Mumbai:

Researchers at the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT Bombay) have uncovered how animals find their way back home without getting lost or being late by using a robot that mimics their movements.

This robot is designed to move on its own, much like an animal finding food and then to use light as a guide to return home (homing), the IIT Bombay said in a statement on Tuesday.

In a new study, researchers from the department of physics have used this robot to study the underlying principles of homing by animals.

“The primary goal of our research group was to understand the physics of active and living systems. We achieve this by performing experiments on centimetres-sized self-propelled programmable robots. In simple words, we model these robots to mimic the dynamics of living organisms, both at the individual and collective levels,” Dr Nitin Kumar, an assistant professor at the department of physics, IIT Bombay, said.

For their study, the researchers wanted to determine the time it took for the robot to return home, with increasing amounts of deviations from its homing path.

It was observed that the reorientation rate, the frequency at which the robot (or an animal) should adjust its direction for successful homing, originated from the degree of randomness in its path.

The researchers discovered an ‘optimal reorientation rate’ for a particular value of randomness beyond which the adverse effects of increased randomness are negated by more frequent reorientations, ultimately ensuring successful homing.

This suggested animals might have evolved to reorient themselves at an optimal rate to efficiently find their way home, regardless of the noise or unpredictability in their environment.

“The observation of a finite upper limit on return times indicates that the homing motion is inherently efficient. Our results demonstrated that if animals are always aware of the direction of their home and always correct their course whenever they deviate from the intended direction, they will surely get home within a finite time,” Kumar added.

Apart from physical experiments, the researchers also ran computer simulations where the robot’s movement mimicked animals.

This virtual robot combines active Brownian motion (the random motion of particles in a liquid or gas, caused by collisions with fast-moving atoms or molecules in the fluid) with occasional resets to its orientation to correct its course back towards home.

These simulations matched the experimental results, reinforcing the idea that randomness and reorientation work hand-in-hand to optimise homing.

“When we applied this model to the trajectories of a real biological system of a flock of homing pigeons, it showed a good agreement with our theory, validating our hypothesis of enhanced efficiency due to frequent course corrections,” Mr Kumar said.

He said in real and more complex systems, the homing cues might be more complicated than a simple uniform gradient towards home, as modelled in this experiment.

“In our future research, we aim to model these scenarios in our experiment by using a combination of spatiotemporal variations in light intensity and physical obstacles,” the assistant professor added.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

With its advanced capabilities to identify chip defects, the Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager is a leap forward in semiconductor imaging. Representational
| Photo Credit: Reuters

The Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT-Bombay) has entered a strategic partnership with Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to develop India’s first Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager.

This advanced sensing tool will hold the potential to unlock new levels of precision in the examination of semiconductor chips, reduce chip failures and improve the energy efficiency of electronic devices.

Over the next two years, experts from TCS will work with Dr. Kasturi Saha, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering of IIT Bombay, to develop the quantum imaging platform in the PQuest Lab.

This platform will enable better quality control of semiconductor chips, thereby improving product reliability, safety, and energy efficiency of electrical devices.

Semiconductor chips are essential to all modern electronic devices, making them smart and efficient. With the ability to process data and complete tasks, these chips act as the brains of devices across industries such as communications, computing, healthcare, military systems, transportation and clean energy.

Dr. Kasturi Saha said, “PQuest group at IIT-Bombay is excited to collaborate with TCS on developing a quantum imaging platform for the non-destructive examination of chips, leveraging our extensive expertise in quantum sensing to drive innovation. We aim to transform various sectors, including electronics and healthcare, and propel India forward through groundbreaking technologies and products aligned with National Quantum Mission’s Quantum Sensing and Metrology vertical.” 

Dr. Harrick Vin, Chief Technology Officer, TCS, said, “The Second Quantum Revolution is progressing at an unprecedented speed, making it imperative to pool our resources and expertise to build cutting-edge capabilities in sensing, computing, and communication technologies. This initiative will have a transformative impact on various industries and society, with applications ranging from electronics to healthcare, and beyond. By working together, we can drive innovation and create a brighter future for all.”

‘We are keen to collaborate with industry’

The collaboration between TCS and IIT-Bombay is aligned with the National Quantum Mission — an initiative by the Government of India to position the nation as a global quantum technology leader.

Prof. Shireesh Kedare, Director, IIT-Bombay, said, “This collaboration aims to develop a quantum imaging platform for the non-destructive examination of chips. We are keen to collaborate with industry to translate the ideas, innovations and research into the technologies and products through such collaborations as well as start-ups that will take India ahead.”

Wide application

As semiconductors continue to shrink in size, traditional sensing methods lack the precision and capabilities to detect anomalies in chips. The Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager can image magnetic fields, enabling a non-invasive and non-destructive mapping of semiconductor chips, much like an MRI at a hospital.

It uses the defects in a diamond’s structure, known as Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centres, together with the other hardware and software for detecting and characterizing anomalies in semiconductor chips. The diagnostic capabilities will have significant implications for failure analysis, device development, and various optimisation processes, Mr. Kedare explained.

With its advanced capabilities to identify chip defects such as current leakages and enable visualisation of three-dimensional charge flow in multi-layer chips, Quantum Diamond Microchip Imager is a leap forward in semiconductor imaging.

It will have wide applications in microelectronics, biological, and geological imaging, and fine-scale imaging of magnetic fields, among others. This project builds on TCS and IIT-Bombay’s dynamic partnership since the 1990s, spanning joint research projects, collaborative education programs, internships, faculty development programs, and more. IIT-Bombay was the first institute to be signed as an academic partner for TCS’ Co-Innovation Network, a platform driving industry-academia collaboration for pioneering solutions. 

Mumbai:

The Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) Bombay on Tuesday announced a strategic partnership with IT services major Tata Consultancy Services (TCS) to develop India’s first Quantum Diamond microchip imager — an advanced sensing tool to test the quality of semiconductor chips.

The new sensing tool, to be built at IIT Bombay PQuest Lab by experts from TCS in the next two years, will help reduce chances of chip failures and improve efficiency of electronic devices.

It will enable better quality control of semiconductor chips, thereby improving product reliability, safety, and energy efficiency of electrical devices.

“PQuest group at IIT Bombay is excited to collaborate with TCS on developing a quantum imaging platform for the nondestructive examination of chips, leveraging our extensive expertise in quantum sensing to drive innovation. By working together, we aim to transform various sectors, including electronics and healthcare, and propel India forward through groundbreaking technologies and products,” said Dr. Kasturi Saha, Associate Professor in the Department of Electrical Engineering, IIT Bombay.

The collaboration between TCS and IIT Bombay is aligned with the National Quantum Mission — an initiative by the government to position the nation as a global quantum technology leader.

An indigenous Quantum Diamond microchip imager that integrates quantum diamond microscopy with AI/ML-powered software imaging will help India leap ahead in the quantum revolution.

“The Second Quantum revolution is progressing at an unprecedented speed, making it imperative to pool our resources and expertise to build cutting-edge capabilities in sensing, computing, and communication technologies,” said Harrick Vin, Chief Technology Officer, TCS.

As semiconductors continue to shrink in size, traditional sensing methods lack the precision and capabilities to detect anomalies in the chips.

The Quantum Diamond microchip imager uses the defects in a diamond’s structure, known as Nitrogen-Vacancy (NV) centres, together with the other hardware and software for detecting and characterising anomalies in semiconductor chips.

It will have wide applications in microelectronics, biological, and geological imaging, and fine-scale imaging of magnetic fields, among others.
 

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)

To synthesise a carbon nanostructure that was “blacker than black”, Ananya Sah and C. Subramaniam started with a material that was white.

In Prof. Subramaniam’s laboratory in IIT Bombay, Dr. Sah heated a special form of silicon dust called DFNS (for dendritic fibrous nanosilica) in a furnace. Once heated, she introduced acetylene gas into the chamber. The white powder turned black – a sign that carbon had been deposited on the DFNS.

Then she collected the black powder and treated it with a strong chemical that dissolved the DFNS away, leaving carbon particles behind.

The structure of the silicon particles – 50-1,200 nanometers in size – resembled spikes arranged around a sphere. With the silicon filling taken away, what was left behind were little carbon beads whose surfaces were pocked with cone-shaped pits. In effect, the beads were spherical nanostructures composed of carbon cones.

Unprecedented efficiency

When Dr. Sah and Prof. Subramaniam examined some of these spheres under a microscope, they were struck by the particles’ appearance: like tiny marigold flowers, made only of carbon. They called the material carbon nanoflorets.

In a paper published in September in ACS Applied Materials & Interfaces, a team led by Prof. Subramaniam reported that these nanoflorets could absorb sunlight at many frequencies and convert it to heat with an unprecedented efficiency.

The nanoflorets also didn’t easily dissipate the heat generated into the environment, making the material a good candidate to heat other materials, like water, using solar energy, the paper noted.

Vivek Polshettiwar, professor of chemistry at the Tata Institute of Fundamental Research, Mumbai, and leader of the team that invented DFNS in 2010, told this writer that the study’s results underscore the particles’ “excellent societal utility”.

Two different techniques

According to Prof. Polshettiwar, this isn’t the first time such carbon nanomaterials have been synthesised. In 2018, his own group had reported identical structures that it dubbed “carbon nanospheres with wrinkled cages”.

But, he added, his and Prof. Subramaniam’s work differed in the techniques used to deposit carbon on the DFNS template (although this didn’t affect the characteristics of the product).

Prof. Polshettiwar’s team used formaldehyde-phenol polymerisation chemistry whereas Prof. Subramaniam’s team used chemical vapour deposition (CVD). In CVD, volatile compounds like acetylene are used to deposit a thin carbon film on the silicon-dust template.

‘Blacker than black’

The new study sprang from what Prof. Subramaniam called a “keen observation” by Dr. Sah: the nanoflorets were “extremely black – blacker than black” in colour, she had reportedly said.

“Anything which is very black basically means that it is a good absorber of light,” according to Prof. Subramaniam.

What happens to the absorbed light? The team conducted experiments to demonstrate that the nanoflorets converted the light energy they absorbed into thermal energy – a process called solar-thermal conversion – with a remarkable efficiency of 87%.

This is the “highest among known materials,” the authors wrote in their paper.

Unusual properties

The carbon nanoflorets’ high efficiency comes from three properties.

First: the nanoflorets absorb three frequencies in sunlight – infrared, visible light, and ultraviolet. Other common materials for solar-thermal conversion, like photovoltaic materials used in solar panels, absorb only visible and ultraviolet light.

More than half of the energy in sunlight arrives to the earth as infrared radiation. So the nanoflorets can absorb much more energy from the sun.

The other two properties responsible for the material’s high light-heat conversion efficiency are a result of its shape. As light falls on the material, the carbon cones ensure that very little is reflected back. Instead, most light is reflected internally.

Second, one risk with a material that can convert sunlight into heat is that it can also lose it to its environment. The carbon nanoflorets don’t, however, thanks to long-range disorder: parts of the structure at some distance from each other possess different physical properties. As a result, heat waves in the material aren’t carried over long distances, reducing the amount of heat dissipated away.

Taken together, the carbon nanoflorets efficiently absorb sunlight and convert to a remarkable degree into heat, Prof. Subramaniam said.

Patented product

In their study, the researchers reported that a 1 m sq. coating of carbon nanoflorets on a surface could vaporise 5 litres of water in an hour – which, Prof. Subramaniam said in a statement, is “at least five-times better than commercial solar stills”.

The researchers have also applied for and recently received a patent for the nanoflorets, and are excited about commercialising them.

T. Pradeep, a professor of chemistry at IIT Madras, told this writer that the material is ripe for commercialisation because carbon is inexpensive and the nanoflorets can generate heat sustainably, without having to burn fossil fuels.

“India is a country that is blessed with a lot of light, but also has areas that have low temperatures,” Prof. Pradeep said. In such regions, the nanofloret coatings can help heat up housing and sterilise surfaces in hospitals, he added.

When Prof. Subramaniam’s team applied to the IIT Bombay Alumni Network for funding to commercialise the material, one of the persons who evaluated the proposal was Hemant Kanakia, an alumnus and serial entrepreneur. Dr. Kanakia called the proposal the “best among the lot of 36 proposals” he checked.

Other than the nanoflorets’ remarkable properties, they could generate ecologically sustainable heating, he said.

No risks found so far

“Given that the material can be coated on a vast variety of surfaces, it can heat up those using sunlight. If one were to use a coating of this material to heat up their homes, they would be doing so in an ecologically sound way while reducing the carbon footprint,” Dr. Kanakia added.

According to an institute statement, Prof. Subramaniam’s team has already found that the nanoflorets can be coated on paper, metal, and terracotta clay.

Prof. Subramaniam also said that the nanoflorets pose no risk of inhalation: “once coated, the adhesion is nearly as good as paint on a wall.” When they tested the stability of the coating, they found that it had a “minimum lifetime of 8 years”.

Prof. Polshettiwar agreed, adding that more tests could clarify whether the coating might degrade faster under more heat or sunlight.

Efficient heating solution

“It is remarkable that a professor who started out with a fundamental discovery was actually interested in going beyond writing an academic paper and seeking an actual application,” according to Dr. Kanakia, who studied electrical engineering at IIT Bombay. “We need more such researchers in our education system.”

Prof. Subramaniam is currently building a startup to be incubated by IIT Bombay. Its first goal is to scale up the production of the coating, which it will then sell to companies looking for efficient heating solutions.

The researchers are also studying the nanoflorets’ other physical and chemical properties and potential applications. “Given its unique structural and morphological properties, we believe it has a wide range of unexplored applications,” Dr. Sah said.

Sayantan Datta (they/them) are a queer-trans freelance science writer, communicator and journalist. They are currently a faculty member at Krea University and tweet at @queersprings.

Mumbai:

 A students body of the Indian Institute of Technology Bombay (IIT B) has claimed a fine of Rs 10,000 has been imposed by the administration on pupils who protested against segregation of tables over vegetarian food at its hostel’s canteen.

“@iitbombay has imposed a fine of Rs 10,000 on the students who had stood against the food segregation policy of the institute by a peaceful act of individual civil disobedience. This action of the admin is similar to a Khap Panchayat (caste council) acting to uphold untouchability in modern times,” the Ambedkar Periyar Phule Study Circle, a Left-leaning students body of the institute, said in a post on X on late Monday night.

There was no response from the IIT B administration when contacted for a comment on the students body’s claim.

Following a row over segregation of tables for vegetarian students in one of the canteens of the IIT B last week, the Mess Council officially stated that six tables in common canteen of three hostels would be earmarked for vegetarians.

Compliance is crucial, it had maintained, noting any violation identified by the mess team (council) will attract proper action and imposition of penalties.

“Such violations will also be considered in disciplinary action as they disrupt the harmony we aim to maintain in our dining facilities,” according to an email sent to the students of hostels 12, 13 and 14 by the Mess Council last week.

(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by NDTV staff and is published from a syndicated feed.)