Ranchi, An autonomous water-cleaning robot developed by five final-year BTech students of Dumka Engineering College in Jharkhand will be deployed to clean the Shiv Ganga pond at Basukinath Dham during the upcoming Shravani Mela, beginning July 30.
Named 'Nature's Revival Bot – Autonomous Water Cleaning Robot', the device will be deployed for the first time at the pond, officials said here on Saturday.
"The robot is designed to remove floating garbage from the pond's surface using a motor-driven track-belt conveyor system that collects waste in a net-covered bucket. Its demonstration in the pond is scheduled for Monday," Prof Pankaj Sarkar, head of the department of electrical engineering at Dumka Engineering College, told PTI.
Koushal Kumar, a member of the project team who has been appointed as an electrical engineer at a private firm in Pune, said the robot is equipped with three different types of motors and a photoelectric sensor to prevent collisions with hard surfaces or obstacles.
"A Brushless Direct Current hub motor powers the propeller for forward movement, while a gear motor operates the conveyor belt. A servo motor controls a flap to enable steering in both directions," Kumar explained.
{{/usCountry}}"A Brushless Direct Current hub motor powers the propeller for forward movement, while a gear motor operates the conveyor belt. A servo motor controls a flap to enable steering in both directions," Kumar explained.
{{/usCountry}}"It runs on a 48-volt hybrid battery system combining lithium-ion and lead-acid batteries, providing up to 20 hours of operation on a full charge," he said.
The robot was built on a sturdy base of plastic drums fitted with an aluminium frame. The lower section of the conveyor belt remains partially submerged, allowing it to efficiently collect floating debris such as plastic bottles, polythene bags, clothes, papers, and other waste materials.
Kumar said the robot was initially developed as a prototype for their final-year project.
"We conceptualised this project to address the challenge of cleaning polluted waterbodies, which has traditionally been a difficult and labour-intensive task for civic authorities relying on manual methods. Its prototype was designed and developed in approximately five months," he added.
With a cleaning capacity of approximately 8 square feet per minute and an operating range of one kilometre, the robot's collection bucket can hold 3 to 4 quintals of garbage.
"It is fully battery-operated and can be monitored and controlled remotely. When the bucket reaches full capacity, the waste must be removed manually," he added.
Dumka Deputy Commissioner Abijit Sinha said one unit of the water cleaning robot has been deployed at the Shiv Ganga pond to maintain cleaner surface water.
"On June 22, while inaugurating the Centre for Electric Vehicle Technology and inspecting student innovation projects at the college, the water cleaning robot stood out as the centre of attraction," the DC recalled.
"We have now decided to deploy it in the pond. We are confident it will prove highly effective in removing floating garbage. This initiative will not only help keep the pond clean during Shravani Mela but also inspire other students to pursue innovation," Sinha said.
The project is a significant step towards strengthening the identity of 'Made in Jharkhand' and 'Made in Dumka', the DC said, adding that a water filtration plant has also been installed in the pond to improve water quality and maintain its level.
This article was generated from an automated news agency feed without modifications to text.