A researcher and Associate Professor of Electrical Engineering at American University of Sharjah (AUS), Dr. Shayok Mukhopadhyay, is at the forefront of unveiling new developments in the rapidly expanding fields of electric vehicle (EV) technology and robotics through his pioneering research.

As consumers are driving demand for EVs, increasing the vehicles’ battery life is becoming more important. Dr. Mukhopadhyay’s work focuses on efficient energy management by developing methods to find the internal parameters of lithium-ion batteries, without requiring excessive testing. By allowing battery management systems to accommodate the effects of temperature and battery health degradation, the usable life of an EV’s battery can be accurately estimated and extended. He said the work can also be used to predict whether the batteries are overheating, which would help make newer generation EV batteries last longer and reduce the risk of fire. The work can also be applied to other robotic systems and has been shown to need much less experimental data compared to other available methods.

“The future of transportation currently points towards electric vehicles, and we are committed to advancing the development of electric vehicle traction systems, battery modeling and energy management in collaboration with Dr. Habibur Rehman from the Department of Electrical Engineering. I look forward to continuing our research and collaborating with other AUS faculty members, lab instructors and students to further develop these technologies,” Dr. Mukhopadhyay added.

Another focus of his work is allowing robots to explore unknown areas. Research conducted with one of his graduate students resulted in the development of an algorithm for aiding robots in exploring unknown environments. Because the algorithm has the potential to help in search and rescue situations and automated mapping of unknown spaces, it has attracted wide interest and spurred the development of related robotic exploration algorithms. 

“This was an exciting milestone in our research work. Our future plans involve extending this work to allow exploration with larger teams of robots but without requiring a dedicated communication network,” said Dr. Mukhopadhyay.

His research has been funded by AUS Faculty Research Grants and AUS Undergraduate Research Grants. 

AUS has a long-standing commitment to promoting innovative research that contributes to solving global challenges. The cutting-edge research conducted by its faculty members and students in numerous fields aims at advancing knowledge and cultivating an environment that promotes creativity and exploration to continue making strides in research excellence. For more information on research at AUS, visit www.aus.edu/research.

For more information on AUS College of Engineering, please visit www.aus.ed/cen.