ARTIFICIAL EYES

ABSTRACT
The retina is a thin layer of neural tissue that lines the back wall inside the eye.
Some of these cells act to receive light, while others interpret the information and
send messages to the brain through the optic nerve. This is part of the process that
enables us to see.
In damaged or dysfunctional retina, the photoreceptors stop working, causing
blindness. By some estimates, there are more than 10 million people worldwide
affected by retinal diseases that lead to loss of vision.
The absence of effective therapeutic remedies for retinitis pigmentosa (RP) and
age-related macular degeneration (AMD) has motivated the development of
experimental strategies to restore some degree of visual function to affected
patients. Because the remaining retinal layers are anatomically spared, several
approaches have been designed to artificially activate this residual retina and
thereby the visual system.
At present, two general strategies have been pursued. The "Epiretinal" approach
involves a semiconductor-based device placed above the retina, close to or in
contact with the nerve fiber layer retinal ganglion cells. The information in this
approach must be captured by a camera system before transmitting data and energy
to the implant. The "Sub retinal" approach involves the electrical stimulation of the
inner retina from the sub retinal space by implantation of a semiconductor-based
micro photodiode array (MPA) into this location. The concept of the sub retinal
approach is that electrical charge generated by the MPA in response to a light
stimulus may be used to artificially alter the membrane potential of neurons in the
remaining retinal layers in a manner to produce formed images.
Some researchers have developed an implant system where a video camera
captures images, a chip processes the images, and an electrode array transmits the
images to the brain. It's called Cortical Implants.
 SMART TRAFFIC MANAGEMENT SYSTEM
ABSTRACT
Traffic congestion is a major problem in many cities of India along with other
countries. Failure of signals, poor law enforcement and bad traffic management
has lead to traffic congestion. One of the major problems with Indian cities is that
the existing infrastructure cannot be expanded more, and thus the only option
available is better management of the traffic. Traffic congestion has a negative
impact on economy, the environment and the overall quality of life. Hence it is
high time to effectively manage the traffic congestion problem. There are various
methods available for traffic management such as video data analysis, infrared
sensors, inductive loop detection, wireless sensor network, Etc. All these methods
are effective methods of smart traffic management. But the problem with these
systems is that the installation time, the cost incurred for the installation and
maintenance of the system is very high. Hence a new technology called Radio
Frequency Identification (RFID) is introduced which can be coupled with the
existing signaling system that can act as a key to smart traffic management in real
time. This new technology which will require less time for installation with lesser
costs as compared to other methods of traffic congestion management. Use of this
new technology will lead to reduced traffic congestion. Bottlenecks will be
detected early and hence early preventive measures can be taken thus saving time
and money of the driver.
 METAMORPHIC ROBOTS
ABSTRACT
A metamorphic robotic system is a collection of independently controlled
mechatronic modules, each of which has the ability to connect, disconnect, and
climb over adjacent modules. A metamorphic system can dynamically reconfigure
by the locomotion of modules over their neighbors. Thus, they can be viewed as a
collection of connected modular robots which act together to perform the given
task. The planar metamorphic robots described in this paper consist of hexagonal
or square modules. Because of their shape, the modules completely fill the plane
without any gaps, their centers forming a regular lattice. Both the hexagonal and
square modules are provided with electromechanical coupling mechanisms
actuated by D.C. motors. These connectors help to couple and uncouple modules
as they move around each other to form different configurations. The modules are
currently controlled by an external processor.
 AGRICULTURAL ROBOTICS
ABSTRACT
A key goal of contemporary agriculture is to dramatically increase production of
food, feed, fiber, and biofuel products in a sustainable fashion, facing the pressure
of diminishing farm labor supply. Agricultural robots can accelerate plant breeding
and advance data-driven precision farming with significantly reduced labor inputs
by providing task-appropriate sensing and actuation at fine spatiotemporal
resolutions.
Fruit picking robots, driverless tractor / sprayers, and sheep shearing robots are
designed to replace human labor. In most cases, a lot of factors have to be
considered (e.g., the size and color of the fruit to be picked) before the
commencement of a task. Robots can be used for other horticultural tasks such
as pruning, weeding, spraying and monitoring. Robots can also be used
in livestock applications (livestock robotics) such as automatic milking, washing
and castrating. Robots like these have many benefits for the agricultural industry,
including a higher quality of fresh produce, lower production costs, and a
decreased need for manual labor. They can also be used to automate manual tasks,
such as weed or bracken spraying, where the use of tractors and other human-
operated vehicles is too dangerous for the operators.
Examples:
 HortiBot - A Plant Nursing Robot
 Lettuce Bot - Organic Weed Elimination and Thinning of Lettuce
 Rice planting robot developed by the Japanese National Agricultural
Research Centre
 ROS Agriculture - Open-source software for agricultural robots using the
Robot Operating System