Editorial

Welcome you all to the fourth year of publication of NERD! As the co-founders of NERD, we thank you for your valuable comments and suggestions throughout the past three years; and sincerely hope that you all continue to play your role in making NERD reach new heights.

Many activities that started under the umbrella of NERD in the past three years are now evolving, all aimed at motivating students for at least dirtying their hands once in science and technology, before they get enchanted to itch for lucrative careers light years away from science, as science journalist Angela Saini, in her book Geek Nation, points out –The only reason students come to ))Ts is to get SCoPE,better salary the lecture package series than where their fathers.we invited eminent professional science communicators of the likes of Mr. Arvind Gupta (famous science toymaker), Mr. K P Madhu (Producer, Turning Point) and Mr. Pallava Bagla (Science Editor, NDTV and Senior Correspondent, Science Magazine) witnessed active participation from the campus and taught us important lessons in communicating science to our readers. Competitions like science poetry, science fiction writing and scientoon making explored new avenues of conveying science to peers. Workshops on science communication and journalism were designed and conducted at other IITs and IISERs to emphasize upon the significance of good communication in science - be it popular or profes- sional. Last but not the least, the discussion group of young science and technology enthusiasts lured many untainted minds to share their excitement in reading and discussing about what they wanted to.

Recently, there have been too many activities in the campus to motivate you all to look towards science, ries on ancient Indian science and civilization by eminent historian Michel Danino, that had jam-packed and that left us in a fix to choose which articles to include in the issue thats in your hands. The lecture se- being offered in our curriculum, was undoubtedly the best choice for the cover story; along with an exclu- L with the enthralled audience and the discussion that followed regarding a (istory of Science course the AHS (American Helicopter Society) Design Competition how can we dare not include it! To increase sive detailed interview with him. Two undergraduate students recently won the Best new entry award of there were many other high esteem stories too, but we secure– them for our next issues! your awareness about )ndian science itself, we have a piece on National Engineers Day. Not to mention, This issue also marks the start of two new regular genres to the magazine one related to STS (Science, Technology and Society) and philosophy of science and the other from projects that students make in the clubs of Science & Technology Council. We hope you enjoy these new arrivals.–

Interview with faculty members has been the most regular feature of NERD. We talk to Prof. K. Muralidhar, the former Dean, R & D; under whose guidance and support NERD started in 2008. We express our grati- tude to him not only for trusting a completely student-led initiative, but also guiding us in the right direc- tion at all times, thus helping NERD grow better. We also have an interview with Dr. Suchitra Mathur, the Gopal Das Bhandari Memorial Awardee 2010 for Outstanding Teacher; as a teacher, a researcher and an active member of IITK community.

Move on with the issue and fill our mailboxes with your feedback! Wed be grateful. Create, Communicate, Contribute!Cheers! remains our mantra. Editors, NERD

1 IITs and the future Indian research scenario Interview with Prof. K. Muralidhar Mohit Kumar Jolly

Prof. K. Muralidhar served as the Dean, Research and Development, IIT Kanpur from January 2008 to January 2011. An eminent researcher in experimental fluid mechanics and a Fellow of Indian Academy of Engineering, he has been a faculty member in Mechanical Engineering Department since 1987. He has also served as Head of the Department and Chairman, GATE among others. Here are excerpts of the interview NERD team had with him on role of IITs in the future Indian research scene:

NERD: You have been in this institute for more available within the campus to work on these than two decades now. What, in your opinion, is subjects, I encouraged them as much as possible. I the most distinguishing feature of this institute? pushed them to write large proposals and insisted Prof. Muralidhar: We have a heterogeneous mix that they work collectively. of students, staff and faculty, and hence a mix of ideas, viewpoints, outlook and working style. NERD: IITs were established to provide technical These reflect in the way we offer courses, the manpower and strengthen the base of science and academic programs, research topics we work on, technology in the country. In the past 50 years, do and our publications. To a great extent, we find you think we have realized this vision? that faculty members work in areas they are Prof. Muralidhar: The contribution of IITs excited and passionate about. They may work on cannot be assessed purely by numbers. Moreover, their own or collaborate with colleagues within I am not sure if IITs have been set up purely in the the institute and across the world. Faculty would national context. The goal has been to train like to be seen as leaders in certain areas, but the engineers to be the best they can be. To that defining point is that they are really excited and extent, our students have excelled both as special- interested in their field of work. Indeed, they ists as well as entrepreneurs. In numerical terms, work hard in their chosen disciplines for long we would not have trained as many people as we years, perhaps decades. Accordingly, you would would have liked, but I believe that we have see that an enormous amount of expertise is succeeded in terms of quality to produce the best available within the institute in certain areas, engineers who have done very well both within which in turn is well-recognized internationally and outside the country. Of course, by engineers, I because of this depth of knowledge and contribu- include those who have specialised in basic tions to the literature. sciences as well. Nationally, the contribution of our students has been limited, but globally it has NERD: You just completed your term as Dean, been very good and our training program has Research and Development. What was your vision been uniformly hailed in various quarters. when you joined in 2008 and how far, do you think, did you achieve it? NERD: Coming to the role of IITs in the future of Prof. Muralidhar: The role of a Dean is clearly Indian research scenario; what, in your opinion, defined within the institute - it is to assist the are the major reasons that are holding the Indian Director in chosen realms. When I took over, the research scenario to bloom currently? Director told me that he would like to support Prof. Muralidhar: This is a fairly difficult ques- new initiatives and fulfil the dreams of the faculty. tion to answer. In a nutshell, it is the complexity I assumed my role was to provide the link of the subject domain itself. Consider the fact that between the potential that exists with the faculty the demand for superior technology in our daily and their performance. Having said that, I felt that life has become quite acute; say an audio system there were emerging areas in technology vital to or a computer has to be of really high quality the Institute and the country, such as solar today. Engine emissions must be truly benign. energy. When I found that there were groups Microscopes need to be super-specialty and oscil- loscopes, of the greatest speed. Apart from using 2 these gadgets, engineers are the ones to develop ing. I have seen students work tremendously hard these tools as well. We need to work for novel over a period of time. One also has to keep in materials, new processes and innovative ideas. In mind the fact that Indian graduate students are addition to intellectual sophistication, it calls for a not really articulate, they may not show-off their huge investment in research and development - excitement as American students do both in academia and in industry. These acute personality. They quietly look around, observe quality benchmarks are a defining requirement of things and at some point, a glow fills– theirthats eyes; our the current times that was that is their passion for the not present earlier. subject. I have seen that Indian graduate students glow very often among I must also point out that are not really articulate, they students at all levels- under- the expertise in technology graduates, masters and development has become may not show-off their excite- certainly at the doctoral very distributive. People ment as American students level. I have seen doctoral have to work together; no students become very pas- one person can do it all. do – thats our personality. sionate about their subject. Individualistic approach Some choose to work in a will not lead us further anymore in achieving given area throughout their lives, but they have quality or performance. This is a new revelation. not been eloquent about it. I would say, look for For instance, medical technology needs surgeons, the spark in the eyes of students rather than any mechanical engineers, electrical engineers, com- exclamation or outburst of sound from them. puter scientists and biomedical and biotechnol- ogy scientists to collaborate and work together to Also, there is a slight diffidence among students produce a superior product, for example a surgi- since they may not see their work being relevant cal robot. or getting implemented in everyday life. Suppose a student is working on laser imaging of fluid In short, quality specifications have shot up and flow, where would he/she find his/her work in the nature of the demand is multi-disciplinary. Only those researchers who function with this them confused but ultimately, over a period of mindset are likely to succeed in the future. action? This plants doubt in ones minds, you see time, students gain confidence.

NERD NERD: Based on personal communication with a faculty member, he told me that the only reason : An article in the journal Science, Technol- that the issues that are stagnating the growth of he would like to conduct research so that he can ogy and Society and one in Current Science state the Indian research are more related to the moti- get promoted to the next level, where he would vation and dynamics of students and faculty in- get a house that his wife likes. Do you think that volved than the infrastructure issues. How far do this lack of accountability on the part of faculty you agree with this? members is holding our Prof. Muralidhar: I see research output, because the issue differently. Quality specifications have everything is so perma- Mobility in research, of shot up and the nature of the nent in the government course, requires positive setup at IITs? attitude as a pre-requisite demand is multi-disciplinary. Prof. Muralidhar: Within of success. Jointly, Only those researchers who IIT Kanpur, a very large research requires strategy number of faculty mem- in the sense that a right function with this mindset are bers are self-motivated. balance needs to be main- likely to succeed in the future. Three decades ago, pub- tained between depth and lishing a paper was not breadth. The defining criteria would be the speed considered as important as going to the class and with which improved products are delivered to giving your best effort and energy to the students. the customer, goals of the society are fulfilled, Compared to grooming students, publication was while meeting constraints of cost, time, and given less importance. Over a period of time, it is demand. On the other hand, a certain dependable now clearly stated that everybody has to publish, minimum infrastructure that improves with time so I would say that a large majority of faculty is also needed to facilitate research. The absence members are publishing in good journals. Even of strategy is a weakness in our system. those who never published earlier are now Speaking of students, my experience is the follow- getting into it. Undoubtedly, the research performance is certainly going up. 3 Even though we are under the government mind- their own. Something similar happens with some set that everything is permanent, still there is faculty too. They try to work in cutting edge areas something called as peer pressure, and this is even if they lack necessary preparation for it. what is driving most of our colleagues. We should They have a mindset for aiming for a break- also keep in mind that in every organisation, around 10% of the individuals would be non- recognition. Some may think that slogging out for performing for various reasons, so we should give thirtythrough years because on a thats topic what is not gives really them exciting, the most but that allowance. Quite a few faculty members at IIT very routine. So, this expectation of break- Kanpur work on technology demonstrators, de- through without adequate preparation, under- veloping infrastructure for the institute, or for the standing and effort leads to considerable embar- welfare of students as wardens, so their time is rassment. Running faster than your natural speed put to use very produc- is probably the reason for tively. Scientific misconduct happens these very unfortunate incidents. If you want my opinion because people try to run faster on a major weakness than their natural speed. NERD: One of the most among faculty members common scientific miscon- of IIT Kanpur, I would say that our inter-personal duct has been the communication of science. On relationships are not as healthy and professional as they should be. There are conflicts, both major tive in communication, and on the other hand, and minor and when such conflicts exceed a cer- rightone hand, from itsclass told sixth, that if we you should write thebe verydefinition innova- of tain level, they can get personalised. Other weak- friction even one word that is different from the ness that I feel among faculty members here are book, students shall not be given marks. Right that we are not effective in managing our time. from the school education, we have been trained

Speaking of output, we have to start viewing our- contradiction? selves as a corporate entity rather than a univer- Prof.to copy Muralidhar and paste :things. Again, Dont this you is a think very this difficult is a sity if we hope to convert the financial investment question for me to answer. I find that this school into productivity. The structure we function in is mentality of forcing the students to write exactly more like a corporate body, but we need to adapt as per the text book is because we are in the our mindset too in that direction. There are weak- system of mass education. The class sizes are very nesses, but, with greater clarity of our roles and large. The teacher has to grade the answer sheets expectations, I am sure that the faculty perform- in a short period of time, so the person looks for ance will really explode in the future, because a extremely conventional answers that are visible high degree of motivation and competence is in either one book or a collection of books. Any available. new idea can simply not be valued because the NERD: Coming to research ethics, recently many teacher does not have time. Probably students cases of scientific misconduct came up in different should be counselled to reveal their creativity IITs and also outside the abroad by A major weakness among faculty members classroom many Indians of IIT Kanpur is that their inter-personal rather than specifically. within the What, do you relationships are not as healthy and classroom, for think, is special professional as they should be. example, NERD with this Indian is a very good attitude that is calling this scientific misconduct? paradigm where students having strengths in Prof. Muralidhar: Misconduct has been noticed certain domains can flourish. Similarly we have a student group called PoWER (Promotion of Work projects that students do. We tend to give ex- Experience and Research) where students take on tremelyat several ambitious stages. projects Lets start to students with the - researchprojects challenges from the industry and try solving that are way beyond their normal level of compe- them. tence. Later, we expect superlative presentations I suggest that students should look for avenues within a couple of weeks while the student has outside the classroom for innovation. Of course, I not been nourished properly on that topic. Under should point out that research is about creativity, these conditions, quite a few students adopt the because every publication has to be unique. A short-cut of downloading material, including student, as an individual, can grow a lot while presentations, from the internet and present it as being involved in research. 4 NERD and students need to generate a lot of time to do research. In our institute, that would mean less promote: As undergraduateits said, Just as research the twig atis bent, IITs so and is meetings, less committee work and paperwork at otherthe tree institutes inclined, to have so what a better is your future suggestion scenario? to every level, so that a faculty member can spend at Prof. Muralidhar: Research has become more of least 6-7 hours per day on research and students, a necessity. New diseases are getting revealed probably 8-10 hours. Faculty, students and the every other day; it means that we come up with staff will have to just focus on doing creative medicines faster than the rate at which diseases work. This will highly impact the quality and are being discovered. It is true with product qual- quantity of research that is done and it would be ity. Your simple mobile has been evolving on a justice done to the heavy investment of the gov- monthly basis - we want more and more features ernment into our institutes. So, time, I would say in the mobile, all within the same space and cost. is the essence. All that would demand a heavy amount of re- search. Designing was considered a prime activity NERD: Coming towards the end of the interview, for engineers. This has changed and I feel that so how would you describe Prof. K. Muralidhar in engineers and scientists have to lead the life of a one line? researcher as an everyday activity. They have to Prof. Muralidhar: Motivated and interested in life. conduct research a lot more aggressively than in the past. It follows that original thinking and re- NERD: And what is the final message for the stu- search should be promoted from the first day of dents? undergraduate studies. Thinking out of the box, Prof. Muralidhar: Believe that each person can doing new things, thinking of ways and means of make a huge difference. problem solving - all these would soon be normal. Research has become an essential part of the en- NERD: Thank you Prof. Muralidhar for the inter- gineering profession, therefore, it has to be view and the insights you have given! brought early on in the curriculum of under- graduate students. This interview is the transcript of an audio interview with Prof. Muralidhar, taken for IIT K 90.4 FM. It was NERD: We have been hearing that private as well transcribed by Pankaj Prateek. as government funding for IITs and research has been raised. In the increasing arena of infrastruc- Mohit Kumar Jolly ([email protected]) is an M Tech ture support, what other limitations do you see as student in the Department of Biological Sciences and a hurdle for the future Indian research scenario? Bioengineering at IIT Kanpur. He is interested in science Prof. Muralidhar: The answer is very simple. communication and co-founded NERD, the campus Research is time consuming, so faculty members science and technology magazine, in 2008.

Workshop on effective scientific communication for PhD students

Can scientists just sit in isolation, talking to their microscopes? No. Communication is central to science be it in reading and writing papers, giving and listening to talks, or discussing with students or collabora- tors. You can not NOT communicate, being a scientist! —

A workshop on scientific communication was organized for 25 doctoral students across all departments during the mid-semester recess, from March 21-25, 2011 by Dr. Geoff Hyde, the scientific communication coordinator at National Centre for Biological Sciences (NCBS) Bangalore.

- writing scientific manuscripts, and giving research seminars. The workshop started with an introductory talk by Dr.The Hyde workshop where aimed he introduced to improving the concept students of skills treating in both the presentation forms of scientific of scientifi communicac researchtion as a story, using the example of movie Lagaan and a hypothetical study on tree frogs. The participants had to explain their research in a five minutes to their colleagues coming from different departments. This was followed by detailed exercises for 5 days on the philosophy of storytelling as an effective method of scientific communication. The participants both enjoyed and learnt during the workshop very much and were sensitized to the fact that effective communication leads to clarity of thought in their minds about their own work too. For more details and opportunities to participate in future such workshops, contact Mohit Kumar Jolly ([email protected]).

5 Soaring High IITK students win American Helicopter Student Design Competition

Puneet Singh and G. Sriram

Two dual degree students in Aerospace Engineering, Puneet Singh and G. Sriram, recently won the best new entry in the American Helicopter Society Student Design Competition 2011, with their reconfigur- able compound helicopter RC2. Lets have a look at their design that has won applaud for the institute: The Contest The American Helicopter Society (AHS) Interna- Insertion: tional is a professional technical society for the The vehicle was required to carry six persons advancement of vertical flight. A major driving plus equipment totaling a minimum payload of force behind the rotorcraft industry since the 4000 pounds (1815 kg), for a minimum one way 1940s, it has been conducting a Student Design distance of 250 nautical miles (463 km). This was Competition since 1984 an extremely challeng- a test on the payload capacity of the vehicle. ing competition with fierce competition among Resupply: 3000 pounds of payload was to be de- universities considered– to be livered till 250 nautical miles (463 km) and ex- hubs of helicopter and vertical changed for a similar payload for the return journey. flight research. Past competitions have involved designing sport The motive behind such a vehicle is helicopters, one man rotary rac- that in addition to the multiple areas of ers, tilt rotors, heavy lift helicop- use, it reduces inventory and mainte- ters, UAVs, firefighting vehicles, nance costs due to commonality of Mars rotorcrafts, urban disaster parts. The vehicle had to have a crew helicopter, high altitude rescue of four, and had to be able to perform vehicle, non conventional drive system, control surface designs (1.83 km), at a ground temperature of Fig 1: RC2 helicopter and many more. The competition 95out Fahrenheit of ground (35 effect degree hover Celsius). at ft The is based on a RFP (Request for Proposal), devel- RFP called for the vehicle to be reconfigurable oped by the sponsoring company, which details (within one hour) for the different missions. Also requirements for a challenging vertical flight certification noise requirements and a represen- technology. tative engine technology were specified. Fourteen

The 2011 competition, sponsored by Bell Helicop- teams participated in this contest with six of them dropping out later. ter Textron, had the problem statement of design- ing a multi mission vertical lift system that opti- The Configuration mally blends the competing requirements of The IIT Kanpur team, consisting of two under- three very different missions: graduate students of Aerospace Engineering De-

Search and Rescue: partment, proposed a vertical lift system named The vehicle had to have a payload of six passen- - gers or carry two litters (medical stretchers) with Re Configurable Rotor Craft RC Fig. for two medical personnel plus equipment for a ra- this RFP and captured the prize in the New En- dius of 225 nautical miles (nearly 415 km) Also, trantWe started Category. the design by considering various ex- isting vehicles and configurations which came operations, critically injured patients have the closest to meeting the requirements, and found highestthere is chance a concept of surviving of a Golden if they (our. are )n provided rescue only a few of them technically possible with the with medical treatment within an hour of being capability of hovering. Let us give a brief outline injured. This puts an extreme constraint on the about different rotorcrafts. speed of the helicopter, requiring up to 225 knots (nautical miles per hour). Apart from the conventional helicopter (with one 6 main rotor and a tail rotor), there are coaxial ro- tors, tilt rotors, tandem rotors and jet rotors. Co- axial rotors do not have a tail rotor which con- sumes power, but they have a large rotor hub cre- ating significant drag during forward flight. Tilt rotors (like those side by side vehicles seen in the ceiling, but their payload capacity is small and theymovie have Avatar complex are fast moving and have and a rotating high operating wings, rotors, and a propulsion system. Tandem rotors (like seen on the Chinook) have a heavy lift capa- bility but are slow sluggish machines. Jet rotors use a high speed jet of air ejected from the tips of the helicopter rotor to rotate them. There are no commercially produced jet rotor helicopters be- cause of a lack of a good control system and com- plexity of propulsion.

Compound Helicopters Helicopters that have a wing and/or an auxiliary thrust system are known as compound helicop- ters. There have been many prototypes of these helicopters made till date, but none have ever reached the production stage. These have been able to reach very high speeds with the record being held by the Sikorsky X2 of 250 knots (463 km/h). There are two reasons behind this ability. First, at high speeds, much of the lifting force is taken over by the wing, and the rotor is unloaded. Secondly, in conventional helicopters, the rotor has to tilt forward so that there is a horizontal component of the rotor thrust which pulls the helicopter forward. (Fig 3) Tilting causes a de- crease in the upward component for balancing the weight of the vehicle. This has to be compen- sated for by the pilot increasing the blade angles. Having an augmented thrust removes the need of Fig 2: (From top to bottom) Conventional rotor, tilting the rotor forward, and can provide much Coaxial rotor, Tandem rotor and Tilt rotor. higher forward thrust for the helicopter. Restrictions on high speed: Design Challenges and Trade offs Conventional helicopters are restricted from high speeds because of two effects. The first is the ad- vancing blade compressibility effect. Assume that the blades are rotating in a counterclockwise di- rection when viewed from above, and the helicop- ter is moving forward. On the right side, the blades are moving forward (advancing side) in

the other they are moving in the backward direc- tionthe direction(retreating of side). the helicopters The relative velocity, velocity andon the on advancing blade is much higher than the free stream velocity and the flow approaches the speed of sound there. The formation of shock waves can completely damage the flow, and cause unacceptable loads on the blade.

Fig 3 The second restriction on high speed is due to

7 retreating blade stall. On the retreating side of the the rotor blades from our hover ceiling condition rotor, the relative velocities are much slower. and the available power from the engines, and This causes the angle of attack on the retreating showed that a 21.325 ft (6.5m) radius rotor was blade to increase, since it is inversely propor- ideal for our mission. We kept the aspect ratio of tional to the horizontal velocity. Airfoils can pro- the blades at 10.825 for aerodynamic efficiency as duce lift only for a small range of angles, and well as restricting the modes of vibration. above them the flow separates and the airfoil stalls. So if the advance ratio, which is the forward The blade airfoil was kept different over the root, velocity divided by the tip speed of the rotor, is middle and tip of the blades for optimizing the high (in the range of 0.4 - 0.5), portions of the speed and hover capability; and the tip as recon- retreating side of the rotor stall and the thrust figurable for the three different missions. Finally, required to keep the helicopter in the air is lost. to delay the compressibility effects, we varied the tip speed, airfoil and shape. Due to these reasons no conventional helicopter has been able to break the speed record set by the Wing Design Westland Lynx, which used a specially designed The major challenges in the wing design were the blade tip to reach 216.4 knots (400 km/h). How- selection of wing plan form (shape and layout), ever the compound helicopters have been able to geometry, airfoil and location of the wing on the go much beyond this limit due to the help of the helicopter. We extensively studied previous heli- wing and augmented thrust as explained above. copters for the merits and demerits of using a

Rotor Design: variable incidence wing, flaps and spoilers. Select- The first major element of the rotor system is its ing wing area and aspect ratio was a trade off be- tip speed. The compressibility effect during for- tween hover capability of the helicopter and the ward flight, the noise levels and the retreating induced drag of the wing, whereas the location of blade stall set the tip speed at 644 ft/s (196m/s). the wing was decided by giving consideration to The number of blades impacts the vibration, rotor wing interference, ground clearance and noise, drag and power. We incorporated five longitudinal stability characteristics. We did not blades in order to reduce the intense noise and use the variable incidence wing considering vibration at high forward speeds. But a larger structural complexity of the design and inability number of blades also have a disadvantage of to build in components such as undercarriage and higher weight and cost. We obtained the radius of fuel storage into the wing, although it provides the ability to optimize the wing lift ratio and re-

Fig. 4 8 Fig. 5 duce hover download. A trade off which allows mechanism to avoid power redundancy and re- the wing lift to be controlled to a greater degree duce the weight penalty of the transmission. This while not impairing the structural simplicity is engine can be controlled to provide both shaft the use of flaps and this was incorporated into the power and thrust, or two different shaft power wing design. outputs where the power can be continuously varied. Auxiliary Propulsion System: We considered various propulsion systems - such Final Design as turbojet engines, turbofan engines, propeller The design was of a conventional helicopter with and ducted fan arrangements- to find an efficient a five blade main rotor, and a tail rotor. The heli- one that optimizes cost, weight and noise. The copter was reconfigurable with a wing and an propeller complied with most of the mission re- augmented propeller thrust system, for the high quirements and provided a lighter, less noisy and speed mission of search and rescue. The maxi- a reliable source of auxiliary thrust for a sus- mum take off weight was of 12484 lbs (5660 kg). tained flight. Speeds of 192 knots were feasible. For the inser- tion and resupply, the wing and augmented thrust The propeller was not only easy to install and was removed for more space and fuel capacity. remove during reconfiguration, but also provided The best range speed in these missions was 120 greater fuel efficiency as compared to turbofan knots, and the vehicle weighed at takeoff 13600 and turbojet engines, which is critical in missions lbs (6170kg) , and 12900 lbs (5851 kg) respec- involving high power requirements. Also, it had tively. reduced mechanical complexity and separation losses as compared to the fan-in-fin ducted fan We designed the rotor to have reduced vibrations concept. and noise apart from being able to operate at high altitudes and hover. The wing was designed such Transmission: that it does not interfere with the rotor wake. The A hard nut to crack in designing a compound heli- controls also were configured such that the heli- copter is effective power transmission to both the copter remains stable and in equilibrium in its rotor and the auxiliary propulsion and varying flight path, with and without a wing. The helicop- the power transmission ratio between them. We ter was powered by two GE T700 turbo shaft en- chose the variable-cycle engine transmission gines which allowed the helicopter to operate 9 safely and with enough power for all missions. Venkatesan during the course AE686 (Helicopter The high speed mission especially required Theory: Dynamics and Aeroelasticity) at IIT higher power to both the augmented thrust and Kanpur. We also graciously acknowledge the help the rotor. Studies showed that the available by Rohin Kumar, a doctoral student in the power was sufficient enough even for emergen- department. Mr. Angel Moore kindly gave us cies or an engine failure. Interior reconfiguration permission to modify his UH-60A Blackhawk 3D (Fig. 6) allowed standard air ambulance equip- model for our modeling purposes. ment arrangements and fast easy changeover due to modular design. Cargo was stored according to References: the International Air Transport Association con- Venkatesan, C. Lecture Notes on Helicopter Tech- tainer specifications. nology IIT Kanpur Prouty, R. Vertiflite Magazines 2002-2010 Finally, the cost analysis showed that the cost of Prouty, R. Helicopter Performance, Stability and the helicopter including development and manu- Control facturing costs to be around $6 million. The op- Robb, R. Hybrid Helicopters- Compounding the erational differences between the missions could quest for speed, Vertiflite, AHS, Summer 2006 be appreciated by the variation in the direct oper- Leishman, J. G. , Principles of Helicopter Aerody- ating costs for different missions, $320/hr for the namics, Cambridge University Press 2000 Search and Rescue mission, $160/hr for the In- sertion mission and $120/hr for the Resupply Sriram G. ([email protected]) is a final year dual degree mission. undergraduate student in the Department of Aerospace Engineering at IIT Kanpur. His research interests Notes from the authors include Structural design and analysis, Design The design challenge was an exercise that gave us of Aerospace vehicles, Micro-mechanics and an idea of the real world challenges in building a multi-scale modeling of materials vehicle. It taught the nuances of the design Puneet Singh ([email protected]) is a fourth year dual process, giving consideration to manufacturing, degree undergraduate student in the Department costs and flying quality apart from the enormous of Aerospace Engineering at IIT Kanpur. His technical challenges in keeping tonnes of payload research interests include helicopters, micro air hovering in the air. The complete proposal can be vehicles, stability and control viewed at http://www.vtol.org/awards/ sdcomp.html. The work would not have been Together, they spend their time plotting to make India a possible without the splendid teaching of Dr. C. self reliant aerospace superpower.

National Engineers Day: Why, When, in whose memory? What is common between Dr. Abdul Kalam, Dr. C Sir Mokshagundam Visvesvaraya was born on V Raman and Sir M Visvesvaraya? These are the September 15, 1860 at Muddenahaali, a village at only three Indian scientists or engineers the foothills of Nandi hills near Banga- who have been awarded the highest lore. He was the architect of the Krishna- civilian award of the nation- Bharat rajasagara (KRS) dam across Cauvery Ratna, and September 15, the birthday of river one of the biggest dams in India Sir M. Visvesvaraya, is celebrated as which irrigates a hundred and twenty thousand– acres of land. He also set up Mysore Iron & Steel works in 1918 the National Engineers Day. plant that used to export pig-iron to USA in those pre-independence days of India.– So what public service of the highest great visionary who believed in industri- The famous tank duo of Secunderabad- order did Sir Visvesvaraya render? A Hyderabad cities that he designed saved poverty, he was passionate about opti- Hyderabad from the devastating floods of Musi alization as the panacea for the countrys mal usage of water resources and was the most river, and ensured good water supply to the city. eminent engineer India has ever seen. He con- The concept of rotation of supply of water to pre- tributed to the greatest common good in terms of vent its misuse and maximize benefits for agricul- irrigation, industries, infrastructure, waterworks, ture, introduced by him, completely revamped dams and roads. He was not only an engineer par the Deccan canal system. excellence but also a social transformer. – 10 He was the Knight Commander of the order of Indian Empire (KCIE) in 1915, and was honored departmentsRightly called of as industrial the Father and ofeconomic modern develop- Mysore with the membership of Institution of Civil Engi- ment.state nowHe established Karnataka, Mysore he transformed University and the neers (based in London) for a period of 50 years. introduced compulsory education in the State of He was conferred Bharat Ratna in 1955. Mysore, which later got enshrined as a fundamen- tal right in the Constitution of independent India. Several institutions, including Visvesaraya State Bank of Mysore (then the Bank of Mysore), a National Institute of Technology (VNIT) Nagpur, reputed financial institution, was also his brain- have been named in his honor. A beautiful memo- child. The only aircraft factory in India today rial of Sir MV (as he was sometimes called) is National Aeronautics Laboratory in Bangalore located on the family-owned land at Muddena- came through his consistent efforts. He set up– halli. An IIT is also proposed to come up at Mysore soap factory, Mysore oil factory, and later– Muddenahalli by 2012, to pay a tribute to his birthplace. served as the Diwan of Mysore from 1912 to 1919.

His life was disciplined and replete with signifi- Lets pay respect to this personification of Simple cant contributions to the public good. He passed gratitude for his unparalleled contribution to the living and high thinking today, and express our away on April 14, 1962, at the age of 101 years. society as citizens of the country.

Hitchhiking on the edge of thought Part One: Sneaky Assumptions V Gopi Krishna

Authors Note on the Series A look at The Structure of Scientific Revolutions by Thomas Samuel Kuhn provides us the stages of scientific investigations, and shows us that although science has been successful in making predictions within the theories, the prediction of the next new theory has been more difficult, and scale of the new theories have consistently come as a surprise. No one anticipated the revolution in thought brought by Newton, or Copernicus, Einstein or Dirac. If science is a prediction of the unknown from the known, what can Science predict about Science itself?

This series is dedicated to crossing the barriers that thoughts enforce on us. This series will ask, and try to answer, the questions: Why didn’t we think of it before? How can one anticipate and create the next revolution? With an understanding of perspectives, and how they change across time, this is an attempt to make our perceptions flexible enough to grasp the nature of this horizon, without sacrificing reality or logic. To that end, this would be a no- holds-barred investigation of various viewpoints about science, including some obscure ones. Let the integration begin.

Editors Note: The Structure of Scientific Revolution Widely regarded as one of the most influential works since the Second World War, The Structure of Scientific Revolution is an examination of how science evolves with time. Written by Thomas Samuel Kuhn, an American historian and philosopher of science, the book was first published in 1962. The book intro- duced ideas that have since been used beyond history and philosophy of science. Kuhn put his point across by using examples from the history of science; his approach reminiscent of the case study method in social sciences. The book sparked several debates which are still going on in academic circles encom- passing scientific enterprise and fields beyond that. It inspired several other works, often with elements critical of the ideas propounded by Kuhn. To state the obvious, the Wikipedia page about this book is an excellent introduction to the central body of ideas propounded by Kuhn.

11 Today we have an appreciable scientific body of ous discrepancies. The blackbody radiation prob- thought built up, with questions addressed right lem led to the concept of the quantum, and from the microscopic to the macroscopic world. thereby to quantum mechanics and the discrep- There is a massive industry which is running its course every day, with thousands of papers pub- relativity. lished in various disciplines, and huge amounts of ancies in Mercurys movement paved the way to money being poured into certain fields for the We will not concern ourselves with whether or purpose of research. The scientific method is not the above theories are correct, and to what the prevailing agreed upon method of approach- extent, because the point to be noted is with re- ing the truth of the world. How does one know if gard to the mathematics. The mathematical as- the scientific method provides us with the true sumptions were changed, at quite a profound perception of reality? Well, technically, we do not level, introducing Lorentzian metrics and for the know that, but it is possible to subject that idea to first time ever, complex numbers to describe the the self-same test of scientific validity. What will physics of real quantities (as a preliminary look at be attempted hereon will be to highlight the ap- the Schrödinger equation reveals). This means proach by means of encountering certain facts, in that no one who had not made the connection a more or less haphazard order, and then work with this sort of mathematics, in the years pre- towards the conclusions. ceding this, could ever PROVE that the existing set of laws are inadequate, and not just in a minor With that in mind, let us make ONE single as- way but to quite a large extent (in retrospect). sumption right away, regarding the approach One has to restrict oneself to the existing set of which one is using that the World or Universe mathematical assumptions in order to even set of our experience can be understood via a ra- out to prove something to the scientist of the day. tional approach, and— it is possible to obtain a true Also note that from the point of view of that par- perception of the world being led by facts, to the ticular time, the scientist would be attempting limits of accuracy to which we are able to per- what would be seen as a wholesale revision of ceive them. Although assumptions by definition existing concepts merely to account for some do not require previous reasoning, I think we can small discrepancies. I shall come back to this postulate this general statement simply because point in a later article. rationality is the essential feature of the scientific method which we will here set out to examine, What can we take away from this idea? We can and to the best of our knowledge, experience is a take away the fact that proof is valid only for the good indicator of reality. Note that the core of the mathematical aspect of a theory, and NOT for the statement is the principle of rationality, coupled coupling of experience with the mathematics. to experiential facts. Also note that setting out to Since mathematics does not require the adher- examine itself embodies the same principle, so ence to reality or experience, but science does, it we are consistent. follows that one cannot disprove a scientific the- ory on mathematical grounds, unless, of course A second concept which is largely called upon to there is a mistake in the mathematics itself. At verify the truth of phenomena is proof. This is that point the laws of mathematical necessity are largely the requirement for mathematical treat- enough to demolish the theory. A contradiction is ment, where a certain relation among magni- all it takes. What this means is that no one can tudes, with the assumptions of mathematics being used, brings out a certain other relation among mathematically. magnitudes as an inherent necessity. Let us allow prove, for example, that Newtons theory is wrong certain facts to throw some light on this require- This means that in order to examine the scientific ment of truth. validity of science, we are to direct our sights elsewhere, out of the domain of proof. That is Rewind the clock a hundred years back, towards quite a big step, so let me reiterate, it is NOT nec- - essary beforehand that one is able to PROVE that known then that the only minor problem with a particular theory or view of the world is wrong, thephysics latter for decadesexample, ofwas the with s. respect )t to was a blow- well in order to bring forward changes into the world- ing up of the UV spectrum predicted for a black- view. And the more massive a paradigm shift, the body, as well as certain small (note that key- tougher it is to prove the previous worldview as word) corrections being required to account for being inadequate. Absence of disproof is NOT a the movement of Mercury around the sun. A look test of scientific validity. at theories of later time shows that two offshoots have been derived from those apparently innocu- So how then are we to judge the validity of our 12 scientific examination of science? It has to be from experience, and the coupling of mathemati- scientists naturally agree. Not just that, quite cal ideas to experience must reveal whether or apartever flowingfrom the backward,absence of evidence, and about it that,offers all a way the not we are on the right track. It is here that we to understand that there are various ways to cou- approach another turning point: how much of the ple mathematics to reality. Hence, the coupling of mathematical treatment must adhere to experi- mathematics with experience here is vital to re- ence? What is the connection between the two? examine, as it offers the ONLY corrective factor any theory has. Mathematics says time can be Let me illustrate this with an example. It is com- counted backwards. That stands to experience. monly known, that in Newtonian dynamics, phys- The reversal of time, or processes, or any of our ics does not change under time reversal. What experiences, is not subject to the same law. does this mean? This is actually a mathematical statement which means that if we flip the sign on As you have seen, a simple argument such as the the term having time from +t to –t, the dynamics above has far-reaching consequences. What is essentially unchanging, or as it is generally about causality then? What about the second law called, invariant. This represents that instead of of thermodynamics? How about time reversal going from initial to final conditions, one can eas- ily think of going from the final to the initial con- examine the process of these questions in the ditions, with essentially the same physics coming nextsymmetries article, in but recent here wetheories? note that And this so on. happens Well into play. Hence dynamics is closely connected because it deals with the basis of the sciences, here with our perception of time. In a general rep- which is the area from where the revolutions in resentation, going from –t to +t represents time thought generally come about. It is indeed en- moving forwards or events presented in a for- couraging that there is an avenue open for each ward manner, and going from +t to–t represents one of us to explore independently, where we time moving backwards or events rewound as if a connect the mathematics to the outer world. video were reversed. To summarize, the criteria we apply on science is Pause. There is another explanation. When we that it must explain things rationally, quantita- look at time, as represented by t, is just a count. It tively for the time being. In view of that quantita- is a number that counts a periodic occurrence. tive aspect, it is seen that in shift of viewpoints, it Since this count is linear, we are at perfect liberty is generally the relation between mathematics to be notoriously pessimistic and choose to count and reality that is remolded, and hence disproof BACKWARDS. Let us assume that instead of time of an existing theory is not a good criteria. At this starting from (for example) 1 AD and going to point we necessarily reach the question: How do 2010 AD, it instead starts at what we mark as we overcome the limits of human perception? We 2010 AD counting DOWN to 1 AD. In that sense, cannot obviously perceive electricity in the same the future would go towards negative numbers! It way as we do light, and we are pretty far from is entirely up to us whether we count it by adding experiencing any nuclear force, which neverthe- an increment, or subtracting an increment, as less offers considerable explanation to physical long as we do it periodically. But what happens in phenomena. We must be able to decide scientifi- the case of (tfinal – tinitial) in the case that the cally, the amount of leeway we offer to mathemat- counting is backwards? It turns out to be nega- ics when it comes to our perceptions and intui- tive. The number line mathematically offers us tions, and hence put them on hold when we make this freedom, and it is the same freedom that is our calculations. reflected in the change of sign. The only conclu- sion that can be drawn in that case is that in clas- We shall consider that in the coming article(s) in this series . sical mechanics, time enters as a linear quantity. This article is the first part of the series of 7 articles the However, note the connection generally made in author, Gopi Krishna, has written for NERD; on topics physics, with -t and time flowing from future to related to philosophy of science and science and society. the past. Here, a physical perception (or mental Reach out for next issues of NERD to read the following qualitative perception, if you will, both being valid articles of the series. in our examination) of time is allowed to go to- tally reverse, and is then taken as reality and ap- V Gopi Krishna ([email protected]) graduated from IIT plied to concepts such as causality, its violation, et Kanpur in 2009 and is currently pursuing his doctoral cetera. There is absolutely NO evidence of time studies at the University of Houston.

13 Civil Engineering Education and Construction Practices: How to Bridge the Gap Between the Two Kaustubh Dasgupta Editors Note This article was awarded the first prize in the national-level essay competition on Civil Engineering Education and Construction Practices: How to Bridge the Gap Between the Two organized by the Indian Chapter of American Concrete Institute, Mumbai, during December 2004. Seven years later, this article is still relevant. It has been reproduced without any editorial changes. Instead, updates to the article have been provided at the end and have been referred to from within the text of the article. The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, the NERD Magazine and its team. Introduction construction industry poses the biggest challenge Civil Engineering (CE) is the oldest engineering to the human resource development sector. The discipline. The earlier days of engineering con- engineering education system needs to play a sisted of military engineering and civilian engi- dual role, namely (a) building the pool of con- neering services only. Since then, challenging pro- struction professionals, and (b) developing a con- jects in the development of infrastructural facili- tinuing education system for the professionals. ties of the country have been the testimonies to The build-up of human resource pool will be the glory of the profession. In a project, the execu- wasteful if the imparted training is out-of-sync tion stage poses the biggest challenge; the preced- with the construction practices. ing planning and design stages revolve around the adopted construction method. The true ro- Civil Engineering Education: Current Scenario mance of the Civil Engineering comes out in the Among the educational institutions offering CE construction stage. courses, there are very few universities offering undergraduate (UG) programs in construction Thus the basic CE education should prepare the engineering. These institutes offer theoretical budding engineers in tackling the challenges in courses covering the whole gamut of construction construction. Many a times the construction prac- methods and practices. But the practical aspects tices do not comply with what is taught in CE are overlooked in many cases. courses. This needs a detailed investigation. Postgraduate (PG) programs on construction Challenges Before Construction Industry management and project management are offered In India, the construction industry is the second in some institutes, e.g., National Institute of Con- largest industry after agriculture. Its impact on struction Management and Research, Jaipuria the national economy is such that, investment in Institute of Management etc. But the number of this sector contributes 6.5% of the growth of such institutes is ridiculously small as compared Gross Domestic Product [1]. With the undertaking to the huge requirement of trained manpower. of several mega-projects in various infrastruc- Also, these institutes impart specialized manage- tural sectors, a severe demand on the human and rial skills to the students, not the nitty-gritties of material resources has been created. New materi- the prevalent construction practices. als, improvised equipment and technologies have entered the construction practices. But the indus- Most of the CE faculty members in the engineer- try is facing a dearth of qualified technical man- ing colleges have no or very little work experi- power. The alarm bells have been already ence in construction industry. So they are not able sounded in the 14th Engineering Congress on to highlight the relevant site problems during the Human Capital Development in January 2002 that classroom teaching. For example, unless the diffi- in time to come, India will not have sufficient qual- culties faced in the construction of a dam are dis- ity civil engineers even to undertake basic infra- cussed in a course on dams, the overall picture is structure work not complete. Surely the tricks-of-trade can be learnt only with experience. But the students Creating this pool. of specialized people for the should be aware of the concerned issues and the 14 challenges faced at site. Coupled with the absence of accountability of the concerned people, improper construction prac- During the UG program, the vocational training tices are followed at the site to make illegal prof- period of two months (if not less) is hardly util- its. Once a newcomer in the construction industry ized by the students. Sometimes the students lack enters this vicious circle, his focus shifts towards motivation to visit the working site; they seem to making money. The quality of construction suf- fers at site. options. Sometimes the site supervisor of the stu- dentbe happier is himself indulging so demotivatedin lucrative career and frustrated building With the above-mentioned scenario in the con- with his job that he discourages the willing-to- struction sector, the wide rift between the actual learn-but not-so-eager student in his endeavors work profile at site and the education system be- of learning construction practices. Thus in many comes obvious. First of all, the four-year CE cur- riculum grooms the student in a theoretical mode with little emphasis on vocational training. Sec- cases, the vocational training doesnt help in ondly, the codal provisions and construction shapingSo, in a fewup the words, students the current career. CE UG curriculum guidelines get violated due to various factors. does not train the students sufficiently to face the Thirdly, the four-year UG program in CE gives construction world. very limited scope to students to think about the Construction Practices – Rift Created subjects they study. As the students do not de- The construction industry in our country has velop the habit of thinking, sometimes they tend been in the forefront of the development of the to blindly follow the wrong construction prac- infrastructural facilities. The toils of thousands of tices. Applying a bit of engineering sense might people in building the nation have brought glory bring out the flaw in an adopted method. But that and international recognition to this industry. does not happen!!! Thus, the knowledge gained in Paeans sung, there remain a few issues of con- the four-year course remains back in the class- cern. notes and the construction practice shapes up in its own way. Currently, the codes of practice (prescribed by the Bureau of Indian Standard) and the guidelines Changes in the Education System for construction are not adhered to, many a time, In order to bridge the gap between the education during actual construction. Strict monitoring by system and the construction practices, a few the responsible statutory bodies is not being done changes are necessary in the education system. due to resource crunch. Also in rural India and Firstly, the duration of the UG CE program needs - to be at least five years. About six to eight months of the extra year should be spent by the students the slums of urban )ndia, there are non code requirements or any regulatory bodies to getting trained at site. During the rest of the time, engineered structures for which there are no oversee such construction work. These loopholes the student should attend classroom lectures by in the practices are exploited to the hilt. faculty members or professionals having site ex- With the construction industry playing a major perience. role in shaping the economy, the codes of practice Secondly, the course curriculum should encourage and guidelines should reflect the state-of-the-art students to pursue a career in the construction construction methods. But these documents are industry. Students should do hands-on small- not revised and updated regularly, e.g., the Indian scale construction project work as part of the cur- code for seismic design of structures, namely riculum with incentives being awarded as encour- th IS:1893, was revised after eighteen years (5 re- agement. The designs and details should conform vision of the code came in 2002 after 1984) [2]. to the standard codes of practice and guidelines. Also, many codes do not have elaborate explana- Simultaneously, the students should be made tions of their provisions and this leads to ambi- aware about the actual on-site difficulties at every guities during their implementation. step. Supplementary site visits supervised by ex- Another major malady afflicting the construction perienced engineers are also desirable. industry is the low compensation and salaries. A Thirdly, industry-academia interactions need to civil engineer draws a very low salary as com- be arranged on a regular basis. A novel initiative pared to an engineer in the Information Technol- was the Summer Camp 2001 [3] held at the In- ogy, electrical, mechanical or allied field. To com- dian Institute of Technology Kanpur. In that camp pensate for this, the contractor and client get into a select group of second year UG CE students shady deals and this, in turn, breeds corruption. were exposed to the challenges and opportunities 15 in CE through various activities. Such interactions sion of research and development. Although this during the proposed five-year UG program will aspect is generally overlooked, this is imperative definitely motivate the students entering the con- for devising efficient construction methods and struction industry, and proper construction prac- employing state-of-the-art practices. Profession- tices will be adopted honestly by them. als with specialized skills should be employed in these sections. Fourthly, students should cultivate the habit of thinking during the vocational training and the Concluding Remarks proposed hands-on project work. This will help In any subject, teaching and learning materials them develop the insight and engineering sense should match and respond to the ever-changing for devising efficient construction methods. needs of the professions and society. Construction industry is no exception to that. The need of the Last of all, the UG engineering education should hour is the interaction between construction pro- cover the applications of IT and process automa- fessionals and the CE academia on various issues tion. An integrated course on construction prac- of construction practices and the ways of improv- tices, IT and the automated processes will be ing them. Then only the construction industry can helpful with supplementary site visits to see the reach its pinnacle of glorious achievements in the applications. time ahead.

Educating Construction Professionals Updates to the article The educational institutions need to conduct separate continuing education programs and [1] Contribution of Construction Industry short courses on a few relevant topics, namely (a) As of First Quarter of 2011, as per the Central Statistics the explanations of the code-specified construc- Office of Ministry of Statistics and Programme Imple- tion practices, and (b) state-of-the-art construc- mentation (http://mospi.nic.in/), Government of India, tion methods and international practices. Apart construction industry contributed nearly 8% to the from site engineers and contractors, structural growth of Gross Domestic Product of India. design engineers should also participate in these [2] IS:1893 programs. The interactive discussions will enable As per the Bureau of Indian Standards, the governing all the concerned parties to adopt proper con- body responsible for maintaining and upgrading vari- struction methods. ous standards in India, a portion (Part 4) of the Indian code for seismic design of structures, IS:1893, was up- There should be two types of professional train- dated again in 2005. However this upgrade deals only ing programs, namely (a) multi-disciplinary train- with industrial structures. An appropriate search ing, and (b) specialist training programs. Under within http://www.bis.org.in/ will give the reader a the first category, the courses should cover the complete picture of the frequency of upgradation of architectural, engineering and surveying aspects. various Indian standards by the Bureau. Also, a civil engineer should know the basics of mechanical, electrical and instrumentation engi- [3] Civil Engineering Summer Camp at IIT Kanpur neering for his complete understanding. Under Summer Camp for Civil Engineering at IIT Kanpur was first organized in 2001. The mission of the camp, as the second category, visiting practitioners should o provide exposure to second conduct the courses for imparting special skills year civil engineering students from engineering col- and knowledge. statedleges across on its India,website to isthe t challenges and opportunities in Civil Engineering, towards building a stronger nation Construction Industry: Things To Be Done Since its inception in 2001, the Summer The issues of low compensation and salary of an Camp was organized annually with great success till engineer need to be addressed urgently and com- 2010.for tomorrow. The 2011 edition of the camp had to be called off prehensively. The current trend of underbidding due to unavoidable circumstances (as stated on the adds to the misery. If the projects are awarded to Camp Website: http://www.iitk.ac.in/summercamp/). the contractors based on their competence rather Kaustubh Dasgupta ([email protected]) is than the lowest fees, then definitely it will not be a Ph D(2008) and M.Tech(2002) graduate from the Civil demotivating for the professionals involved in the Engineering Department, IIT Kanpur. He is an currently project. With a balanced education system for the Assistant Professor in Civil Engineering Department at professionals, the unfair construction practices IIT Guwahati. He specializes in Structural Engineering can be definitely avoided. Also, the system of pro- and his research interest are Earthquake Engineering, fessional liability and accountability needs to be Design of Reinforced Concrete Structure and Retrofitting implemented among the practicing professionals. of Structure.

Every construction company should have a divi-

16 Indian science, civilization and culture: past and future

Lecture series by Michel Danino and a detailed interview with him Mohd. Suhail Rizvi and Mohit Kumar Jolly

Eminent Indian civilization historian, conserva- give only half a page to India in a book on history tionist and author Michel Danino delivered a ten of science or mathematics. The other stand is -lecture series on Science and Technology in taken by some over-enthusiasts who claim that Early and Classical India in February and ancient Indians were omniscient they knew it March 2011. Mi- all from theory of chel has been a relativity– to quan- student of Indian tum mechanics civilization since and from genetic he came to India manipulations to from France in nuclear weapons. 1977 at the age of The truth lies 21. He has au- somewhere in be- thored many pa- tween these ex- pers and lectured tremes. Unfortu- extensively across nately, the ancient the country on Indian tradition of knowledge trans- heritage, Indus fer, being primar- Civilization)ndias scientific and ily oral, does not problems faced by provide many Indian culture to- written accounts. day. He has au- The biggest sor- thored landmark row is the dilapi- books such as The Fig 1: Michel Danino during one of his lectures in L-16, IIT Kanpur dation of the exist- Invasion that ing ancient Indian Never Was (2000), The Lost River: On the trail of literature and evidences in India itself. Only 7% of Sarasvati (2010) and Indian Culture and Indias around 11,000 existing ancient manuscripts of Future (2011). He also convened International texts of science preserved in Kerala and Tamil Nadu have been examined and read. Comparing this with China, which has had some enthusiastic dailyForum lives. for )ndias (eritage )F)( in to pro- scholars like Joseph Needham whose works have mote the essential values of )ndias heritage in culminated into the voluminous series Science The lectures followed a chronological develop- and Civilization in China, Indian science has not ment of science and technology from ancient to yet found its Needham. pre-modern India, using specific case studies and the social environment of science in India in those Science, as it is defined today, is a modern con- days; and concluded with asking the pertinent cept; the ancient Indian mind did not apply this question why Indian science and mathematics definition to study the nature. In ancient India, nature was studied by means of poetry, mythol- is the summary of the series of lectures given by ogy and philosophy; and the religious and social him.failed to move on to modern science. Following practices were deeply intertwined with science and its developments. For example, Jyotisha, pri- marily a combination of astronomy and mathe- contribution to science and mathematics. The matics, was developed to keep the calendars, fix first,There taken are generally by some two western extremes authors, views considersof )ndias the dates for seasonal sacrifices or predict the Indian contributions to be limited to the decimal occurrences of eclipses. The Shulba Sutras, trea- place-value system of numeral notation, and thus tises of sacred geometry, were instruction manu- 17 Fig 2: Layout of Varanasi (left) as based on astronomical alignments (right) embedded in the city design als for the construction of vedic altars (vedi) as compass and scale), estimation of the value of pi, they describe complex geometrical construction the cyclic method of Bhaskaracharya (chakravala) with bricks of various sizes and shapes. One of for the shortest integer solution of a quadratic such sutras gives the value of square root of two equation, and the units of weight and length. A as 577/408 or 1.414215 which is correct to fifth notion of rationale or proof (upapatti) also exists decimal place. Vastu Shastra, the science of archi- in the works of some ancient Indian mathemati- tecture, describes the design of temples and cities cians. Not only was the decimal place-value nu- as representations of the cosmos. Studies per- meral notation discovered in India, but also these formed by German archaeologist Holger Wanzke numbers were often denoted with names having on Mohenjo- mythological meaning related to a particular physicist J. McKim Malville on the layout of an- number, instead of numerals, thus depicting the cient Indian daroscities (including town planning Chitrakut and U.S.and astro-Vara- confluence of religious and scientific mind. Geor- nasi) highlight the importance of astronomical ges Ifrah, in his book The Universal History of alignments embedded in city as well as temple Numbers layouts (Fig 2). tribution to the decimal nu- , gives a detailedmeral notation account andof )ndias notes con- that Unlike the Greeks who were A thousand years ahead of interested in absolute laws/ Europeans Indian savants knew rules or in axiomatic founda- that zero and infinity were mu- tions of science, the approach tually inverse notions. adopted in ancient India was highly holistic and applica- Mathematical concepts are tion-oriented. This attitude of also found in the background of purely religious texts. The interest in pragmatic meth- Avatamsaka Sutra, a Buddhist odsdoing such science as efficient gave formulas rise to text, depicts a network of and algorithms. A few in- pearls placed in heaven by In- stances of the outcomes of dra in a way that in each pearl such interests include accu- Fig 3: Baudhayana calculation of one can see the reflection of all rate astronomical calcula- the Pythagorus theorem others. (Fig 4) A recent mathe- tions, Shulba Sutra Prameya matical study has demon- (Fig 3, also known as Pythagorus theorem) by strated that these pearls follow the arrangement Baudhayana, geometrical constructions (without of circles in a Schottky group. Similarly, a

18 comment on a hymn of Rigveda (1.50.4) by Sayana, a fourteenth-century Vedic commentator records: tatha ca smaryate yojnanam sahasre dve dve sate dve ca yojane ekena nimisardhena kramamana

[O Surya] you who traverse Thus2,202 yojanait is remembered: in half a nimesa.

With a yojana of 13.6 km (which is de- fined as 8000 average human heights of 1.7m) and a nimesa of 16/75th of a sec- ond, this accounts to 280,755 km/s which is only origin fromFig : 2000 )ndras BCE Pearls which is very much like the 6% short from the speed of light as known today. geometry of the Shulba Sutras.

In India, there were two parallel traditions for the On the technological front, many metallurgical sustenance of scientific knowledge: Shastra and chemical advances like fabrication of wootz (theory) and Loka-parampara (practice). This steel (which was prized all over the Greek and created an enriching interface between theory Roman world), methods for extraction of oils for and practical knowledge and thus sciences like medicinal and perfumery purposes, iron-smelting Ayurveda gained knowledge from folk traditions techniques, corrosion-resistant metals (Delhi Iron such as bone-setting and herbal preparations. Pillar is a famous example) and water manage- Even today, much traditional knowledge has been ment technologies bewilder the modern scientific documented from rural and tribal communities. For instance, in Kerala some healers of snake surgeon, lists 220 surgical instruments in his Su- bites can cure a patient by getting two villagers, mind.shruta Sushruta, Samhita. probablyThe notion the of worlds Dashavatar first plastic(Fig 6, after chewing medicinal herbs, to blow into the ten incarnations of the divine consciousness) ears of the patient. The All-India Coordinated Re- holds some intuitive idea of the concept of search Project on Ethnobiology (AICRPE), a com- biological evolution: the first avatar has the body mittee appointed by the Government of India, of a fish, the second an amphibian, the third a reported that tribals are familiar with about 9500 mammal, the fourth a half-man half-animal, the species of plants including 7500 medicinal ones. fifth a short man. Later stages represent a spiri- tual evolution. fully illustrated in the Persian and Arabic story of Despite these advances, Indian science and tech- Sessa)ndias, a fascination clever brahmana with large who numbersdesigned isthe beauti- game of chaturanga (chess). The king was so pleased with the demonstration of the game that he told nology could not produce a scientific revolution. Sessa to ask for any reward. Sessa humbly re- quested one grain of wheat on the first square of the board, two on the second, four on the third and so on. In order to calculate the total number of grains, the king had to call mathematicians from neighbouring kingdom. They worked out the number to be 264 1 (Fig 5). The embarrassed king was saved by a clever minister who asked Sessa to go to the – granary and count the grains himself. In addition to advances in large numbers, efficient mathematical algorithms and accurate astronomical calculations were devised by Indian mathematicians long before occidentals. Historian of mathematics A. Seidenberg compared Greek and Babylonian geometry with the Shulba Sutras derived from Greek or Babylonian geometry, but Greekand found and Babylonian that the latters geometry geometry have a cannot common be Fig 5: Chess (Chaturanga) 19 The reasons for this are complex, but they include the destruction of centers of learning and libraries in north India, a consequent disruption of mechanisms of transmission of knowl- edge and manuscripts among savants, a lack of patronage of mathemati- cians and astronomers by kings (if we compare with the patronage given to the arts), and the absence of a desire to conquer and colonize other parts of the earth, which would have required further techno- logical advances. In any gress slowed down in me- dievalcase, )ndias age. Under scientific the Brit-pro- science gradually replaced ish colonial rule, Western Fig 6: Dashavatar (ten incarnations of the divine consciousness) plines. At the same time, Indian)ndias philosophy traditional and disci- spirituality travelled to the NERD: Please share with us some intercultural West, and we see, for instance Swami Vivekan- experiences you had in the first few years. anda discussing Vedantic ideas with Nikola Tesla Michel: The major experience was that I felt per- and influencing Kelvin and Helmholtz. Later, Er- fectly at home here in India. I had never really felt win Schrödinger and Werner Heisenberg ac- quite at home in France for reasons I cannot ex- knowledged their debt to Indian thoughts and plain; but I felt completely myself and absorbed in concepts. Auroville. This feeling of being at home cannot be decided and described on an intellectual basis. NERD team had a detailed interview with Michel and his partner Nicole after the lectures, on his NERD: After settling in Auroville, what was the work related to ancient Indian science and civili- first study you undertook? zation and his views on the future of Indian cul- Michel: In those days, various communities in ture. Some excerpts: Auroville were attempting different ways of con- trolling soil erosion, which was the major prob- NERD: What was your motivation behind your lem in the Auroville terrain then. I tried to docu- decision to come to India at the age of 21 and ment those attempts in eco-restoration; besides, I then study here? helped to bring out a bilingual magazine in Eng- Michel: My initial motivation was to come and lish and French. Very soon, I developed an incli- live in Auroville, an international township in nation towards books and publications related to Tamil Nadu located close to Pondicherry. It was Sri Aurobindo and the Mother. This kept us (me founded on the ideas of Sri Aurobindo and the and Nicole) busy together. In 1982, when we Mother. Sri Aurobindo was a spiritual master well were called to a small institution in the Nilgiris, known for his role in the revolutionary movement we dedicated ourselves to this work much more in the first decade of the twentieth century. The intensively. It is through Sri Aurobindo that I de- kind of experiment Auroville was human be- veloped interest in the study of ancient Indian ings coming from all over the globe and attempt- civilization, its history, archaeology etc., because ing something together fascinated— me. I had he was interested not just in spirituality, but in been in touch with it for some years while in making sense of the Indian civilization. He wrote France, and I decided to — take the plunge. This is an extraordinary book called The Foundations of what initially drew me there and then I stayed Indian Culture in which he tried to bring out vari- on. ous features that have made India stick together — 20 in every aspect of life through all these ages. That although one finds no evidence of this in Indian was a starting point for me; I wanted to see how literature or protohistory. book was written almost a century ago. I tried to bring out in my study that there was no that would be updated, since Sri Aurobindos archaeological trace of the arrival of the Aryans in NERD: Coming to your work now, you wrote a the 2nd millennium BCE: such a migration would book, The Invasion That Never Was, in 2000 in have involved the emergence of new types of ar- which you criticized the Aryan invasion theory tefacts new weapons, vehicles, handicrafts, art emphasizing that they were indigenous to India. forms, etc. What did you base your criticism on and how was no such— evidence has been found in the second it received? — and itsmillennium well established BCE. now In fact,that Michel: The book actually The Aryan invasion is not some archaeologists now are first came out in a shorter required to explain the evo- proposing that the Indus edition in 1996, and then in a Civilization gradually much enlarged one in 2000, lution of Indian civilization. evolved to the classical which ran out of print in Gangetic Civilization of the 2003. The grounds for criticizing the theory are first millennium BCE. The Aryan invasion or mi- not really mine but they have been highlighted by gration is not required to explain the evolution of many scholars beginning with Swami Vivekan- Indian civilization. Also, the Rig Veda anda, Sri Aurobindo, Dr. Ambedkar, besides West- ancient text which is supposed to have been com- ern anthropologists, archaeologists and even bi- posed by the mythical Aryans soon, )ndias after most their ologists. arrival, makes no mention of their arrival. It would be natural for the Aryans to feel nostalgic There were two reasons behind the Aryan inva- for their land of origin, but there is not a word to sion theory: one was to explain the linguistic con- that effect in the entire Rig Veda. Instead, they nection between the European languages and clearly belong to the Saptasindhu, which is Pun- Sanskrit, which became obvious once the Euro- jab, Haryana, Rajasthan and Pakistan today, as if pean scholars were able to read Sanskrit some- the incoming Aryans had got struck with amnesia time in the late eighteenth century. To explain and forgotten all about their long migration to this connection in those days, in the absence of literature, which goes back to the second or third tion envisaged was that of migration; that is to century)ndia. Correspondingly, BCE, we find no in recollection south )ndias of Sangam a trau- todays more complex models, the only explana- say, if two languages were somewhat related, matic invasion or cultural clash with invading then one had to imagine a migration from A to B Aryans. or B to A, or from C to A and B. This is known as NERD: In your book The Lost River: On the Trail of stood that languages can travel without people the Sarasvati (Penguin Books, 2010), you present havingthe migrationist to migrate; model. for example, Today Sanskrit it is well migrated under- evidence that the river Sarasvati was present in to many parts of Asia through an increased inter- what is Haryana and Rajasthan today, but the cur- est in Sanskrit texts, not through a migration of rently held belief is that Sarasvati is one of the Indian people. rivers that meet at the Triveni Sangam in Allaha- bad. What, in your opinion, is the reason behind The second reason was the colonial context: the this common belief? British colonial powers tried to divide Indian so- Michel: The Sarasvati joining the Ganga and Ya- ciety by propagating a theory portraying the up- muna at Prayag (Allahabad) is a recent tradition per castes as descended from the Aryans, and the which you will not find anywhere in the Vedas. lower castes as descendants of the indigenous The Rig Veda clearly states that the Sarasvati people whom the Aryans subdued. Another divide flowed westward between Yamuna and Sutlej. -and-rule strategy was the division between Even the Mahabharata records the Sarasvati as North Indians and South Indians: the Aryans in- flowing through Kurukshetra (in Haryana) all the vading from the North drove the indigenous Dra- way to Prabhas in Gujarat; this is the only Saras- vidians southward where they eventually settled, vati the Mahabharata knows. Sarasvati at Prayag This is the way the Indian mind functions — the memory should be preserved and the worship should continue, while the geo- graphic details and accuracy are a minor consideration.

21 is a tradition which comes later on, in the Pura- longing among the people so successfully that nas, and, in fact, there are many more Sarasvatis they even spread beyond India. The whole of in India: two in Gujarat, two in Haryana, one in Southeast Asia was mesmerized by them. Even Rajasthan, among others. My proposition has the walls of the Angkor Wat temple in Cambodia been that after the westward-flowing Sarasvati depict some of their stories in a grand manner. dried up around 2000 BCE, the hundreds of They continue to be re-enacted in Indonesia, a Harappan settlements that had flourished along Muslim nation, as part of its cultural heritage. I its banks (they have been identified on the believe that such cultural integration gives people ground) had to be abandoned; some of the Late Harappans migrated into the Gangetic plains, but unification of different communities, castes and so as not to forget that river, they conjured up sociala sense levels of belonging, has been andvery thats successful why this in keepingkind of the whole land together for long. Today, Western the only river to be given the status of a goddess countries are talking of multiculturalism, espe- inSarasvatis the Rig Veda presence was the at Prayag. Sarasvati, )t is so curious the Harap- that cially in Europe, but their leaders have admitted pans were apparently quite attached to it (or her, that their models have failed, because they were rather!) and were keen to multiply her on the trying to keep people together without any real landscape so that they would remember her. This integration. Cultural integration is something is the way the Indian mind functions: the memory which the West could perhaps learn from India should be preserved and the worship should con- for it can be done only on the basis of certain tinue, while the geographic details and accuracy deep values. — are a minor consideration. Hence, the Harappans created an NERD: You also Indian civilization is the only ancient civili- started the In- ternational Fo- vati which peo- zation persisting till today. The two great pleinvisible later on Saras- em- bellished with Heritage in epics – Ramayana and Mahabharata – gave rum for )ndias the story of a 2001. Please tell river flowing India its cultural unity and integration. us about the underground. ethos of this forum and some of the initiatives you have taken. NERD: Moving on from ancient to current India Michel: It is a network of scholars and we have now. You have written a book Indian Culture and done a few projects like interviewing 11,000 Indias Future, in which you say that the essential school children across India about their views on values of the Indian civilization and culture re- Indian education (that project was sponsored by the NCERT). We have been feeling that there is no global deculturalization and dehumanization. Pleasemain indispensableelaborate on what in todays those values critical are. phase of be kept out of the schooling system. In France, Michel: You can figure them out easily if you con- studentsvalid reason are obligedwhy )ndias to know cultural about heritage French should litera- sider a single fact the persistence of the Indian ture, thinkers and philosophy, so that after twelve civilization. With the partial exception of China, years of schooling they will have some notion of there is no known— ancient civilization surviving French culture; but in India, students develop no

ing culture. That was one of our motivations be- thetoday. Pyramids, Todays Greek but in has India, no contact the antiquity with Plato of the or hindintelligent the creation understanding of this forum. of the countrys unify- cultureSocrates has and persisted, todays Egyptian and it has has persisted no contact because with of certain highly effective mechanisms within the But it is not enough to just point shortcomings, so society, especially a certain cultural integration we are trying to create educational material on Indian culture and heritage. We cannot give stu- How was that worked out? dents scholarly material for every branch of an- creating a sense of unity across )ndias geography. cient Indian knowledge, so we are working to- The consensus among the scholars is that more wards a series of interactive multimedia educa- than the Vedas or the Upanishads, it was the two tional DVDs. The first of them will be on science great Epics the Ramayana and the Mahab- and technology in ancient India, which was the harata that were widely adopted across India, theme of my lectures here at IIT Kanpur. In a few freely adopted— and transformed from region to months, we will see how this initiative is received. region. —You will be hard pressed to find a place in India where Rama or the Pandavas or some Rishi NERD: Coming to your lectures on Indian science did not come by. The Epics created a sense of be- at IIT Kanpur, do you think it is valid to examine 22 the knowledge of those sciences need this kind of open-mindedness rather than rush to declare every- ence? The current scientific setup thing in the past as ignorant or su- raisesagainst questions the current about infallible some other sci- perstitious. points such as treatment of snake bites. NERD: Most of us see our traditions Michel: I brought in some examples as a set of superstitions and talk of to point out that modern science spreading a scientific temper. Where can hardly be regarded as complete, and how, do you think, some stories let alone infallible. Any honest sci- in our history evolve into supersti- entist will tell you that so many tions; for example we should change things still defy explanation. Science our way if a black cat crosses the does not claim completeness, but path? scientists are very attached to the Michel: The original spirit of rituals scientific method. It includes tests is to connect us to the universe, but for falsifiability, a valid concept in somewhere along the way they de- my opinion, but we need to be care- generate and people start sacrificing ful to see how far it can test ancient Fig 7: LateProf. Balasubrama- for tangible results wealth, a son, ways of functioning. For example, in niam hugging Delhi Iron Pillar fame... To avoid this, traditions the case of snake bites, if you saw should evolve with — time, otherwise, the video clip showing a traditional method ad- we get stuck with meaningless rituals that can ministered to a krait bite (in which two people result in superstition, since their original spirit blow into the ears of the patient after chewing and hence their intrinsic value are lost. If the medicinal plants), the method would make no original meaning is revived and people are happy sense to a modern doctor. The only way he/she with that, I see no problem with it. can assess such a methodology is to look at the statistics as to how many people with lethal bites NERD: Coming to science education in schools, got cured this way. The explanation of this proc- the way science is taught in India creates an im- ess is as tough as the explanation of Ayurveda, pression in young minds that science is some- because, in spite of being internally consistent, thing that is done overseas. Do you think that this Ayurveda defies modern explanation through leads to a lack of pride in Indian science and present-day medical science. You may say that hence in our culture? the three doshas vata, pitta and kapha are Michel: For various reasons which I would not go not scientific entities that can be seen under the into in this interview, the Indian education sys- — — tem has kept Indian heritage out of sight of the traditional knowledge systems, there are things student. This creates an impression, as you say, whichmicroscope, science yet can Ayurveda assess and works. things So,it cannot. in )ndias that all knowledge comes from the West and therefore a subconscious thought that India never I believe that scientists have to be open-minded, generated any worthwhile knowledge. It is a but honest assessments can be made and some skewed perspective that Indian education im- groups in India are working towards that test- prints on young Indian minds. Students are told ing ancient technologies to see how far they could be of use to advanced — technologies in the fields The Indian educationthat the system numerals taughtaccepted in school fact by are all Arabic histo- of metallurgy, agricul- riansnumerals, of science but that it is they an ture, medicine and other has kept Indian heritage out of originated in India in the areas. For example, here sight of the student. at IIT Kanpur, (Late) the teachers explain this? Prof. R. Balasubrama- WhenBrahmi students script. Why learn cant to niam worked out the precise metallurgical tech- count with the decimal system of numeral nota- nology used to create rustless iron pillars (such as an Indian creation (Fig 8)? Ironically, one of the best plex Fig 7) and other artefacts; in short this an- tion,histories why oncant the it decimalbe introduced system for of whatnumeral it is nota-— thecient famous iron had one a highin New phosphorous Delhis Qutub content, Minar and com- he tion was written by a French scholar (Georges found– that there was scope for applying the same Ifrah), who praised Indian savants for this techniques to stop or slow down the rusting of achievement. It is natural to know what our coun- iron used for rails or in concrete structures. We try has contributed in terms of knowledge.

23 then Lagrange and Laplace did before reaching science should be integrated in the educational the final form of the expression it would be systemSo we are and proposing teachers that should )ndias tell studentscontribution about to easier to approach. As a student of science in France, I was also given clues towards— the history of science to understand how this knowledge importantthem. Let meinputs repeat from that India, what China, we call Mesopotamia science is took shape. Most students would be excited to andnot other Western parts science: of the world, modern and sciencethese inputs has hadare know that so many great minds all over the world now more and more acknowledged. toiled for so long, often getting it wrong.

NERD: Coming to an If you just want to get a degree and The problem is that in even more basic ques- India, history is taught tion, why do we need job, you dont need to know the his- to study at all the his- about dates and wars tory of science? tory of science; but to understand a andthe wrong dynasties way. )ts and all Michel: It is like ask- hence meaningless ing why we need to bit more about the country you live and boring. The stu- know about the evolu- in, you need to know it. dent is not able to re- tion of ideas. At a very late to the history. I have not come across many students of history need it; but to understand a bit more about the showing real interest in their subject. That is very countrycrude level, you to live get in, a to degree answer and the a job, question you dont who unfortunate. We should change drastically the you are (because it is related to what is India pedagogy for history and the way we look at it about), you need to know something of what an- because it is a part of us. It helps you to under- cient Indian thinkers, astronomers, mathemati- stand yourself and hence your identity. History— cians, chemists, physicians really achieved. The should be a fascinating topic taught creatively limited availability of genuine material has led to through plays, research and visits to local sites. I many spurious, exaggerated claims that ancient have always said that you should start from local Indians had vimanas flying through the skies, nu- history and geography and build it up from there. clear power, etc. We have to fill the void with genuine information so that those who are interested can pursue them.

History of science is a recognized academic discipline in the West; you can do a masters and a PhD in it. The problem is that it is mul- tidisciplinary: it integrates not only science but also fields like history, anthropology and archaeology, and is therefore quite demand- ing. It has not been able to find a home in the Indian academic scenario which is very com- partmentalized. I hope the situation will evolve as the need to study this valuable disci- pline gains recognition.

NERD: Coming to the establishment of history of science as an academic discipline, not many elite science institutes in the country expose their students to it and the humanities depart- ment is just considered a service department. What is your opinion about exposing science students at both graduate and undergraduate level to these important aspects? Michel: I believe that if it is done in a creative way, most students would love it. Generally, the final result is given to a student of mathe- matics to be swallowed; but if it were given to him or her as an evolutionary process to understand what Newton and Leibnitz and Fig 8: Evolution of numeral 4 — 24 NERD: Yog message to young Indians would be to explore the has been practised by Indian Yogis for long but Lets talk about the attitudeYog of till )ndians. it was ap- to knowledge. preciated by the West and returned to India as meaning of being )ndian and )ndias contributions Yogatodays. What, )ndian according did not practice to you, is responsible for NERD: You have been giving lectures on Indian this blind following attitude of Indians? civilization and people have been very open to Michel: Yog is a Hindi word and Yoga is its San- your ideas. Do you think you would have been skrit equivalent. But I understand your question. received in the same way had you been an Indian? It is true in a cer- Michel: First of all, I am an Indian as I took Indian citizenship some tain class of the The uneducated Indian knows what it Indian population years back. To re- but mostly in the means to be Indian and the significance phrase the question urbanized class. and include skin The fact that the of his traditions. Ironically, the problem colour, I think the West adopted Yoga answer would be in such a big way comes with Indian education. yes and no. It may had a ripple effect back home, but not with the have initially helped mass of the population. I have come across people as people wondered how someone with a fair skin in rural Tamil Nadu practising asanas and has probed Indian culture to such depth. At the pranayama, and it is a part of their culture some- same time, if I were talking rubbish, the novelty how. They have no clue what happens in America. would soon wear off! I have to make sure that I bring something of substance. My approach has Indian is hypnotized by the West, but the been basically to be objective and bring out genu- (ence, you are partly right that the educated ine material, presenting the entire picture in as neutral a manner as possible. Indian and the significance of his traditions. Ironi- cally,uneducated the problem )ndian comes knows with what Indian it meanseducation. to be It NERD: Shifting to Nicole, please tell us about your is a reflection of the colonial hangover, as our journey with Michel in the past years. education system has never really been over- Nicole: I came to India a few years before Michel hauled and reformed after Independence. and it was the same love for India that kept us

NERD: In your book Indias Culture and Indias together. We both felt at home here. We felt inti- Future, you refer to the angry young Indian. How mate with the land and the people. Whenever we do you define such a person would go abroad on a visit, and what is your message to Explore the meaning of we would yearn to come him/her? being an Indian and Indias back. We would like to do Michel: The angry young something for Indian culture Indian is the one who is up- contributions to knowledge. in India but the most impor- set to see the state of things: tant thing is the gift of the connection with the divine that India gives us. to be educated, etc. This is what puts off many NERD: Thank you Michel and Nicole for the whohaving have to bribe aspirations ones way and around, ideas, andto pay it so is much abso- detailed interview! lutely natural. Then they start idealizing the West, thinking that there is no corruption there. That of Mohd. Suhail Rizvi ([email protected]) is a PhD student course is valid to an extent, since there are areas in the Department of Biological Sciences and Bioengi- neering at IIT Kanpur. His interests include biomechan- where the West scores above India, such as pollu- ics, long trip cycling and studying about Indian history. tion control and civic discipline, but there are also social tensions in the West that are ever increas- Mohit Kumar Jolly ([email protected]) is an M Tech ing. Some young Indians, yearning to go to the student in the Department of Biological Sciences and West once, get dissatisfied especially with the Bioengineering at IIT Kanpur. He is interested in science concept of consumerism which is the main driv- communication and started the campus science and ing force in Western society. India tried to answer technology magazine, NERD, in 2008. those questions long back by giving a deeper meaning to life, which is what causes many West- This interview is the transcript of an audio interview erners to turn to India. She also insisted on the art with Michel and Nicole, taken for IIT K 90.4 FM. It was of being happy with little, whereas the West transcribed by Sayak Dasgupta. wants us to be unhappy with much. My only

25 DOG – EARED: Book review 50 Genetics Ideas You Really Need to Know

Anjaney Kothari

The author, in the introduction ideas expressed in the book very to the book, says: "Without clear. Many obscure quotes by genetics...we would look at life scientists appear constantly with one eye. We are lucky which may spoil the fun a bit for enough to live at a time when some like they did for this humanity can finally watch with reviewer. Nevertheless, a bit two." more icing on the cake does not spoil the entire feast. In a time when some or the other word related to one of the If one were to encourage people most important life sciences, who are not too enthusiastic Genetics, is conspicuous in eve- about biology to read this book, rybody's vocabulary, Mark Hen- (s)he would say that this book derson has written a book owes all its readers a wonderful which discusses it all, in a fash- realization, that how painstaking ion that would increase any- serendipity could be and yet one's inclination towards the how serendipitous painstaking wonderful world of biology. ISBN: 978-1-84724-671-4 could be, in science. In short, the Commencing from the genetics Publisher: Quercus author has discoursed giant of evolution, this book tracks Author: Mark Henderson genetics ideas with incredible the evolution of genetics from Binding: Hardback with Jacket genes to gene patenting, from Publishing Year: 2008 Genetics Ideas You Really Need cancer to 'designer' babies, from Number of Pages: 208 lucidity, which makes Mendelian inheritance to epige- Language: English to read. netics, from genetic determin- to Know a book you really need Price: INR 324 (on Flipkart.com) About the Author: Mark Hen- ism to artificial life. Commenting Book Club Availability: 0 (on website) meticulously on many such top- derson ics, the author has made this book sprawl beauti- Mark Henderson, a graduate in fully across the past, present and future of Genet- modern history from the Oxford University, is the ics. Controversial topics like homosexuality, races science editor of The Times. He lives in London and intelligence of human beings have been dis- and finds genetics, reproductive medicine and cussed from the science perspective, serving as an regenerative medicine (including stem cell re- eye opener against many stereotypes on these search) quite interesting. He has won several cov- eted awards in science journalism. issues.

Each chapter has been enriched with a timeline of Anjaney Kothari ([email protected]) is a second events related to the ideas, discoveries or experi- year Undergraduate Student in the Department of ments discussed in the chapter. The 'condensed Biological Sciences and Bioengineering at IIT Kan- idea' that the author wishes to convey to the pur. His academic interests are genetics, artificial readers through each chapter is highlighted at the life synthesis and linguistics. When he is not think- end of each chapter in crisp and clear words. At ing of growing peas like Mendel, he likes to read the end, a glossary of the biology jargon used in Agatha Christie novels, write stories and poems the book has been presented, which makes the and paint.

BOOK REVIEW IN THE NEXT ISSUE (V4 N2): this section in V4N2 of NERD to see what SashankFind the Pisupati review thinks of the ofbook this Genome: book which An autobiography was described of as a species in Chapters published-discoverer in , by of eminentDNA, James popular Watson! science author Matt Ridley. Watch out for

lucid and exhilarating by the co 26 From dialogue to learning Interview with Dr. Suchitra Mathur

Mohit Kumar Jolly and Swapnika Reddy

Dr. Suchitra Mathur has been a faculty member in the Humanities and Social Sciences department since 2000. Well known among the student community for her interesting classes in HSS I and II level courses, she has also been very active in various student activities and festivals. She also received the Gopal Das Bhandari Memorial Outstanding Teacher Award 2011 – an annual award given to a faculty member chosen by the graduating undergraduate batch. NERD team members had the privilege of an exclusive interview with her regarding her experiences as a teacher, researcher and a member of the IIT Kanpur community. Here are some excerpts:

NERD: You have been a faculty member in this on this campus as a faculty kid, so I applied to IIT institute for more than a decade now. What is the Kanpur as well. Honestly, I really did not know most distinguishing feature you feel about the then what I, as an English teacher, would do in an institute? IIT. But it took me just one semester to figure out Dr. Mathur: I would like to answer that question that this was where I wanted to be. All thanks to in two ways. Looking from a historical perspec- the students I taught in that first semester here! I tive, what has always attracted me to IIT was lucky enough to be teaching a level II Kanpur as an institute and what I hope to HSS course and I interacted extensively see continuing is its democratic tradi- with third and fourth year students. I tions. The model of self governance in realized that I would not find that level of faculty as well as the student body has interest in literature and the kind of en- been that of democratic functioning. gagement with it among students any- What I mean here is not only election of where else. representatives but also the spirit of de- bate and engagement with everything NERD: Students respect you for the way around oneself. But over the past few you have taken many HSS I and II level years, I have felt that this spirit has been courses, and you recently received the endangered by a variety of factors, pri- Gopal Das Bhandari Memorial Award. marily by the apathy of the people in- What pedagogical techniques adopted by volved; and I am hoping against hope that those you make you so different? traditions will be revived. Dr. Mathur: I am very honoured to receive the Another distinguishing feature of IIT Kanpur for award and would like to thank the outgoing batch me has been the enormous amount of innovation for it. Frankly, I am not so sure about the idea of and energy brought in by the students. Be it being different. The teaching culture in this insti- awards won by students in innovation-based tute is another distinguishing feature of IIT Kan- competitions, the en- pur and fortunately, thusiasm brought to A distinguishing feature of IIT there are many excel- various socio-cultural Kanpur has been the enormous lent teachers on the activities, the very exis- campus in all depart- tence of NERD itself amount of innovation and energy ments. I have learnt being a prime example - brought in by the students. from the pedagogical I have always marvelled techniques used by at it in all fields. various faculty mem- bers and the informal feedback by students in the NERD: A faculty member in the Humanities and class. Social Sciences department in an engineering in- stitute what made you choose such a unique I think of the classroom as a place where learning post? takes place. That may sound obvious, but I want Dr. Mathur:– I was teaching in the US and wanted to distinguish it from teaching taking place, to move back to India. IIT Kanpur has always held because I think of teaching as more of a one way a very special place in my heart because I grew up activity where it is assumed that somehow 27 knowledge can be delivered by an individual standing at one end of the classroom to a bunch of students sitting at the other end. I am not denying relatethe differences to the socio-economic in the idea ofcontext an evening within which walk that this happens it can happen effectively. I got weand live walking and act as anthis exercise, would be how a cultural does it studies really educated in that system, but I have felt over time project. that a more interactive– classroom where teachers – and students are engaged in learning in an active Now within this field, popular culture is defined fashion as a mutual enterprise is more exciting. I in two very different ways. One is in terms of believe that learning takes place through active mass consumption - such as studying the music participation; and I have tried to implement this industry, film industry or the comic-book indus- in my courses as far as possible. try. The other way is its link to folk culture. Folk culture and its study has a longer tradition in In- NERD: Please tell us about some of your most dia and abroad, but mass culture studies is rela- interesting experiences in the classroom. tively new and is facing challenges in getting es- Dr. Mathur: Classroom experience for me is de- tablished as an academic discipline because fined by interaction with students, and I would things for mass consumption are assumed to be divide these into rewarding on the one hand and too banal to be worthy of study. We have the idea stimulating on the other. Rewarding is where an experience of learning takes place the excite- culture studies intervenes in this by saying that so ment you see in students is immensely gratifying. -of high culture and low culture; but popular For instance, in a course I teach on –feminist the- study, with a different perspective though. When I ory, many a times the students have had the sud- studycalled high low culture, or popular say classicalculture is music, also worthy it is with of the idea of understanding and developing an ap- preciation for it, but is it the same with, say Hindi linkedden realization up what as is Oh!being This learnt is what in a iscourse meant with by cinema? Probably not, but I can understand it in theirgender own issues lives. in Examples our everyday of stimulating lives and experi- thus terms of the effects it has and the role it plays in ences have been shaping Indian soci- from courses in I think of the classroom as a place ety. So, popular cin- which I have ema starts being looked at science where learning takes place, and this is treated as a product fiction, and we have here an example different from teaching taking place. had the most excit- of a cultural com- ing discussions on modity;– and popular how we define science and what qualifies as sci- culture studies understands how cultural com- ence etc. I have learnt so much from my students modities circulate in a society. through such discussions. Recently, I have become involved with Indian sci- NERD: Coming to your research areas, can you ence fiction being written in English - looking at please explain what is popular culture studies all what is being produced and how it engages with about and what have you been working on? the definition of science especially within the In- Dr. Mathur: Popular cultural studies is a specific dian context. Again, things like science fiction are subset of cultural studies. In humanities and so- cial sciences, we generally look at society and cul- falls into popular culture. One reads Asimov and ture through specific lenses, say the sociological not considered high literature often; hence it lens, the psychological lens, the literary lens etc. Cultural Studies tends to bring it all together to doesnt think of it as reading literature. One reads examine the way in which we live, and tries to Literature when one reads Shakespeare! give a definition of culture and its function in soci- NERD: You have also been active in science fic- ety through an interdisciplinary perspective to tion, and you organized a summer workshop re- understand why we do what we do. Cultural Stud- lated to the same in 2009. How did you get inter- ies, in this sense, becomes the study of the every- ested in science fiction? day, of things that we take completely for granted. Dr. Mathur: Completely because of my students Let me give you a concrete example. On our cam- here. I enjoyed science fiction, but I have never pus between 7 and 9pm, you will see many people been a huge fan. I grew up reading Asimov, I was a Star Trek fan; but I never, in my remotest mon everyday practice is also a cultural activity. dreams, thought of it as a field of study until I Askingout on questions the street like taking what a are walk. the Nowantecedents this com- of came to this campus and started interacting with this activity, how is it culturally specific, what are students. Occasionally, a science fiction book 28 would become a part of the literary discussion cure patients exactly as you would use an injec- group and the kind of discussion it evoked was tion. Among Indian authors, I admire Amitav

Also, I felt science fiction to be a way of connect- Manjula Padmanabhan. ingvery with exciting a student to me. body Thats that partly is so deeplyhow ) got rooted into init. Ghoshs Calcutta Chromosome, and the work of a science culture. NERD: Please tell us about the initiative you have been leading - Literary Discussion Group. NERD: Fiction is a manifestation of storytelling or Dr. Mathur: The Literary Discussion Group narrative. What are your views on fiction as a me- started in the very first semester I was here. dium for popular communication of science? How Three students came up to me after the class and can the teachers of science at different levels in- suggested forming a group where they could just corporate the feature of narrative in their lec- sit and discuss books; and that is how it began as tures? we started discussing books over weekends. It Dr. Mathur: Narrative is very fundamental to the remained a completely informal group, never be- way in which we think and function. Fiction is a coming part of any Gymkhana club. We realized very small part of narrative. If I ask you a ques- the need for funding only when we wanted to in- tion as simple as how was your day, the answer vite an author from Delhi for a talk. Then we ap- you would give will be a narrative, a story. You proached the Centre for Creative Writing and will organise the events in a certain order and tell Publication (CCWP), which has since then been an official sponsor of LDG. What amazes me is that it an arrangement of events in a certain sequence has continued for such a long time. It has given tothem convey in a certaina certain fashion. meaning. Thats Hence what it cannarrative be used is me a great deal of satisfaction because of its infor- for– absolutely any kind of activity. It is one of our mality as it is a forum where the entire campus most fundamental human instincts to tell stories. community can get together over shared literary Therefore, if it is included in pedagogy, it will be interests. very exciting because we have all grown up listen- ing to stories, and it is something that interests NERD: CP Snow, the famous British novelist and us. Thus, it can make teaching much more mean- ingful to everybody; and I think it can be done ence and humanities are mutually incomprehen- surgeon, in , said People belonging to sci- quite easily. In fact, many students have taught me science through storytelling and I have found a similar kind? sible. (as your experience at ))T Kanpur been of it very exciting. Recently, my twelve year old Dr. Mathur: No. These are very stereotypical no- nephew was visiting me and I used the word tions and of course, occasionally you may find people with similar notions on this campus as was, and I found myself repeating a story defini- well, but I have had no such experience. Although tionfractal of fractal in some which context. a student (e asked had once me whatgiven thatme. some may ask why we have an HSS department at That is how deep an impact narrative makes on all, in the Institute our department functions not our memory and understanding. as an adjunct department having second class citizenship, but as one which is central to the in- NERD: Which science fiction works (books or stitute. Also, students often take HSS courses vol- movies) would you recommend students to fol- untarily as open electives and do projects with low? HSS faculty members too. Dr. Mathur: Actually, it has been mostly other way round. Students have recommended science Also, I believe that mutual incomprehensibility fiction movies and books to me. One science fic- has less to do with specific disciplines than with tion author I do admire a lot is Ursula Le Guin. She writes what I would call speculative fiction erature in a highly specialised manner and a per- how one thinks of ones discipline. )f ) discuss lit- rather than pure science fiction. When we think of son from philosophy talks exclusively in the spe- science fiction; we mostly think of space travel, cialised vocabulary of philosophy, we can be mu- aliens or artificial intelligence, but what has at- tually incomprehensible much more so than I tracted me to science fiction is the speculative would be to a biologist; hence it has more to do tendency in it, i.e. giving new ideas about the with how rigid the boundaries are which one world we live in. For example, had the force of gravity been six times stronger, how would soci- drawsNERD: around We have ones been discipline. hearing about various at- ety have restructured itself. I am very fond of tempts for a course on communication skills for such speculative fiction which gives a broader students. Being a member of Academic Review meaning to what science is. One of my favourite Committee (ARC), please inform us of some previ- stories is about a woman who uses a snake to 29 ous and proposed attempts to teach communica- history of HSS since its inception, what sugges- tion skills to students. tions would you give to upcoming science and Dr. Mathur: I have a very difficult and compli- technology institutes in setting up their HSS de- partments? Dr. Mathur: I believe that HSS departments set cated relation with the term communication- up at any science and technology institute have to COMskills. 200 During and it my survived eleven yearsfor four at years. ))T, there It was was a be thought of in a more integrative fashion. I semesterone attempt long to teach course communication in the third semesterskills here to really wish that they would not be called HSS de- teach various kinds of communication skills. I partments because this name itself carries the idea of compart- body was really Reducing communication skills to the mentalized disci- happydont think with any-it plines along with students, faculty ability to converse fluently in English is a it. I think new or the administra-– very reductionist approach. institutes should tion. The fact that adopt the ap- proach of what might be called cultural studies, When discussions happened in ARC, it was felt i.e. recognizing that the disciplines function very thatits no communication longer running skillsspeaks are for something itself. impor- much in conversation with one another, so that tant that our students lack and hence a sub com- science and technology are integrated with hu- mittee was formed to look into this idea. The sub- manities and social sciences to form a truly inter- committee report is available to all, so I would not disciplinary curriculum. For example, I think it is comment further on that. But in my individual inexcusable that a science and technology insti- capacity, as someone who has taught the COM tute offers no course on the history of science. 200 course and has been engaged with the prob- Does science function in a vacuum without any connection to history or society? It does not and it difficult to accept communication being re- hence inculcating such an idea is nothing short of ducedlem of tocommunication a skill, thus implying skills, ) thatwill sayone thatcan )get find a academic negligence. toolbox which one can just mechanically put to use. I believe that this is a wrong approach to NERD: You have been very active in student ac- communication. First, we have to figure out what tivities and festivals, and hence in close connec- kind of problems one faces with regard to com- tion with the student body. What changes have munication. Reducing communication skills to the you observed in the student-faculty interaction ability to converse fluently in English is a very over the last ten years? reductionist approach. Dr. Mathur: Student-faculty interaction has suf- fered a huge loss and this is very sad. It spells dis- NERD: As you aster for the insti- rightly pointed out I think it is inexcusable that a science tute. Efforts should that communication be made from both skills are often con- and technology institute offers no sides in every way fused with English course on the history of science. possible to bridge speaking abilities. these gaps. We What, in your opinion, is the reason behind this need to have repeated conversations amongst narrow thought among students, faculty and par- ourselves within the two groups, with each other, ents? and be honest in trying to pinpoint the causes and Dr. Mathur: Cultural cache. If you speak English come up with solutions.

NERD: You have been actively involved with the course,fluently, hasyou toare do seen with as oura more colonial cultured background. person, effort to ensure payment of minimum wages and Peopleas someone believe with that a goodthe language personality, of power and isthis, Eng- of other fronts related to labour rights. What moti- lish, so if they want power (which usually trans- vates you to work for that section of the society? lates into earning capacity), they have to be fluent Dr. Mathur: The institute has three pillars - stu- in English. It is simply a way to get oneself into a dents, faculty and staff - but they are not equally powerful moneymaking position, especially in the weighted. The place would not function for an corporate world, and, unfortunately, for a lot of hour without the workers. Starting from the con- people, that is the only focus. struction of the lovely building we inhabit to equipment management to maintaining the NERD: You are also a visiting faculty at IIT greenery of the campus and so on, it is the work- Gandhinagar. Coming from an institute that has a ers who make everything we do possible, and to 30 ignore them is criminal negligence. So, my deci- sations? Such dialogue and interaction are what sion to be involved goes back to my firm belief in make the campus what it is and allow learning to democratic traditions. If I am living in a commu- take place. nity, I cannot turn a blind eye to any part of the Mohit Kumar Jolly ([email protected]) is an M Tech community, especially a part that is so absolutely student in the Department of Biological Sciences and essential to my survival. Bioengineering at IIT Kanpur. He is interested in science

NERD: How would you describe Dr Suchitra communication and co-founded NERD, the campus science and technology magazine, in 2008. Mathur in one line? Dr. Mathur: Swapnika Reddy R ([email protected]) is a third year undergraduate student of Economics. She is passionate pends on myShouldnt mood and that relationship be left to others? with myself (on- to learn a lot about Applied Microeconomics, Strategic whichestly, ) keeps cant givechanging you that with one time! word or line! )t de- Interaction and Behavioral Economics. Her other inter- ests are classical music and reading History. NERD: What final message you have for the stu- dents? This interview is the transcript of an audio interview Dr. Mathur: I have a problem with the whole idea with Dr. Mathur, taken for IIT K 90.4 FM. It was tran- scribed by Swapnika Reddy R and Sayak Dasgupta. idea, the hope, that we keep having such conver- of giving messages. (ow about leaving it at the

Note from the General Secretary, Science and Technology Council Through the following three articles— Bipedal Bot, Cracking the Rubik Cube and Rubiks Cube Solver Bot– we give you a glimpse of the projects done in various clubs of the Science and Technology Council. We, at the council, try to innovate and implement your wildest ideas by supporting you with funds and technical help. A reflection of this can be seen in the projects done by students (mostly from the 1st year) in summer vacations where they fabricate their dream projects. I dont believe, I find out is the spirit we encourage! See you all with more projects to enthuse you in coming issues of NERD.

Bipedal Bot Aditya Prasad Introduction not fixed it can raise itself on a higher terrain (Just as you peep above the wall!) by – raising its ankle. But, balancing gets humanYou must beings, have i.e.seen on the two movie feet. SuchStar much more complex involving gyro- robotsWars where that canrobots walk moved on twojust legslike scopes, accelerometers, etc. if the without any external support for robot has to be designed to run as balancing are known as bipedal ro- well, hence we avoided it. bots. Let me talk to you about a ro- bot we made. Our robot has two Each leg of our bipedal has the hip degrees of freedom of movement joint and the ankle joint but not the per leg it cannot bend on its knees, knee joint, thus the robot can rotate i.e. its vertical motion is limited; but its each leg about the hip joint with it can move– and turn easily. an axis passing vertically along its body, and also about the ankle joint What is the main aspect of produc- with an axis perpendicular to its -and-walk-on-two- length and going into its plane. phenomenon? Maintaining balance - This setup allows our robot to lean being it a walking stand on a slippery surfacelegs on one leg through the ankle joint or an uneven terrain. Our robot can and then rotate the other half of its balance itself just like a human be- body in forward direction. This se- ing (except bending on knees) and is quence is symmetrically repeated by hence much more versatile as compared to other the other leg to complete one step of forward mo- usual wheel based bots because its base level is tion of the robot.

31 Why did we design a bipedal at all? To achieve the motion of a joint through the use of servo motors; by developing the electronic circuit, building the mechanical structure and programming the AT- mega16 microcontroller and synchronizing the motion of the two legs. pin for GND (Ground terminal) and the third one for a PWM (Pulse Width Modulation) signal, As most of you may know, ATmega16, the brain of which is the input for the orientation of the servo a robot, is a microcontroller which has the same shaft.A PWM signal is a clock signal of a fixed fre- role in a robot just as that of Intel microproces- quency but variable duty cycle (ratio of duration sors in our personal computers. We used AT- of positive amplitude of the wave to its time pe- mega16 to control servo motors. riod). The standard DC servo we used in this pro- Basics of servo control ject had the clock frequency of 50Hz (i.e., time Now, let me take you through the basics of servo period of the clock = 20ms), and duty cyclebe- control. A servo motor is used to get precise rota- tween 5% and 10% (5% for -90degree and 10% tion in terms of angle. It can align its shaft accu- for +90degree). rately to any angle between its minimum and Here comes the role of ATmega16 which pro- maximum value (usually -90 degree and +90 de- duces clock signals of different frequencies. The gree respectively). It uses error-sensing negative PWM signal we required could have been pro- feedback to correct the performance of a mecha- - nism. It contains a DC motor linked to a position feedback potentiometer, gearbox, electronic feed- trol4duced servo using motors Timer simultaneously; bit of ATmega and the fast in back control loop circuitry and motor drive elec- PWMFast PWMmode modetop=)CR,can control only butone motor we had at toa time. con- tronic circuit. Hence, we would have required 4 microcontrol- A servo motor has a speed, torque and power as lers and synchronization among them that its attributes. Servo speed is defined as the time would have been very complex and impractical. (in seconds) in which a servo arm attached to the We solved this problem by producing custom– output shaft will move from 0 to 60 degrees. made timer derived from Timer-0 of the micro- Servo Torque, measured in kg-cm, is the total controller. We set the timer-0 to the frequency of push/pull power a servo can apply on a 1cm arm 20 kHz and enabled the interrupts. An output pin when moving; and servo power is defined as the was used to produce the clock signal by counting amount of DC voltage needed to operate a servo the number of interrupts and changing the logical without damage. state at required intervals. Theoretically, this con- Each servo motor comes with a three pin connec- figuration should give an angular least count of 9 tor - first pin for VCC (Positive terminal), second degree for the servo motor. But, when the above

Top View Front View Profile Views 32 setup was put to application, the servo deviated in the angle of inclination of the thigh servo (the from its predicted behavior about the duty cycle, motor that controlled the hip joint) in both the and its least count decreased to 4.5 degrees. Thus, legs. So, the thigh servos were set to an optimum this method of servo control (by using custom angle and a final code was prepared using experi- made derived clocks) proved to be very efficient mentation, by observing the motion through dif- for us. In fact, it can control upto 31 servo motors ferent codes. simultaneously using the Timer-0 of a single AT- mega16 microcontroller. But either leg was not able to instantaneously lift the other one while moving. To solve this, we de- Electrical and Mechanical Parts creased the speed of servo but it did not help the We used printed development board for AT- cause completely. So, we changed the code and mega16 and STK500 programmer. The servos now instead of lifting the leg, we relied on leaning were given power using 7806 IC because the on one leg and dragging the other one. Due to servo provided more torque when operated on some possible asymmetry in the two legs, the left 6V instead of 5V. The only problem faced we and right turns were not similar. So, different faced was that the current requirement of the codes were used to implement both turns. This circuit exceeded 5A which is usually the limit of worked well and the only problem remaining was general power supplies. We solved it easily by the different speeds for the turns. You can see the using ATX Power Supply that provided 10A cur- final statistics about the robot we made as given rent and 12V voltage which was perfect for us. below:- The mechanical structure was built mainly by Speed of forward motion using readymade parts like angles and hinges Speed of left turn : 3 cycles for 90 degree turn. Speed of right turn : 4-5 cycles:per for forward 90 degree sequence turn.

Synchronizingfrom the game set the of motion MEC(AN)X. of the legs Useful Links Here we implemented the theoretical program- http://students.iitk.ac.in/projects/roboticsclub/bipedal ming into practical motion of the robot. The ac- http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hdOxSISoV3o tual code for the forward, left and right motion About the author was very different from what we theoretically Aditya Prasad is a second year undergraduate in the predicted. The motion of the bot was very sensi- department of Material Science and Engineering. He can tive to the nature of the surface and to any change be reached at [email protected]. Cracking the Rubiks Cube Only the most hardcore puzzle-solvers ever go thusiasts commonly use to quickly solve the puz- beyond the standard 3x3x3 Rubik's cube, at- zle. Essentially, you try to move a single square, or tempting much larger ones such as those pictured on the right. Now an algorithm has been devel- rest of the cube as unchanged as possible, but oped that can solve a Rubik's cube of any size. It somecubie, other into thecubies, desired of course, position get while disturbed. leaving Thus, the might offer clues to humans trying to deal with this method is time-consuming, requiring a num- these tricky beasts. ber of moves that is proportional to n2. But there is a short-cut Last year, a team led by program- mer Tomas Rokicki of Palo Alto, has a particular path that will place California, showed that even the itbased in on the cubie correct paths. position. Each cubie De- most scrambled standard Rubik's maine's algorithm looks for cubies cube can be solved in 20 moves or that all need to go in the same di- less. That feat is a big deal: the rection, then moves them at the same time. Instead of solving one cubie at a time, it solves several of figure has been dubbed God's that the Almighty couldn't solve it them. Grouping cubies with simi- number, the assumption being faster. But it didn't shed light on the monster lar paths reduces the number of moves required cubes. So Erik Demaine, a computer scientist at by a factor of around log n. This means that the MIT, set out to find a general algorithm for solving maximum number of moves that will be required a cube with any side-length of n squares. He for a cube of side n now become proportional to started by looking at a method Rubik's cube en- n2/log n. – 33 Figuring out a single cubie's path without a com- number of moves required by less-scrambled puter is no easy task, let alone doing it for the cubes? Suppose I take a solved 20x20x20 Rubik's whole cube, so it's unlikely that humans will be cube and make five moves - can you figure out able to directly apply this formula. But Demaine [from that scrambled state] what those five reckons it could offer cube-solvers a few tips. It's moves were? In other words, can you solve it in possible that some of the techniques behind the five moves? It is suspected that it can't be done algorithm could be applied to speeding up other but this is yet to be proven. problems that involve searching or sorting through sets of data with a similar mathematical The next task is to find an algorithm that can structure to the cube. solve any 4x4x4 cube in the fewest possible moves. "It would probably take more CPU time to So has the Rubik's cube given up all of its secrets? solve a single random 4x4x4 position than we No. The algorithm only gives an approximate used to prove God's number for the 3x3x3." value for the number of moves required. Another puzzle remains to be cracked as well. The current If you are keen on learning more about cubes and algorithm only finds the most efficient way to solve a cube if it is in the most scrambled state Cube Hobby Group (RCHG) - a student group un- their eccentricity, we welcome you to the Rubiks possible. Does an algorithm exist for finding the der the S&T Council which conduct workshops in the institute on various cube related puzzles.

Rubiks Cube Solver Bot Anuj Agrawal and Deepak Pathak

"It was wonderful, to see how, after only a few turns, the colors became mixed, apparently in random fashion. It was tremendously satisfying to watch this color parade. Like after a nice walk when you have seen many lovely sights you decide to go home, after a while I decided it was time to go home, let us put the cubes back in order. And it was at that moment that I came face to face with the Big Challenge: What is the way home?" - Erno Rubik Introduction 1974, when the twenty-nine year old Ru- One eighth of the world's population has bik discovered it was not so easy to realign laid hands on 'The Cube', the most popu- the colors to match on all six sides. He was lar puzzle in history and the colorful not sure he would ever be able to return brainchild of Erno Rubik. Erno Rubik was his invention to its original position. He born in Budapest, Hungary during World began working out a solution, starting War II. His mother was a poet, his father with aligning the eight corner cubies and an aircraft engineer. Rubik studied sculp- within a month, he had the puzzle solved ture in college, but after graduating, he and an amazing journey lay ahead. went back to learn architecture at Acad- emy of Applied Arts and Design. Erno Rubik a few of us may have solved it at least once Rubik's initial attraction to inventing the Wevein our alllifetime. tried solvingAll of us a knowRubiks how Cube hard and it Cube was not in producing the best sell- ing toy puzzle in history. He was inter- correct solution and 43 quintillion wrong ested in the structural design problem- can get to solve it. After all theres just "How could the blocks move independ- For humans it may be a tough job but cer- ently without falling apart?" Rubik's Cube tainlyones for not a for Rubik's computers. Cube, or Well, Magic if you Cube! are is made of twenty-six individual little thinking of brute forcing all those 43 quin- cubes or cubies. Each layer of nine cubies tillion possible permutations with a com- can twist and the layers can overlap. Ru- puter - that is not the answer. Thanks to bik's initial attempt to use elastic bands some wonderful recent research, any Stepper Motor failed, his solution was to have the blocks hold themselves together by their shape. Rubik hand carved, assembled the little cubies God's algorithmgiven permutation that solves ofthe a puzzle Rubiks in cubethe least can together, and started twisting. That was how the numberbe of solved moves. within just steps! And its the Cube as a puzzle, was invented in the spring of 34 shafts to be in a straight line, at an angle of 180°; but this level of precision was hard to maintain owing to the manual mounting of motors and shafts and the constant need to dissemble the

while testing process. The non-uniform force and torqueouter acrylic distribution cube to generated solve the oninner all Rubikssides due cube to this improper alignment hindered the rotation of faces; sometimes preventing precise 90° turns. In a sequence of, say, 200 steps of rotations, even if one step to make a precise 90° turn fails, the ori- entation of the cube gets distorted, thus prevent- ing any further steps. The problem has not yet been solved but we are working on it.

The final mechanical structure We made our outer frame and the shafts of the motors of acrylic sheet. We prepared AutoCAD We present to you our endeavor in designing and drawings for all the parts of the mechanical struc- implementing an autonomous machine capable of ture and got them fabricated using the 4I Lab. The final picture of the completed mechanical struc- ture is shown below. Our idea was to design a mechanical setup on whichsolving six a Rubiks stepper cube motors given (electromechanical in any possible state. de- Programming vices that convert electrical pulses into discrete Programming part was like the backbone of the mechanical movements) can project. It was basically di- be mounted, each of which vided into two parts. would be connected to the centre of the six faces of a Ru- Image Processing- We used a simple web camera to take the six faces to rotate inde- snapshots of the six faces of pendently.biks cube, thus The allowing mechanical all the scrambled cube, proc- setup contains an unsolved essed the images using Open CV, and stored them in the era to take the input of the RGB (Red, Green and Blue) colorsRubiks ofcube. a scrambledWe used a cam- cube format. We then analyzed the and then feed the information content of Red, Green and to a computer program that Blue color in the pictures, analyzes it and generates the thus determining the nine Shaft alignment and attachment sequence of steps required to colors on each face of the solve the cube. The sequence is then sent to a mi- cube. So, the colors of all crocontroller that drives the steppers accordingly cubies of the Cube get recorded and stored in an with the help of motor driver ICs and hence, the array. cube is solved. Solving Algorithm - There are hundreds of algo- Design The work done during the project can be catego- rized under three sections- Mechanical Design Programming Electronics

Mechanical Design Mechanical part was undoubtedly the most de- manding aspect of the bot. We needed precise 90° rotations of the faces of the Cube, for which we used high torque stepper motors. The biggest mechanical problem we faced was in the align- ment of the six shafts of the motors. Successful operation of the robot required the opposite Atmega 32 connection with motor driver 35 rithms available on the internet for solving a Ru- lower torque as compared to the bipolar motor. Unipolar stepper motor can be used as a bipolar difficult it will be. As of now, we have been able to motor by disconnecting the center tap. We used implementbiks cube. Thea method faster used an algorithm by blind is, solvers, the more the unipolar motors for our project. Pochmann Algorithm, which takes about 200 steps to solve a cube. We take the array gener- A stepper mode can be driven by three most com- ated in the previous step as an input to this pro- mon drive modes - Wave Drive (1 phase on), Full gram and the program outputs another array Step Drive (2 phases on) and Half Step Drive (1 & containing a sequence of characters 2 phases on). We implemented the half wave R,L,F,B,T,D,1,2,3,4,5,6. This denotes the order in drive in our motors in order to get exact 90° which the motors have to be driven. R stands for rotation. It took around 13 loops of the half wave a 90° turn of the right motor clockwise and simi- drive in attaining one fourth i.e. 90° rotation. larly for others. Numbers stand for anti clockwise turns. This code runs on a laptop, and this array is Future Scope then transferred to the microcontroller, the brain A lot needs to be worked upon still! Currently, our of the robot. robot is not as efficient as we would have wanted. The mechanical flaws can be worked upon thus Electronics lowering the probability of lock-ups while turning Controlling the stepper motors, the the cube. The Pochmann Algorithm takes too microcontroller and the communication between many steps to solve the cube. Using better algo- computer and microcontroller were the three rithms especially designed for cube solving by major tasks of the electronics aspect. We used the microcontroller ATmega32 as it was sufficient to drive six stepper motors simultaneously. It was numbercomputers of steps like Thistlewaitsthus making Algothe robot steps work max fast. programmed through STK500 Serial Stepperor Kociembas motors Algo can also steps be controlled max will more reduce easily the programmer. and efficiently by changing the motor driver. Last

We used the stepper motor because they can be probably a Lingyun Dayan, maybe installed in the accurately controlled in an open loop system, i.e. bot.but notThese the cubes least, have a better better quality edge cutting Rubiks proper- cube, no feedback information about the current posi- ties and rotate very smoothly. tion is needed. The speed of the motor shafts ro- tation is directly related to the frequency of the Team Members input pulses and the length of rotation is directly Anuj Agrawal, Deepak Pathak, Amber Srivastava, Ash- related to the number of input pulses applied. ish Goyal, Omanshu Thapliyal and Abhishek Garg.

There are three types of stepper motors based on Acknowledgements construction Variable Reluctance motor, Perma- We feel privileged to be given a chance by the Robotics nent Magnet motor and Hybrid motor. We used Club, IIT Kanpur to take up this interesting summer pro- the Permanent– Magnet motor, whose rotor has no ject. Working during the summers not only enhanced our teeth but is magnetized with alternating north technical skills but also taught us the importance of team and south poles situated in a straight line parallel effort. We thank the Co-ordinators of the Club for their to the rotor shaft. These magnetized rotor poles constant guidance, and special thanks for Subhash Sir at provide an increased magnetic flux intensity the 4i-Lab, who patiently worked with us on the Water- Jet machine for hours to get our parts fabricated. thereby higher torque.

Based on the design and working, stepper motors Anuj Agrawal ([email protected]) is a second year under- can be bipolar or unipolar. The bipolar motor graduate student in the department of Mechanical Engi- neering at IIT Kanpur. His interests lie in the area of needs current to be driven in both directions Robotics and Automobiles. In his leisure time he mostly through the windings, and a full bridge driver. likes to watch thoughtful movies and loves Photography. But the unipolar has a center tap on each winding that allows a simpler driving circuit limiting the Deepak Pathak ([email protected]) is a second year current flow to one direction. The main drawback undergraduate student in the Department of Computer with the unipolar motor is its limited capability to Science and Engineering at IIT Kanpur. His areas of in- terests include Robotics , Programming and Algorithms. energize all windings at any time, resulting in a He is also fond of listening music. CREATE, COMMUNICATE, CONTRIBUTE !

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