Pipe Inspection Robots for Structural Health and Condition Monitoring

Prof. Harutoshi Ogai holds a Doctorate in Engineering from the Tokyo Institute of Technology, Japan. He is currently a Professor at the Graduate School of Information, Product and Systems (IPS)-Waseda University, Japan. Before joining the IPS-Waseda, he had worked as one of the Chief Executives with Nippon Steel Company for over two decades, and had made seminal contributions to the field of Modeling and Optimal Control of Complex Systems like Blast Furnaces. His current research areas include: Complex Process Modeling and Control, Design and Development of Autonomous Electric Vehicles, Process Analysis and Simulation, Bridge Damage Diagnosis, and Automotive Control. He has successfully developed process modeling and Java-based process simulators for many large-scale complex processes and developed strategies for optimal control, chiefly using ICA (independent component analysis), LOM (large-scale data on-line modeling) and SOG (simulation-based on-line guidance). Prof. Ogaiand his team have developed many such hardware-in-the-loop systems for various industrial applications.

Dr. Bishakh Bhattacharya is the Mehta Chair Professor, Department of Mechanical Engineering at the Indian Institute of Technology Kanpur (IIT Kanpur), India. Among other activities, he was the Head of the Design Programme from 2011-2013. He is currently coordinating the Space Technology Cell of the Institute. He is active in creating Web and Video based course materials for India's National Program on Technology Enhanced Learning (NPTEL) initiative. He was a visiting professor at the University of Sheffield, where he carried out research on Structural Health Monitoring of Complex Autonomous Systems. He also visited IPS-Waseda University, Japan to jointly develop new Pipe Health Monitoring robots. His key areas of research include: Vibration Control, Structural Health Monitoring, Energy Harvesting System, Control-Structure Interaction, Intelligent System Design,and Child-Robot Interaction. Based on his work, a new technology is currently being developed for the shape control of continuous structures like space-born reconfigurable parabolic antenna systems for the Indian Space Research Organization (ISRO). Another notable application of his work is a new robot for Pipe Health Monitoring, developed for the Gas Authority of India Limited (GAIL). Professor Bhattacharya is a recipient of the Department of Science and Technology (DST) Young Scientist award and Young Scientist Award from the Systems Society of India. He has developed international collaborations with the UK, Sweden and Japan.