Currently there are three options to join PhD in Neuromechanics lab. These are:
- Applied Mechanics Department
- Interdisciplinary program
- Three institute (IIT Madras - CMC - SCTIMST) Biomedical Devices doctoral program. The clinical part of the work will be on Neuro-Rehabilitation, Device development.
For MS, there are two routes to join our lab:
- Applied Mechanics Department
- Interdisciplinary program
How to Apply?
MS/PhD admissions are done through research admissions portal research.iitm.ac.in
- To apply for Biomedical Engg in Applied Mechanics, choose Biomedical Engineering.
- To apply for interdisciplinary program, choose interdisciplinary as department and later (after shortlisting), choose the project on "Improving grasping robot design by studying human grasping".
- To apply for three institute program, apply to department of BioTechnology and in the research proposal part of application mention that you are interested in Biomedical devices doctoral program.
Ongoing Projects:
1. Study of transfer of motor learning between hands along with virtual action observation:
This project involves using a novel motor sequence learning paradigm developed in our lab (Rachaveti et al. 2018) to study how learning with one hand transfers to the other hand. Two specific cases will be studied. One involves faithful feedback of movements. Another involves simulated movements of the non-moving hand in virtual reality setting(HTC Vive Pro). The hypothesis is that action observation enchances transfer of motor learning. This has important applications in rehabilitation.
Suitable for: MS/PhD
Req. Background: BME/MECH with an interest in neuroscience and rehabilitation.
2. Study of role of individual finger perturbation during multi-finger grasping:
We have developed a perturbation system that can produce horizontal perturbations one finger at a time (Salai and SKM, 2018). The goal of this project is to study the effect of perturbation of one finger on forces produced by other fingers. This will help us understand how fingers coordinate to perform dexterous manipulation.
Suitable for: MS/PhD
Req. Background: BME/MECH with an interest in neuroscience and rehabilitation.
3. Building better robotic hands by studying human grasping:
This project involves fusion of data from the muscles, brain and hand mechanics to arrive at better "control algorithms" foor robotic hands. This work is very interdisciplinary and the student is expected to learn topics well outside of the specialization. This work will be done in collaboration with Dr. Syamanta Hazarika of IIT Guwahati and/or Dr. Asokan of IIT Madras.
Suitable for: MS/PhD
Req. Background: Either Mech or Elec. with open-mindedness to learn the other discipline.
4. Computational modeling of kinematics data from a data glove:
This project involves modeling kinematics data from a data glove that has a relatively lower accuracy using ground truth data from a superior kinematics system in our lab. The work involves both mechanics and computational aspects.
Suitable for: MS
Req. Background: Either Mech or Elec./CS with willingness to learn the other discipline
5. Understanding the role of friction in grasping:
We have developed a handle in which the thumb can move while grasping. We would like to study how friction affects grasping performance in this challenging task.
Suitable for: MS
Req. Background: Mech/Elec.
General Note:
Research Scholars are free to choose their own research topics. The above list is given so that students considering joining our lab have an idea of the scope of work in this lab.