IIT Roorkee students develop robots that can help soldiers in fighting wars

Pathak explained: "Robotics activity is going on mainly in the mechanical department. But since this field of study is inter-disciplinary, we have people from the electrical, computer science and mathematics backgrounds who collaborate for the research."

Explaining how a robot is made, Pathak said the students first design its features and functions on a computer.

"We help students by making them study the structure, and tell them how to control and power the robots," he said.

Until now, robotic activities have been tested in the Indian health sector with surgeries. For instance, the All India Institute of Medical Sciences (AIIMS) has a precision prostate robotic surgeries unit, Pathak said.

Recalling his first year at the IIT-R robotics department, Divye Anand told IANS: "I was thrilled to see robots that could walk, pick and place objects on their own."

"Robots work with precision and can perform tasks faster than humans. They save workers from performing dangerous tasks and working in hazardous conditions and thus save human lives", Pathak added.