IIT Kharagpur launches first Microbotics course in India

New Delhi: Indian Institute of Technology (IIT), Kharagpur has launched a new course in Micro Robotics that deals with tiny robots to handle very small components. Typically, microbots are less than 1mm in dimension. The course is called ‘Microbotics’ and is being offered under the Global Initiative of Academic Networks (GIAN) – the programme that promotes research collaborations between Indian and foreign educational institutions.

The course will also deal with Nanorobots that can perform task with precision at nano-scale dimensions.

C S Kumar, the coordinator of the course, said, “IIT KGP is the first Indian institute to offer a course in the field of Microbotics and Nano-Robotic manipulation. Manipulating micro spaces for targeted motion and force-planning is of considerable use in the fields of material sciences and medicine. Our institute is planning to pursue high-end research in Robotics (including Microbotics) that can be used commercially.”

60 students from IIT Kharagpur and other colleges have already registered for the course. The course faculty include IIT KGP experts as well as Yves Bellouard of Ecole Plolytechnnique Federale de Lusanne in Switzerland, and G K Ananthasuresh of IISc Bangalore.

IITs are already teaching Robotics as part of other engineering streams such as Mechanical Engineering, Materials Science and Ocean Engineering. Microbotics is increasingly in demand in sectors like healthcare, automated underwater vehicles as well as ground vehicles that can access difficult terrains otherwise inaccessible to men, and spy robots.