VirtusaPolaris Colombo hosts second Sri Lanka Robotics Meetup

VirtusaPolaris Colombo recently hosted the second session of the Sri Lanka Robotics Meetup where Dr. Lilantha Samaranayake, Senior Lecturer, Department of Electrical and Electronic Engineering, University of Peradeniya and Dr. Ruwan Gopura, Senior Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Moratuwa made presentations on cutting edge robotics technologies.

Dr. Samaranayake spoke on "Affordable Industrial Robots to Sri Lanka", discussing the established procedure to design and develop an inverse dynamic controller for industrial manipulators which does not depend on manufacturer datasheets and scalable to most of the industrial manipulators with higher degrees of freedom.

Dr. Gopura made a presentation on "Assistive Robotic Devices" which was mainly focused on Robotic Prostheses and Orthoses. During his session, the audience learned about robotic prosthetic devices, robotic orthotic devices, the controlling of prosthetic and orthotic devices, possible applications in a Sri Lankan context and research conducted at the Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Moratuwa.

The presentations were followed by a panel discussion which was moderated by Chamindra de Silva, Senior Director and Head of Strategic Initiatives, Global Technology Office at VirtusaPolaris. Dr. Sanjeeva Maithripala, Senior Lecturer, Department of Mechanical Engineering, University of Peradeniya and Ruwantha de Saram, Director at Nikini Automation Systems also joined as panelists. During the discussion the panelists spoke about what was their motivation to get into this field, how did they get started, the opportunities available, and the strengths in the Sri Lankan Robotics industry and academia. In addition, they discussed how robotics can be used to change the game for the Sri Lankan export industry, as well as the future of Assistive Robotics vs Industrial Robotics in the world and Sri Lankan workplace, according to a media release issues by VirtusaPolaris.

The Sri Lanka Robotics Meetup is organised by the IEEE (Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers) Robotics and Automation Society (IEEE RAS) - Sri Lanka Section Chapter in partnership with IEEE - Sri Lanka Section.