Meet Sri Lankan Researcher — Janindu Arukgoda
What are you currently working on or worked on before?
I submitted my PhD thesis titled ‘Vector Distance Transform Maps for Autonomous Mobile Robot Navigation’ for examination in January 2020.
In simple terms, any person or robot needs to answer three questions in order to navigate from point A to point B.
- Where am I?
- Where am I going?
- How do I get there?
The answer to the first question is called localization. In other words, localization is the process of estimating the robot pose with respect to an a priori map based on sensor measurements and prior knowledge. Mapping is the process of building such a map that can be used for navigation tasks including localization. My PhD research is based on using a novel map representation called vector distance transform maps for robot localization.
While waiting for my thesis reviews, I am working as a Research Engineer at the Centre for Autonomous Systems, the University of Technology Sydney where we are using robots to travel inside the underground water pipes in the city of Sydney to estimate their quality. Some of the pipes have been laid over 100 years ago and we are detecting possible corrosion points in metal pipes so that they can be preemptively repaired.
What encouraged you to pursue your research topic?
Localization is a fundamental problem in autonomous mobile robot navigation. While solutions have existed for 30+ years, we still haven’t got a generic approach that can be used in any environment. I wanted to explore a new avenue based on a new type of map to see if it can crack this problem.
What is the name of your current institute?
Centre for Autonomous Systems, University of Technology Sydney.
Where do you find your best inspiration for your work?
Taylor Swift, the singer/songwriter, and Magnus Carlsen, the reigning world chess champion. Taylor Swift was born about 6 months before me. Magnus Carlsen was born about 6 months after me. The fact that the two of them have achieved success in their respective careers while being as old as I am inspires me to do better every day.
Can you share with us some of your publications?
Yes, you can find it by clicking this URL.
What’s one of your biggest personal achievements so far?
The ability to look anyone in the eye and say that I have never cheated, stolen someone else’s opportunity, or taken a short cut to get to where I am right now.
What lessons would you share with a budding researcher?
1. Make sure you have a good grasp of the fundamentals.
2. Do honest work.
3. Always be open for collaborations.
What motivated you to be a researcher?
I am motivated by the fact that I am expanding human knowledge. In the large scheme of things, my contributions may be minuscule. However, it is not zero.
If there is a chance, will you help build research in Sri Lanka?
Of course!
According to your opinion, what are the changes that the Sri Lankan education system needs to do, in order to meet the requirements of the international industry and academia?
1. It takes a student at least 24 years of his life to complete A/Ls and a 4 year Bachelor’s degree with the current system, even if he passes every exam in the first attempt. That’s too long.
2. The uneven distribution of resources at the school level has to be addressed. It’s not fair that students who want to pursue STEM are stopped at the A/L stage because their schools do not have the facilities.
3. At the university level, more international collaborations have to be encouraged.
