometric parameters.
  • Expand the virtual robotic manipulator codes by adding dynamic properties.
  • Visual servo control by placing a virtual camera at the end of the robotic manipulator.
  • Supervised by Prof. George Zhu at the Space Engineering Design Laboratory

Manipulators Simulink Maple Matlab

July - September 2021
york
mitacs

Illuminify Private Ltd (Accio Robotics) Bangalore, India

Robotics Intern
  • Design and develop a prosthetic arm from the elbow.
  • Designing the control system and the PCBs using various embedded components.
  • Developing the power distribution board and battery management system.
  • Acquiring sensor data and analysing and mapping arm movement.
  • Working on a beetle bot developed for traversing rough terrain.
  • Designing the control system and PCBs and testing.

Embedded Systems Power Electronics Sensors Feedback system Embedded C

April 2020 - January 2021
accio

Team ROVERX Chennai, India

Captain
Electronics and Instrumentation Engineer
  • Developing mars prototype rovers for University Rover Challenge (URC).
  • Working on various systems such as suspension, chassis, manipulator and onboard soil collection system.
  • Designing the control system and the power system along with the battery management system.
  • Working on the communication system for over a long range (1km).
  • Working with various embedded systems, sensors, power components and motors.
  • Worked on researching martian conditions and designing Rover prototype for deployment.
  • Worked on solving various problem statements related to martian rover systems for an international hackathon.

Terrestrial Robotics Manipulators Motors 3D Printing Sensors Communication Power Electronics

March 2020 - Present

May 2019 - March 2020
roverx

Creation Labs Vellore, India

Lab Manager
Research Engineer
  • Working on space grade PCB to be sent on a CanSat to the lower orbit.
  • The project was in collaboration with ISRO. The PCB was designed with embedded sensors to collect data and send it back to Earth.
  • Researching and working on sensor array that can survive the launhc and help in monitoring the atmosphere of the satellite.
  • Designed and organised IDRL, a national level drone racing competition.
  • Leading various projects in the lab and helping with resources and technical advice.

Eagle Sensors Communication Data Processing Power Electronics

March 2020 - Present

May 2019 - March 2020
a2a

Publication

Recent Advances on IoT-assisted Wearable Sensor Systems for Healthcare Monitoring.

MDPI BIOSENSOR JOURNAL
  • IoT has played an essential role in many industries over the last few decades.
  • Recent advancements in the healthcare industry have made it possible to make healthcare accessible to more people and improve their overall health.
  • The next step in healthcare is to integrate it with IoT-assisted Wearable Sensor Systems seamlessly.
  • This review rigorously discusses the various IoT architectures, different methods of data processing, transfer, and computing paradigms.
  • It compiles various communication technologies and the devices commonly used in IoT-assisted Wearable Sensor Systems and deals with its various applications in healthcare and their advantages to the world.
  • A comparative analysis of all the wearable technology in healthcare is also discussed with tabulation of various research and technology.
  • This review also analyses all the problems commonly faced in IoT-assisted Wearable Sensor Systems and the specific issues that need to be tackled to optimize these systems in Healthcare and describes the various future implementations that can be made to the architecture and the technology to improve the healthcare industry.

Recent Projects

MARTIAN ROVER PROTOTYPE
This is a mars prototype rover designed to traverse rough terrain and perform various assistive tasks. The chassis and the suspension is designed after various simulations. The rover has a 4-wheel drive with encoder feedback. The robotic arm was a 6DoF design with LRL configuration with a differential End-effector. The arm was designed with planetary gear motors and gear systems to make controlling intuitive. The Motors are controlled using Cytron Motor drivers and STM32F411E discovery board. I2C communication is established with Jetson Nano and is wirelessly controlled with a joystick. The arm is automated completely using cameras, without a line of sight. The control system is closed looped and the feedback is designed with minimal delay. The rover also works autonomously with the use of digicam and sensor array for obstacle avoidance.
SOIL COLLECTION AND ANALYSIS SYSTEM
This is an in-situ soil analysis system that is designed to be an attachment to any terrestrial rover model. It collects soil from the top layer and distributes it to various slots for chemical testing, which is completely automated. The chemical tests are monitored using cameras and other sensors to record the change in parameters and derive a conclusion on the result. We use stepper motors, linear actuators, BLDC and DC motors to actuate the system. We also have a large array of sensors to monitor the atmosphere and a self-designed anemometer to calculate the wind speed.
Techniques used:
  • Sensors
  • Power distribution system
  • Embedded Systems
PROSTHETIC ARM
The project involved designing a right arm from elbow down. The arm was assembled with 3D printed parts and micro-DC motors were used to actuate the fingers. The PCBs designed were highly compact given the minimal space available. The power and battery system were tested and designed to have a long run time. The control system is a closed loop and the feedback system was used to record the movement of the arm. An array of sensors was used to monitor the muscle movement of the upper arm and anticipate the position of the arm and fingers. The fingers were controlled using Arduino Nano Every, which was communicating with the master Raspberry Pi Zero through I2C.
Techniques used:
  • Power distribution board
  • Embedded system
MARTIAN ROVER
The project was an extensive research on Martian conditions and designing a rover system that is capable of assisting astronauts in conducting experiments. The rover is designed with a 4-wheel drive, a harmonic gear system based robotic manipulator, with an end effector that can pick/place objects as well collect soil using a hybrid drill system. The power source is a radioscopic system that converts heat into electricity.
Techniques used:
  • Control system
  • Drill system
  • Communication
  • Perception
  • Soil Sample System
GEO FENCING
Creating a virtual polygon using GPS coordinates to monitor the location of the subject and send notification in case of breaching the perimeter. The concept implemented has various applications. It was initially developed to monitor new-born babies in hospitals. But with recent times, the concept can be used to monitor Covid patients in quarantine.
Techniques used:
  • IoT
  • Embedded System - NodeMCU
  • MQTT protocol
  • Adafruit Server
  • IFTTT
geo1

Click here to view some of my other projects.

Awards

University Rover Challenge (URC) 2021

87.63 / 100 in Finals. Rank yet to be posted

International Rover Design Challenge (IRDC) 2020

8th Worldwide. Innovation award for best Drive System

International Mars Hackathon (IMH) 2020

Placed 4th Worldwide. 3rd in Asia

Indian Rover Challenge (IRC) 2020

Placed 4th Worldwide. 2nd in Asia

University Rover Challenge (URC) 2020

Top 10 Worldwide. 3rd in Asia

The Bharat Scouts and Guides India

Rastrapati Award

Extracurriculars

INSTITUTE OF ELECTRONICS AND TELECOMMUNICATION ENGINEERS IETE

Successfully organised and conducted a national technical symposium named SYNERGY and was a volunteer in the robotics development workshop.
Part of the crew that organised and conducted a 3-day hackathon called ACCESS DENIED. It was the first time the hackathon was conducted and it saw the biggest participation in the history of the institution.
vit

BHARAT SCOUTS AND GUIDES BSG

Part of the Bharat Scouts and Guides for over 10 years. Has served and contributed to the society in various ways and has been awarded various badges for the same. Was awarded the Rastrapati award, the most prestigious award for a scout.
school

Contact me

My inbox is always open; glad to connect, discuss and collaborate.
Could relate to work, volunteering or a casual talk!
Feel free to shoot me an email; will get back ASAP!
Akshith R | Roboticist

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