Twitter
Advertisement

Mumbai students build robot to help clean surface water

The robot is the brainchild of Kiran Parte, Ajit Krishnamoorthy, Piyush Devikar, Kedar Pednekar (Third Year, Electronics & Communication), and Nishit Ahuja (Second Year, Computer Engineering) of the institute.

Latest News
article-main
FacebookTwitterWhatsappLinkedin

In order to address the issue of water pollution by providing a cheaper and viable water cleaning mechanism, students of Vivekanand Education Society’s Institute of Technology (VESIT) have designed SEARCh -- a semi-autonomous river cleaning robot. The robot is the brainchild of Kiran Parte, Ajit Krishnamoorthy, Piyush Devikar, Kedar Pednekar (Third Year, Electronics & Communication), and Nishit Ahuja (Second Year, Computer Engineering) of the institute. It has been made out of discarded materials, which can clean garbage accumulated on the surface of water bodies. The project recently won the second place at the National Level Technical Exhibition and Competition organized by Saintgits College of Engineering, Kottayam, Kerala. 

The structure of the robot is made up of used PVC pipes, scrap aluminum and used rubber. The raft-like structure of PVC pipes is fitted with a conveyor belt made up of rubber. The machine is connected to a computer. With the help of a camera, the movement of the robot can be monitored and controlled using a computer software. The waste sticks to the conveyor belt and is then deposited into a collection tray in the unit.

"Tonnes of plastic waste is thrown into water bodies every day, which floats on the surface of the water; different kinds of waste such as food wrappers, plastic bags and flowers. This needs to be taken out with the help of river-cleaning machines, which are extremely costly and require a lot of space. The idea was to develop a machine, which could remove garbage on the surface level at a very low cost,” said Kiran Parte, team leader, SEARCh.

Parte said that the idea was developed in December, and it took three months for the team to come up with a prototype. The machine costs between Rs 12,000 -15,000 per unit, at least ten times cheaper than existing models in the market. "We have tried to minimise the cost to make the solution cost-effective so it can be used by local corporations to clean water bodies,” said Piyush Devikar.

The group now plans to make the process fully automated by using GPS navigation. “This way the camera can automatically detect garbage after which the conveyor belt will automatically start. Once the robot is fully automated, we will approach the BMC officials and urge them to use it in the city,” said Parte.

 

Find your daily dose of news & explainers in your WhatsApp. Stay updated, Stay informed-  Follow DNA on WhatsApp.
Advertisement

Live tv

Advertisement
Advertisement