Lanka Udawatta was born in Sri Lanka on 28th September, 1970 to a Buddhist family. Thanks to C.W.W. Kannanagara Central College, Matugama for his primary and secondary education. Lanka Udawatta earned his bachelors degree in Electrical Engineering from University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka, which qualified him for active research in the University itself. Since then he has maintained a continuous interest in research. In 1998, he entered Saga University, Japan and received his M.Eng. degree in Mechanical Engineering from Saga University in September 2000, majoring in Systems Control. In October 2000, he started his Doctors degree at Graduate School of Science and Engineering, Saga University, majoring in Robotics and Computational Intelligence and graduated in September 2003.
He is having one younger sister Dayanee and two younger brothers, Lochana & Damitha who all graduated from Sri Lankan universities. Thanks to his father Robert Udawatta and mother, the great work done on behalf of them forever. Later the life became little messy, busy and happy, he got married to Palika in 2000 who studied at St. Paul's Girls' School-Milagiriya & graduated from University of Sri Jaya'pura. Then, they two spent a couple of years in Japan. They are blessed with a new family member Lahiru who was born on 24th June, 2003 at Saga National Hospital, Japan. After coming back to Sri Lanka, Vihandu, Lahiru's brother was born on 13th April, 2005 in Colombo.
Awards, Honors and Grants
General Chair: Fourth International Conference on Information and Automation for Sustainability (ICIAfS 2008), Colombo, Sri Lanka
Outstanding researcher award of the University of Moratuwa by the senate in 2007
Publications Chair International Conference on Information and Automation for Sustainability (ICIAfS 2007), Melbourne, Australia.
Outstanding researcher award of the University of Moratuwa by the senate in 2006
Logistics and Public Relations Chair: International Conference on Information and Automation Colombo, (ICIA 2006)
Reviewer of International Journals and Conferences
Best Student Paper Award for the 6th International Conference on Soft Computing and Intelligent Systems, “Iizuka-2000”, Japan, in 2000.
“SANEYOSHI” All Japan Scholarship Award 2002/2003
Japanese Government full bright scholarship “Monbusho” for 1998-2000
Japanese Government Student Merit scholarship for 2001-2002 and
Saga Prefecture Scholarship Award in 2003
University Colors from the University of Moratuwa 1994/1995
Senate research grant for 2004/2005 and 2007/2008, University of Moratuwa, Sri Lanka
Saga University, Japan RA Grant.
Selected Research Publications and Books
Books Lanka Udawatta and Buddhika Jayasekara, “Computer Aided Simulations”, Narosa Publishers, ISBN: 978-81-7319-904-2, 2009
Articles in Refereed International Journals and Book Chapters
1. Lanka Udawatta, Keigo Watanabe, Kazuo Kiguchi and Kiyotaka Izumi, “Fuzzy-Chaos Hybrid Controller for Controlling of Nonlinear Systems,” IEEE Transactions on Fuzzy Systems, vol. 10，no. 3，pp. 401-411, 2002.
2. Lanka Udawatta, Keigo Watanabe, Kiyotaka Izumi, and Kazuo Kiguchi, “Obstacle Avoidance of Three-DOF Underactuated Manipulator by Using Switching Computed Torque Method,” Transaction on Control, Automation and Systems Engineering, vol. 4，no. 4，pp. 347-355, 2002.
3. Lanka Udawatta, Keigo Watanabe, Kiyotaka Izumi and Kazuo Kiguchi, “Evolution of Underactuated Robots and Control Techniques,” Journal of Machine Intelligence and Robotic Control, vol. 4，no. 3，pp. 127-134, 2003.
4. Lanka Udawatta, Keigo Watanabe, Kiyotaka Izumi, and Kazuo Kiguchi, “Control of Underactuated Robot Manipulators Using Switching Computed Torque Method: GA Based Approach,” Journal of Soft Computing, vol. 8. No. 1 pp. 51--60, 2003.
5. Lanka Udawatta, Keigo Watanabe, Kazuo Kiguchi and Kiyotaka Izumi, “Solution to Global Stability of Fuzzy Regulators via Evolutionary Computation,” Journal of Applied Soft Computing, vol. 4, pp. 25--34, 2004.
6. Lanka Udawatta, Keigo Watanabe, Kiyotaka Izumi, and Kazuo Kiguchi, “Control of Underactuated Manipulators Using Fuzzy Logic Based Switching Controller,” Journal of Intelligent and Robotic Systems, vol. 3, No. 2, pp. 155--173, 2003.
7. Lanka Udawatta, Keigo Watanabe, Kiyotaka Izumi, and Kazuo Kiguchi, “Control of 3-DOF Underactuated Manipulator Using Fuzzy Based Switching,” Journal of Artificial Life and Robotics, vol. 8, pp. 153--158, 2004.
8. Keigo Watanabe and Lanka Udawatta, ``Fuzzy-Chaos Hybrid Controllers for Nonlinear Dynamic Systems," Edited Book on Integration of fuzzy logic and chaos theory, pp. 481-506, 2006.
9. Chandima Pathirana, Keigo Watanabe, Kiyotaka Izumi, Aruna Hewawasam and Lanka Udawatta, ``Intelligent Vision System for Dynamic Environments, Journal of Artificial Life and Robotics, vol. 10, no. 1, pp. 59--63, 2006.
10. Lanka Udawatta and Keigo Watanabe, ``Multi-Stage Learning Controller for Underactuated Manipulators”, Edited Book on Control and Learning in Robotic Systems, Nova Science Publishers, New York, pp. 243--258, 2005.
Proceedings of International Conferences
1. K. Watanabe, L. Udawatta, K. Kiguchi, and K. Izumi, ``Control of Chaotic systems Using Fuzzy Model-Based Regulators, Lecture Notes in Artificial Intelligence, Berlin: Springer-Verlag, 1999, pp. 248--256.
2. L. Udawatta, K. Watanabe, K. Kiguchi, and K. Izumi, ``Control of Robot Manipulators via Chaotic Attractors and Fuzzy Model-Based Regulators, Proc. of the Fifth Int. Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics (AROB 5th '00), Oita, Japan, 2000, vol. 2, pp. 673--676.
3. L. Udawatta, K. Watanabe, K. Kiguchi, and K. Izumi, ``Fuzzy-Chaos Hybrid Controller for 3-Dimensional Attractors, Proc. of IIZUKA 2000 (6th International Conference on Soft Computing), Iizuka, Japan, October 1-4, 2000, pp. 459--464 (CD-ROM) Received Best Student Paper Award
4. L. Udawatta, K. Watanabe, K. Izumi, and K. Kiguchi, ``Control of 3-DOF Underactuated Robot Using Switching Computed Torque Method, Knowledge-Based Intelligent Information Engineering Systems Allied Technologies, edited by N. Baba, L.C. Jain and R.J. Howlett, IOS Press, 2001, vol. 69, pp.1325--1329.
5. L. Udawatta, K. Watanabe, K. Izumi, and K. Kiguchi, ``Energy Optimization of Switching Torque Computed Method for Underactuated Manipulators, Proc. of Intelligent Autonomous Vehicle, IAV 2001, Sapporo, Japan, 2001, pp. 394--399.
6. L. Udawatta, K. Watanabe, K. Izumi, and K. Kiguchi, ``Obstacle Avoidance of Underactuated Robot Manipulators Using Switching Computed Torque Method, Proc. of International Conference on Control, Automation and Systems, Cheju, Korea, 2001, pp. 321--324.
7. L. Udawatta, K. Watanabe, K. Kiguchi, and K. Izumi, ``Developments in Underactuated Manipulator Control Techniques and Latest Control Using AI, Proc. of 7th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, vol. 2, 2002, pp. 425--428.
8. L. Udawatta, K Watanabe, K Kiguchi and K Izumi, ``Global Stability Condition of Fuzzy Model-based Controllers via Evolutionary Computation, Proc. of IEEE World Congress on Computational Intelligence, Hawaii, USA, 2002, pp. 238--244.
9. L. Udawatta, K. Watanabe, K. Izumi, and K. Kiguchi, ``Fuzzy Rules Extraction by GA for Controlling 2-DOF Underactuated Planar Manipulators: Switching Computed Torque Approach, Proc. of the SICE International Conference, SICE' 2002, Osaka, Japan, 2002, pp. 1700--1705.
10. L. Udawatta, K. Watanabe, K. Izumi, and K. Kiguchi, ``Robust Fuzzy Rule Extraction by Evolutionary Learning for Controlling Underactuated Manipulators, Proc. of the international conference ICMT2002, Kitakyushu, Japan, 2002, pp. 94--99.
11. K. Watanabe, L. Udawatta, K. Kiguchi, and K. Izumi, ``Fuzzy Rule Selection of Switching Controllers for Underactuated Manipulators, Proc. of Joint 1st International Conference on Soft Computing and Intelligent Systems, Tsukuba, Japan, 2002, pp. 22Q2-5 (CD-ROM) . PDF
12. L. Udawatta, K. Watanabe, K. Izumi, and K. Kiguchi, ``Control of 3-DOF Underactuated Manipulator Using Fuzzy Based Switching, Proc. of 9th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics, Oita, Japan, 2003, vol. 2, pp. 629--632.
13. K. Watanabe, L. Udawatta, K. Izumi, and K. Kiguchi, ``Control of Underactuated Manipulators Using Fuzzy Based Switching with NN Compensator, in Proc. 11th International Conference on Advanced Robotics, Coimbra, Portugal, 2003, pp. 1659--1664.
14. K. Watanabe, L. Udawatta, K. Izumi, and K. Kiguchi, ``NN--Compensator with Fuzzy Based Switching for Controlling 3-DOF Underactuated Manipulator, in Proc. IEEE International Symposium on Computational Intelligence in Robotics and Automation, Kobe, Japan, 2003, pp. 79--84.
15. A. Hewawasam et al, ``Intelligent Vision System for Dynamic Environments, in Proc. 10th International Symposium on Artificial Life and Robotics (AROB 10th '05), Oita, Japan, 2005, vol. 2, pp. 131--134.
16. B. Jayasekara and L. Udawatta, ``Non-Cursive Sinhala Handwritten Script Recognition: A Genetic Algorithm Based Alphabet Training Approach, Proc. of the International Conference on Information and Automation ICIA2005, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2005, pp. 292--297.
17. A. Hewawasam and L. Udawatta, ``Intelligent Vision System for Dynamic Environments: Reasoning Base Approach, Proc. of the International Conference on Information and Automation ICIA2005, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2005, pp. 262--267.
18. A. Pallegedara, L. Udawatta, and D. Jayathilake ``Fault Tolerance Sensor Fusion Approach to Mobile Robot Navigation, Proc. of the International Conference on Information and Automation ICIA2005, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2005, pp. 298--303.
19. L. Udawatta, K. Izumi, K. Watanabe, and A. Jayasiri ``Neural Network Based Object Classifier with Fuzzy Filtered Data for Mobile Robot Navigation, Proc. of the 3rd Joint International Conference on Soft Computing and Intelligent Systems, Tokyo, Japan, 2006, pp 12-19. PDF
20. B. Jayasekara, A. Jayasiri, and L. Udawatta ``An Evolving Signature Recognition System, Proc. of the First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems (ICIIS), Kandy, Sri Lanka, 2006. (CD-ROM) PDF
21. A. Jayasiri, B. Jayasekara, and L. Udawatta ``A Sensory Fusion Algorithm for Primitive Type Object Identification in Uncertain Environments, Proc. of the First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems (ICIIS), Kandy, Sri Lanka, 2006. (CD-ROM).
22. A. Jayasiri, B. Jayasekara, and L. Udawatta ``Object Identification with Uncertain Information using Fuzzy Classification, Proc. of the First International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems (ICIIS), Kandy, Sri Lanka, 2006. (CD-ROM).
23. S. Gunasekara, L. Udawatta, and S. Witharana ``Neural Network Based Optimum Model for Cascaded Hydro Power Generating System, Proc. of the 2nd International Conference on Information and Automation ICIA’06, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2006, pp. 51--56.
24. A. De Silva, M. Jayathilake, A. Galgomuwa, S. Peiris, L. Udawatta, and T. Nanayakkara`` High Performance Temperature Controller for Infant Incubators, Proc. of the 2nd International Conference on Information and Automation ICIA’06, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2006, pp. 115--120.
25. L. Meegahapola, L. Udawatta, and S. Witharana, ``The Ocean Thermal Energy Conversion Strategies and Analysis of Current Challenges, Proc. of the Second International Conference on Industrial and Information Systems (ICIIS), Kandy, Sri Lanka, 2007.
26. W.S.P. Fernando, L. Udawatta, and P. Pathirana, `` Identification of Moving Obstacles with Pyramidal Lucas Kanade Optical Flow and k means Clustering,” Proc. of the 3rd International Conference on Information and Automation for Sustainability ICIAfS’08, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, pp. 111--117.
27. L. Udawatta, P.G.S. Priyadarshana (Postgrad student), and S. Witharana, ``Control of Pneumatic Artificial Muscle for Bicep Configuration Using IBC,” of Proc. of the 3rd International Conference on Information and Automation for Sustainability ICIAfS’08, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, pp. 35--39.
28. C.D. Pathiranage, L. Udawatta, K. Watanabe, and K. Izumi, `` A Fuzzy Logic Based Approach to the SLAM Problem using Pseudolinear Models with Two Sensors Data Association, Proc. of the 3rd International Conference on Information and Automation for Sustainability ICIAfS’08, Melbourne, Australia, 2007, pp. 70--75.
29. R. S. Wimalendra, L. Udawatta, E. M. C. P. Edirisinghe and Sudarshana Karunarathna, ``Determination of Maximum Possible Fuel Economy of HEV for Known Drive Cycle: Genetic Algorithm Based Approach, Proc. of the 4th International Conference on Information and Automation for sustainability ICIAfS f08, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2008, pp. 289--294.
30. S. Fernando, L. Udawatta, and P. Pathirana, ``Visual Tracking of Vehicles using Multi-resolution Analysis and Neural Network, h Proc. of the 4th International Conference on Information and Automation for sustainability ICIAfSf08, Colombo, Sri Lanka, 2008, pp. 355--360.