Mervin Joe Thomas

Designation:

Assistant Professor

Date of Joining at NITK:

Friday, October 20, 2023

Professional Experience:

Post Doctoral Fellow - Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad, Kerala (October 2022 - October 2023)
Assistant Professor - Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology Kakkanad, Kerala (April 2021 - July 2022)

Contact Details

E-mail:

mervinthomas@nitk.edu.in

mervinjoe4@gmail.com

Telephone:

0824 2473662

Mobile:

+91 9605014054

Academic Background

Post Doctoral Fellow (PDF) - Indian Institute of Technology Palakkad (2022-23)
Doctor of Philosophy (PhD) - National Institute of Technology Calicut (2017-21)
Master of Technology (MTech) - National Institute of Technology Calicut (2015-17)
Bachelor of Technology (BTech) - Mar Athanasius College of Engineering Kothamangalam (2010-14)

Areas of Interest

Robotics
Mechanism Synthesis
Kinematics, Dynamics and Control of Robotic Systems
Parallel Manipulators
Mobile Robots
Soft Robotics
Exoskeletons

Significant Publications

International Journals

M. Mathew, M. J. Thomas, M. G. Navaneeth, S. Sulaiman, A. N. Amudhan, and A. P. Sudheer, “A systematic review of technological advancements in signal sensing, actuation, control and training methods in robotic exoskeletons for rehabilitation,” Industrial Robot: the international journal of robotics research and application, 2023, vol. 50, no. 3, pp. 432-455, https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-09-2022-0239
S. Shaju, T. George, J. K. Francis, M. Joseph, and M. J. Thomas, “Conceptual design and simulation study of an autonomous indoor medical waste collection robot,” IAES International Journal of Robotics and Automation (IJRA), vol. 12, no. 1, pp. 29–40, 2023, http://doi.org/10.11591/ijra.v12i1.pp29-40, ISSN 2089-4856
J. K. Francis, T. T. Pullan, M. Joseph, M. J. Thomas, and K. Joseph, “Mechanical Property Study of Wood Composite Material for LowCost and Eco-Friendly Rapid Prototyping”, MaterialsToday Proceedings, vol. 72, no. 6, pp. 3111-3115, 2022, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.matpr.2022.09.428, ISSN 2214-7853
M. J. Thomas, S. George, D. Sreedharan, M. L. Joy, and A. P. Sudheer, “Dynamic modelling, system identification and comparative study of various control strategies for a spatial parallel manipulator,” Proceedings of the Institution of Mechanical Engineers, Part I: Journal of Systems and Control Engineering, vol. 236, no. 2, pp. 270-293, 2022, https://doi.org/10.1177/09596518211032075
M. J. Thomas, V. Lal, A. K. Baby, M. Rabeeh VP, A. James, and A. K. Raj, “Can technological advancements help to alleviate COVID-19 pandemic? a review,” Journal of Biomedical Informatics, vol. 117, pp. 1-22, 2021, doi: https://doi.org/10.1016/j.jbi.2021.103787, ISSN 1532-0480
M. J. Thomas, M. M. Sanjeev, A. P. Sudheer, and M.L. Joy, “Comparative study of various machine learning algorithms and Denavit–Hartenberg approach for the inverse kinematic solutions in a 3-PPSS parallel manipulator,” Industrial Robot, vol. 47, no. 5, pp. 683-695, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1108/IR-11-2019-0233
M. J. Thomas, M. L. Joy, and A. P. Sudheer, “Kinematic and Dynamic Analysis of a 3 PRUS Spatial Parallel Manipulator,” Chinese Journal of Mechanical Engineering, vol. 33, no. 13, pp. 1–17, 2020, https://doi.org/10.1186/s10033-020-0433-8
K. Sooraj Sukumar, M. J. Thomas, A. P. Sudheer, and M. L. Joy, “Kinematics, structural analysis and control of 3-PPSS parallel manipulator,” International Journal of Innovative Technology and Exploring Engineering, vol. 8, no. 6, pp. 911–916, 2019, https://doi.org/10.35940/ijitee.F1186.0486S419, ISSN 2278-3075

National Journals

M. J. Thomas, K. S. Sukumar, A. P. Sudheer, and M. L. Joy, “Mathematical modelling of a novel 3-PPSS parallel manipulator,” Journal of Structural Engineering (CSIR), vol. 48, no. 3, pp. 1–6, 2021, ISSN 0970-0137

Book Chapters

M. J. Thomas, J. Kumar, and S. Sahoo, “Simulink-Based Comparative Study and Selection of a Controller for a Waist Assistive Exoskeleton Conceptual Design and Simulation Study in MSC ADAMS,” in Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering, 2024, pp. 1–13. (ahead of print)
M. J. Thomas, Rekala Sai Bharani Kumar Goud, Nagamalla Jayaprakash, Santhakumar Mohan, “Conceptual Design and Structural Design of Multipurpose Agricultural Robot,” Smart Innovation, Systems and Technologies, Springer, 2023, vol. 372, pp. 127-137, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-99-6774-2_12
M. J. Thomas, S. Mohan, V. Perevuznik, and L. Rybak, “Simulation-Based Comparative Study and Selection of Real-Time Controller for 3-PRRR Cartesian Parallel Manipulator,” New Advances in Mechanisms, Transmissions and Applications, Springer, 2023, vol. 124, pp. 138–159, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-031-29815-8_14
A. Ram, I. Shaji, I. Allapatt, J. Varghese, John Paul, and M. J. Thomas, “Easy portability and cost-effective assistive mechanism for the visually impaired,” in Mechanism and Machine Science. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering, Springer, Singapore, 2023, vol. 520, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-5331-6_50
M. J. Thomas, M. Gaurav, A. P. Sudheer, and M. L. Joy, “Modelling and Analysis of 3-PSS Parallel Kinematic Mechanism,” in Mechanism and Machine Science. Lecture Notes in Mechanical Engineering, Springer, Singapore, 2021, pp. 639–655, doi: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-15-4477-4_46

International Conferences

S. Vijapur and M. J. Thomas, “A Comparative Analysis Between Sliding Mode Control and Super Twisting Sliding Mode Control,” in IEEE CONECCT, 2024, pp. 1–6. (Accepted for oral presentation at IISc, Bangalore)
S. Naveen, S. Panigrahi, A. Vinit, I. H. Sudar, and M. J. Thomas, “Development of Pneumatic Soft Gripper for Effective Material Handling,” in IEEE IEEE Recent Advances in Intelligent Computational Systems, 2024, pp. 5–8. (ahead of print)
J. Peter, M. J. Thomas, and S. Gokulkrishna, “Development of an Intuitive Autonomous Ground Robot for Indoor Delivery Applications,” in 5th Innovative Product Design and Intelligent Manufacturing Systems, 2024, pp. 1–11. (ahead of Print)
J. Peter, M. J. Thomas, and S. Mohan, “Development of an Autonomous Ground Robot Using a Real-Time Appearance Based ( RTAB ) Algorithm for Enhanced Spatial Mapping,” in Advances In Robotics - 6th International Conference of The Robotics Society, 2023, vol. 53, pp. 1–5, https://doi.org/10.1145/3610419.3610472.
J. Peter and M. J. Thomas, "Development of a Low-Cost Multipurpose Autonomous Navigation Robot," 2022 IEEE World Conference on Applied Intelligence and Computing, 2022, pp. 451-454, https://doi.org/10.1109/AIC55036.2022.9848857. (Received the Best Paper Award for the conference)
M. M. Sanjeev, M. J. Thomas, T. K. S. Kumar, A. P. Sudheer, and M. L. Joy, “Determination of inverse kinematic solutions for a 3 Degree of Freedom Parallel Manipulator using Machine Learning,” in IEEE Students Conference on Engineering & Systems, 2020, pp. 1–6, doi: https://doi.org/10.1109/sces50439.2020.9236725.
M. J. Thomas, A. P. Sudheer, and M. L. Joy, “Development of 4prr-2p hybrid robotic system for soft material cutting,” in ACM International Conference Proceeding Series, 2017, vol. 22, pp. 1-7, https://doi.org/10.1145/3132446.3134886

Achievements

Delivered an expert lecture address entitled “Theoretical Design and Modelling of Robotic Systems” in the Research Conclave on Global Transformations 2024 organised at the National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC).
Chaired a session titled “Theoretical design, Computation and Modelling” at ReCon organised during April 19-20, 2024 at National Institute of Technology Calicut (NITC)
Received Certificate of Excellence award in Peer reviewing by B P International Publishers in recognition of an outstanding contribution to the quality of the book (2024)
Life Member of the Association for Machines and Mechanisms (AMM) and International Federation for the Promotion of Mechanism and Machine Science (IFToMM)
Best paper presentation for Advances In Robotics - 6th International Conference of The Robotics Society, 2023.
Reviewer to SCI/SCIE/SCOPUS indexed journals (ASME Letters in Dynamic Systems and Control, IEEE/ASME Transactions on Mechatronics, Education and Information Technologies – Springer, T&F Applied Artificial Intelligence, IEEE Robotics and Automation Letters, Robotica, Journal of the Brazilian Society of Mechanical Sciences and Engineering – Springer)
Reviewer to international conferences (CONECCT2024, IIsc; MeTrApp 2023, Poitiers, France; IEEE INDICON 2022, Kochi, Kerala; )
Evaluator for the Young Innovators Program (YIP 4.0) organized by Kerala Startup Mission in association with Kerala Development and Innovation Strategic Council (KDISC) (2023)
Resource person for a 3 Day workshop on Robot Kinematics and Dynamics organized by IIT Palakkad Technology Ihub Foundation at Jai Shriram College of Engineering, Tirupur, Tamil Nadu (2023)
Delivered a session to the students of Sai Krishna Public School, Thiruvananthapuram, an introductory session on Robotics and Artificial Intelligence (2023)
Delivered an interactive session with the research scholars of NIT Calicut on how to follow a systematic approach towards gaining the PhD degree (2023)
Best paper award IEEE World Conference on Applied Intelligence and Computing, 2022.
Resource person for the workshop “REX 2.0” organized by IEEE, RAS Chapter, Rajiv Gandhi Institute of Technology, Kottayam (2021)
Delivered a talk on the important aspects of the Robotics Regime at Rajagiri School of Engineering and Technology, Kakkanad, organized by the Mechanical Association (2021)
Chaired a session at the International Conference on Innovations in Mechanical Sciences (ICIMS 2021) organized by the Department of Mechanical Engineering, Adi Shankara Institute of Engineering and Technology, Kalady, Ernakulam
Actively volunteered for the six-day Faculty Development Program, Robotics, Artificial Intelligence and Control (RAIAC 2020) at NIT Calicut.
Active involvement in the newsletter publication from 2017 to 2021 for The Robotics Society – India Chapter (TRS)

Remarks

Detailed CV:

Mervin detailed CV.pdf

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