Undergraduate @ University of Colombo School of Computing
Lead @ Lunarbot
Project Lead @ Nexus Aurora
Introduction
I have recently joined the University of Colombo School of Computing as an undergraduate in Computer Science. I am a huge fan of space exploration,
quantum computing and cryptography.
I am a founder and leader of several Sri Lankan student research teams involved in space-related research. I am also a project lead at Nexus Aurora Corp, DE, USA,
for the project Soil Penetration Darts, which has the potential to significantly lower the cost of Lunar sampling.
I am leading the Lunarbot team in the development of the Self Adjusting Wheel System, which reduces the risk of entrapment by sinkage in space exploration rovers.
Last but not least, I co-lead the HOPE team of the SEPG-ACHIEVED initiative of the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC).
Aside from my astronautics projects, I am currently researching two Entanglement-based Quantum Key Distribution protocols that utilize modified Quantum Oracle Algorithms.
I'm also working on a generalization of the Collatz semi-group which indirectly led me to create numerous amazing fractal arts.
My enthusiasm for innovation and competitiveness got me a few notable awards. My team was chosen as one of two Global Nominees to represent Sri Lanka at the
2020 NASA SpaceApps Challenge for our work on an AI-powered astronomy-learning application. My team, Lunarbot, won the Distinction Award in the
Singapore Space Challenge 2021 for our innovative lunar rover concept. In addition to these, I am a co-inventor of two patent-pending innovations:
an autonomous extendable drill and a grouser adjustable wheel system for rovers.
In addition to my participation in research and competitions, I have spent a significant amount of time in science outreach and volunteer activities both in
and out of school. I have coordinated the Juniors Chapter of Students for the Exploration and Development of Space (SEDS) Sri Lanka, and I am currently
the Systems Engineering Group Lead of SEDS Sri Lanka's Robotics and Rover Division, where we are working to create the first analog Mars rover in Sri Lanka.
Participating in citizen science programs is something I enjoy doing, which is how I discovered four potential asteroid candidates. My other interests include
playing the guitar, traveling, and creating fractal artworks.
A Soil Penetration Dart (SPD) is a planetary penetrator developed to collect soil samples from the lunar surface's deep layers.
Nexus Aurora Corp, DE, USA, is actively developing the project with a team of six members.
The research findings were presented during the 73rd International Astronautical Congress in Paris and were published in the congress proceedings.
Lunarbot, a research team of four Sri Lankan students, created the Self-Adapting Wheel System.
It was first conceptualized as part of the SPIDER lunar rover proposal for the Singapore Space Challenge 2021.
It was later improved as a customizable wheel system for any space exploration rover.
The outcomes of the research were presented at the 72nd International Astronautical Congress in Dubai and published in the congress proceedings.
Local patents were applied for this concept in March 2021. (Application No. LKA21653)
Lunarbot has collaborated with Nexus Aurora Corp., DE, USA, to physically construct and incorporate the wheel system into their Scout, Sample, and Map (SSAM) analog Mars rover.
The SAWS integrated SSAM rover (SSAM v2.0) will be tested at the Mars Society's Mars Dessert Research Station in Utah during its test period in April 2023.
This research was conducted under the guidance of the Space Exploration Project Group (SEPG) of the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) as part of the ACHIEVED Initiative,
which stands for Assembly for Concepts in Human Interplanetary Exploration with Various Extraterrestrial Designations.
ACHIEVED is made up of two year-long mission design teams, one of which is named the RAISE team (Research Assembly for Innovative Projects in Space Exploration).
I was the Structures and Thermal Subsystems lead of the project.
The outcomes of the research were presented during the 73rd International Astronautical Congress in Paris and published in the congress proceedings.
Balloon Drone is a novel concept that combines an expandable helium balloon with a CubeSat based spacecraft to reduce the cost of performing small scale planetary missions.
The abstract was shortlisted for the second round of the AAE- SEPG Dream Mission Call 2023.
This research was conducted under the guidance of the Space Exploration Project Group (SEPG) of the Space Generation Advisory Council (SGAC) as part of the ACHIEVED Initiative,
which stands for Assembly for Concepts in Human Interplanetary Exploration with Various Extraterrestrial Designations.
ACHIEVED is made up of two year-long mission design teams, one of which is named the HOPE team (High-technology Operations for Planetary Exploration).
I am one of the two co-leads of the project.
The outcomes of the research will be presented at the 74th International Astronautical Congress in Baku, Azerbaijan.
Different Approach for A Generalization of the Collatz Semi-Group
The 3x+1 problem (Collatz Conjecture) inspired this research initiative.
After playing around with the conjecture for a while, my first instinct was to generalize it and substitute the "3" and "1" in the "3x+1" equation with variables.
While a single error is not always good, two errors may be advantageous at times.
That's how I came across a generalization to the years old Collatz Conjecture.
Later, I discovered that Prof. M. Bruschi had proposed a similar generalized form in 2008, with a challenge to disprove his idea.
While his approach was completely theoretical, mine was based on time sequence graphs, which are often used to visualize the Collatz Conjecture.
The intriguing result is that, while this approach provides another way to obtain Prof. M. Bruschi's conjecture, when applied to his generalized equation,
it produces various patterns that are difficult to define with my limited expertise.
I wrote to various mathematicians who are working on the Collatz conjecture and Fractals in general.
As time moved on, I had very little time to compose emails to strangers as I became preoccupied with other research projects in Astronautics.
If you're interested and want to work together, don't hesitate to send me an email.
A Pattern Among the Intervals Between Prime Numbers
The goal of this project is to find the least number of primes in any given interval size at any place on the numberline.
So far, it has been established that this minimum number has a close linear connection with the number of primes and the size of the interval.
A novel Quantum Key Distribution Protocol based on Symmetrically Entangled Deutsch-Jozsa Oracle
This project is currently under-development.
A Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol was implemented using two modified versions of the Deutsch-Jozsa algorithm.
Symmetric entanglement of qubits was utilized for the creation of this protocol and the two versions differs by the semi and fully symmetrical entanglement of
Alice's and Bob's circuits.
A novel Quantum Key Distribution Protocol based on Symmetrically Entangled Simon's Oracle
This project is currently under-development.
A Quantum Key Distribution (QKD) protocol was implemented using two modified versions of the SImon's problem oracle.
Symmetric entanglement of qubits was utilized for the creation of this protocol and the two versions differs by the semi and fully symmetrical entanglement of
Alice's and Bob's circuits.
GLEE is one of NASA's Artemis Student Challenges and is a fully funded project to remotely develop two LunaSats.
213 teams were accepted for the remote edition, and I'm excited to lead one of two teams from Sri Lanka.
LunaSat Design Kits were planned to arrive in May 2022, but due to the Silicon shortage, they were delivered in September 2022.
Lunarbot, a research team of four Sri Lankan students, created the Selenography and Water Observatory Regolith Drill (SWORD).
It was first conceptualized as part of the SPIDER lunar rover proposal for the Singapore Space Challenge 2021.
Local patents were applied for this concept in March 2021. (Application No. LKA21652)
Super Polar Investigative Drilling Exploration Rover
SPIDER is a lunar rover concept capable of drilling and surface mapping proposed for the Singapore Space Challenge 2021,
which was hosted by the Singapore Space Technologies Ltd.
This was team Lunarbot's first major project, and we competed under the supervision of SEDS Sri Lanka.
The design received the Distinction Award as one of two runner-up teams.
SPIDER is made up of two detachable independent systems.
SPIDER is also where Lunarbot's future projects Self Adapting Wheel System(SAWS) and Selenography & Water Observatory Regolith Drill(SWORD) were born.
Taprobane is the first ever analog Mars rover that is being developed in Sri Lanka by SEDS Sri Lanka.
It is a six-wheeled autonomous rover with a rocker-boggie suspension, robotic arm, and a scoop to complete tasks
such as traversing on challenging terrains, gripping small objects, and obtaining soil samples.
Taprobane team was able to secure the 4th place in the International Rover Design Challenge organized by the Mars Society South Asia,
17th place in the on-site edition of the European Rover Challenge 2022 organized by Space Foundation.
This year (2023), we have secured the 5th place in the remote edition of the European Rover Challenge 2023.
Owlbert is an AI-powered chatbot that helps people learn astronomy in a non-traditional way.
The concept was primarilly developed for the NASA Space Apps Challenge 2020 and was awarded with the Global Nominee Award.
Affordable Small Satellite Communication Relay (ASSCR) was developed by the team Space_warriors for the Act In Space 2020 compeittion by ESA.
The notion was to utilize the Oneweb satellite system to create a reliable and safe communication relay for CubeSats and minimize the requirement for communication expertise and ground stations.
Beam Line For Schools (BL4S) is a high school competition organized by CERN and DESY to allow high school teams
to test their particle physics hypotheses using Large Hadron Collider (LHC) or DESY particle accelerators.
Our project aimed to test the hypothesis: "The existence, momentum of electrons in a certain material would affect the stopping powers
for the positrons. Absence of electrons will minimize the annihilation making it a more
suitable decelerator target. Higher speeds and movements of electrons will increase the
probability of annihilation as well as the stopping powers. Further the density and the
intermolecular interactions can cause effects to make a material more or less suitable as a
decelerator target."
International Asteroid Search Campaign is a monthly citizen science project organized by the International Astronomical Search Colaboration (IASC) and Pan-STARRS.
Each campaign enables dozens of small teams to participate in asteroid hunting by providing them with real data sets from Pan-STARRS telescopes.
A preliminary asteroid candidate list is published at the end of each campaign.
After a few months, the list of provisional asteroids is published, and the discoverers receive a certificate for their efforts.
Provisional asteroids will remain provisional for several years until their orbits are confirmed.
