BHUBANESWAR: Not a day passes by without a fatal ambush on Indian soldiers fighting terror on the Indo-Pak border. A village boy from Odisha’s Balasore district has claimed to have made a humanoid robot, which, with artificial intelligence algorithms, can guard the border.
Besides, the humanoid robot, named Atom 3.7 by the teen scientist, can be used to replace human workforce in fields such as defence, automation, entertainment, education, manufacturing industry and home services.
At 17, Neelamadhab Behera of Santaragadia village has made the robot, first of its kind in the state, which many of his age group would not even dare to think. The robot reacts to every direction and command given to it and acts accordingly.
The Plus-II science student of Talanagar College near Soro has spent around Rs 4 lakh for the project and made it successful in just over a year. “I started working on it in January last year and the robot was completed earlier this month. The 4.7-foot high robot, weighing around 30 kg, runs in basic programming. It has 14 sensors and five controllers,” he said.
The only son of school teacher Shashikant Behera and Nirupama, Neelamadhab had been fond of technology since his childhood. He had a special attraction for scientific toys. When he was in Class III, he had made his first technology project.
Dismantling and reassembling had been his passion.Though he attempted to make his first robot when he was in Class VI, he was unsuccessful. Gradually, he started getting acquainted with new technologies despite his poor financial conditions.
His laboratory was his asbestos-roofed and mud-walled house where he worked overnight to give shape to his dream.
Initially, 17-year-old Neelamadhab Behera’s father was not confident about the robot he was working on. He, however, extended financial support after the Plus II science student convinced him that it would be Odisha’s first humanoid robot.
“I started conceptualising it when I came to know that there is no humanoid in Odisha. I did not have any training, but the internet helped me a lot. I failed several times, but continued research to make a perfect robot. I am happy that the humanoid robot is ready and it can do most of the work a human does. It can talk, lift and pick up things,” he said.
Describing the making of the robot, he said a humanoid robot functions with the help of four things—servos, actuators, proprioceptive and exteroceptive sensors. Proprioceptive sensors sense position, orientation and speed of the humanoid’s body and joints.
While humans use their own proprioceptive sensors for their orientation, the humanoid robot uses accelerometers to measure acceleration, tilt sensors to measure inclination, force sensors placed in robot’s hands and feet measure contact force with environment, vision sensors work like the eyes of humans.
His Father Shashikant Behera said with his limited wages, he was unable to meet the financial requirement of his son for fulfilling his dreams. “I mortgaged my wife’s jewellery and got a loan against it. He has made me feel proud with his unique invention. My only wish is that he excels in his field and becomes a famous scientist one day,” he said.
Neelamadhab said he needs more money to make the robot fully perfect and wants to pursue higher education in robotics. He has started working on his next project - a multi-rotor drone, which will be of help for safety and security of women.