The capabilities of Cyber-Physical Systems are being applied to a variety of domains that require a complex synergy between the physical and digital worlds !

Sreevishal Balipati, our next pathbreaker, is pursuing a Master’s degree from Deggendorf Institute of Technology (Germany) in Mechatronics and Cyber Physical Systems with a focus on robotics and autonomous technologies. 

Sreevishal talks to  Shyam Krishnamurthy from The Interview Portal about his master’s thesis on a very important module related to mapping the interiors of any building using drone navigation algorithms.

For students, do projects, it allows you to proactively apply what you have studied, and helps you prove the level of your skills and abilities. This goes for any field, especially Robotics/Mechatronics !

Sreevishal, Your background?

I was born in India but grew up in East Africa in my early years until I moved to Mumbai in 2006 for further studies. I have a younger brother who was born during our time in Africa, and is currently studying BBA. My parents had a background in Commerce and my father worked as a plant head at a coffee processing factory. This gave us a lot of opportunities to be around the big machines, and the factory. I spent a memorable amount of my childhood around this factory, the beach in the town we lived in, trips to the coffee plantations in the villages around etc. 

After moving to Mumbai, I was exposed to a higher level of learning and soon discovered my inclination towards the science fields, especially physics. I received multiple encyclopedias throughout my childhood which really piqued my interest even further. I especially remember one which had a complete view of a car and its internals. I guess this was where I got the interest in cars. Not to mention the huge number of toy cars my father bought us. My father wanted me to prepare for the IITs, which was a dream he had for me, unfortunately I couldn’t do it. I did end up developing an interest in engineering, especially mechanical engineering. 

What did you do for graduation/post graduation?

I studied Mechanical engineering for my bachelors from Symbiosis Institute of Technology in Pune and am currently studying for a master’s degree in Mechatronics and cyber-physical systems at Deggendorf Institute of Technology. (Technische Hochschule Deggendorf)

What were some of the drivers that influenced you to pursue such an offbeat, unconventional and unusual career in Mechatronics?

Movies like Dhoom, Fast and Furious, games like NFS led me to learn about cars and bikes and generally have an interest in motorsports from a young age. Although realistically speaking, like every other school going kid, I didn’t have an idea how to get there.

Although I had a high level of curiosity which helped me find magazines such as autocar, shows like top gear and the documentaries on the discovery channel.

After speaking to some teachers and family friends, I realized that I had to do mechanical engineering if I wanted to get into the automotive field.

How did you plan the steps to get into the career you wanted? Or how did you make a transition to a new career? Tell us about your career path

Eventually after graduating in 2019, I came to realize how bad the situation was in India. Additionally, it was the quality of education and the disparity between the requirements of the industry and the skills we posessed. Luckily, I was part of the Formula student team at symbiosis which allowed me to learn skills in CAD and Manufacturing.

During my internship at Spicer India, as a Manufacturing engineer intern, I learnt about production processes and assembly management. 

As a result, I was eventually able to get a job at HHV Pumps PVT LTD in Bangalore. I worked there as a process engineer in charge of designing machining fixtures and creating process documentation for improving production practices and efficiency.

Eventually, I realized I was not satisfied with the job, and I was looking for something more where I could develop or create. 

Hence, I decided to pursue a master’s degree. Choosing mechatronics was purely because of my developing interest in Robotics. 

Coincidentally, growing opportunities in the field made it much clearer to take up this field.

Sreevishal, Can you explain a bit about the field of mechatronics?

Mechatronics is a combination of mechanical, electrical/electronics and computer science fields. It is a fairly new course in the industry, which does allow you to mold yourself as per your interests.

What I mean by this is that if your interest is in robotics, you can learn the skills needed for that, or if you are interested in software you can learn those skills. The course acts a bridge for graduates from these 3 mentioned backgrounds to switch or combine other skills.

What I took out of this is that, my bachelors degree in mechanical engineering gave me a good understanding about design and analysis, whether it is components, machinery or robots. Mechatronics introduced me to programming focused towards machines, for example: programming robots, or drones.

One essentially has the opportunity to learn multiple skills as per their interests and the industry. The main point to remember here is self learning.

The course here at DIT was well structured and included subjects like Additive Manufacturing (3D printing), Advanced Robotics, AR/VR, Autonomous Systems to name a few. There are two main kinds of universities in Germany, Technical universities and Hochschules. Hochschules are geared more towards practical application and learning, compared to Technical Universities which focus more on theoretical learning.

DIT comes under the Hochschule branch and the course structure contained case studies which were basically projects with a main emphasis on doing our research and coming up with solutions for a problem statement given to us.

Though the course is focused a bit towards production and manufacturing it also allows us to seek out other disciplines as well. But for your master thesis, you have absolute flexibility over the topic you want to work on.

I did not get a scholarship, actually public funded universities in Germany do not charge any fees. So I did not pay for my education here except for the living expenses which I self-funded. This is something that is set to change from this year onwards as universities have begun charging fees for international students.

How did you get your first break?

I applied for a Working student position at Siemens after being informed by a friend. He worked there and knew about an open position and a requirement. By then I had been learning how to program in Python, ROS and was working on a personal project of building a Robotic Arm.

I was able to give a good interview and get the position. I consider myself lucky to have got this opportunity. It was something which was very sought after by my peers. The position at siemens allowed me to delve deeper into robotics and UAVs. Learning everything about sensors, sensor fusion, programming scripts in Python and developing a mapping system in ROS. I was able to gain immense knowledge which will be useful in the future and that I am deeply grateful for.

What were some of the challenges you faced? How did you address them?

Learning coding in Python, the ROS framework is something that requires time and patience. I am from a mechanical background and a hardcore mechanical engineer. I had no interest in theory and excelled at being more practical.

The role at Siemens was completely developmental, so it required us to constantly keep learning new things as per the project.

This was the biggest challenge for me and there is no set formula to solve such challenges. I did my research, studied from the internet, and found solutions.

Where do you work now? 

As of today (23rd March 2024) I am unemployed, the project at Siemens has ended (15th March 2024). Since I am still completing my master’s degree I will be searching for a full-time position later.

How does your work benefit society? 

I can share a little info about the project I worked upon.

It was a project funded by the German federal ministry for education and research. The project was focused on developing solutions in contrast to existing fire safety systems to be developed at historical sites and buildings. Siemens was part of this project and worked on the idea of implementing drones with sensor systems for detection of air quality, fire, and smoke. It is called the BRAWA project and can be further read about on their website.

All of this was motivated because of the fire that damaged Notre-Dame de Paris in 2019.

Essentially, through my work at siemens, I was able to make a small contribution to an ever growing research into incorporating drones and UAVs into the industry.

Tell us an example of a specific memorable work you did that is very close to you!

I was able to write my master thesis on a very important module of the project related to mapping the interiors of any building using the drone and the interior systems.

The amount of research I had done for this master thesis was something I had never done before.Dealing with every challenge the project threw at me, and constantly learning and finding new things about this field is something I can never forget.

Due to unfortunate health reasons, I was even forced to write my Masters thesis document in a month, which I did not believe was possible at first. 

There are many more instances but overall, it was the entire experience and the opportunity I was given to switch my field of work.

Your advice to students based on your experience?

  • Always keep researching and learning by yourself. Universities cannot teach you or prepare you for every scenario.
  • Do projects, it allows you to proactively apply what you have studied. Helps you prove the level of your skills and abilities. This goes for any field.
  • Learn how to Document with Detail. Any project, or any course you have studied, learn how to document it with each detail. What, why, how.

Future Plans?

To be a Robotics Engineer, preferably with a job in the R&D department is one of the ideas.

A second idea is to go into research and work on more interesting projects in the field of UAVs and maybe do a PhD as well.

There is nothing set in concrete, I am open to pick up any opportunity thrown in my path.