On April 15, 2021, the Department of Mechanical Engineering, SRM University-AP, Andhra Pradesh, hosted a virtual lecture session with Dr B V N Ramakumar, Professor and HOD, Department of Aerospace Engineering, Dayananda Sagar University, Bangalore. Addressing the Webinar, Dr Lakshmi Sirisha Maganti and Dr Venkata Nori, Faculty, Department of Mechanical Engineering, handed over the podium to Dr Ramakumar. Initiating the discussion with a brief understanding of the background of Artificial Intelligence (AI), Dr Ramakumar described the AI Applications in Space, Civil and Defense industry. Apart from highlighting the overview and functionality of AI Applications in Aerospace Engineering, he outlined the challenges associated with it.
Dr Ramakumar completed his bachelor’s from Ranchi University, and he pursued a master’s from Andhra University. Dr Ramakumar holds a Doctorate Degree from IIT Madras and has years of experience in research, academia and industry. Dr Ramakumar worked for Rolls Royce India Pvt Ltd and Honeywell Solutions Pvt Ltd. With contributions to the Auto Mechanics Industrial Sector, he also worked for the DMR Institute of Technology.
Dr Ramakumar was the visiting faculty at Manipal University. In terms of contribution to the field of engineering, he designed, developed, and analysed components for Boeing 777X, Airbus A350 and Honeywell HTF700 Engine Programme. Dr Ramakumar published papers in reputed National and International journals in addition to two patents to his credit.
Dr Ramakumar elucidated, “Artificial Intelligence is the broad sphere covering machine learning and deep learning as well. Moreover, a technique which mimics human behaviour”. Discussing the key players in the aviation industry, he explained the role of the mini-robots to capture the imagery clips of the inaccessible area in an aircraft. Implementation of the Artificial Reality techniques in the civil aviation industry is needed to reduce manual cost and time. AI applications manage the supply chain by gathering data as a part of the predictive measure. With the inclusion of automated tools, the civil aviation industry efficiently controls and optimises the security parameters.
During Dr Ramkumar’s proceeding, he added, “AI Application in aviation optimises the data related to flight scheduling, seat arrangement, cabin crew shift scheduling along with the management of the route mapping”. Starting from taking off to landing, AI Applications are being used widely in the aviation industry.
He further added that “Emerging as the dynamic technology, AI Applications marked their presence in the military intelligence too. Drones for military operations map the routes and record that in imagery forms to apprehend the nearby geographical location. The information stored in databases are sent and received without any manual meddling”.
Advancing to the next part of the discussion, Dr Ramakumar explained that “Speaking of the satellite link and communication, Robonauts are the new humanoid robots that would replicate the actual human beings by assisting in anything from gathering outer space information to exploring it”. Dr Ramakumar also propounds that “Productivity and Investment are few challenges amongst others that are common and would go hand in hand with the development of AI technology.” The discussion came to an end with an engaging Q&A session with the students followed by a Vote of Thanks by Dr Nori.