‘Swachhtra’ developed to prevent toxic gas deaths in sewers:Robot to reduce farmers’ workload, ‘Smart Trolley’ to end billing queues

GUJCOAST, under the Gujarat Government’s Department of Science and Technology, is organising a 36-hour national-level hackathon under ‘ROBOFEST-GUJARAT 6.0’ at the Regional Science Centre in Bhavnagar. The event began on October 6 and will conclude with the prize distribution ceremony at 4 pm on October 9. After evaluating 480 teams registered from across the country, 52 teams have been shortlisted for the final round. These include 37 teams from nine districts of Gujarat and 15 teams from six other states namely Maharashtra, Punjab, Madhya Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Karnataka and West Bengal. Young innovators are working under expert guidance to turn their ideas into functional robotics and AI-based solutions. Chandigarh University students develop ‘Swachattra’ to detect toxic gases Thousands of people in India reportedly lose their lives every year after being exposed to toxic gases while cleaning septic tanks and sewers. To address this serious safety issue, students of Chandigarh University have developed an affordable device called ‘Swachattra’. Team member Ananya said the idea came after one of their colleagues witnessed a tragic incident in which a sanitation worker entered a septic tank without knowing the conditions inside and died. Another person who went in to rescue him also lost his life. Following the incident, the team decided to develop a device that could detect hazardous gases before workers entered sewers or septic tanks. ‘Swachattra’ uses specialised sensors to detect toxic gases such as methane, carbon monoxide and ammonia. ‘Swachattra’ features ‘Autonomous Agricultural Bot’ to reduce farmers’ manual labour Shubhi Shukla from Chhattisgarh said her team from Shri Shankaracharya Institute of Professional Management and Technology, Raipur, is developing an ‘Autonomous Agricultural Bot’ for farming applications. The robot is designed to automate several tasks that farmers currently perform manually, reducing physical labour and saving time. The team believes the technology could allow farmers to focus more on improving crop quality and planning their agricultural activities. Tasks performed by the agricultural bot ‘Water Rescue Drone’ designed to save drowning victims Zeenal of GSET (GCET) College, Anand Vidyanagar, said her team, ‘Team Neer Kavach’, has developed a ‘Water Rescue Drone’ to help rescue people during drowning emergencies. The drone is designed to land directly on the water surface and uses two thrusters and four motors for navigation. It can be launched quickly to provide immediate assistance during emergencies. ‘Smart trolley’ aims to eliminate queues at mall billing counters Ashutosh M. Bhatt, head of the Electronics and Communication Department at Government Polytechnic, Jamnagar, said the team has developed a ‘smart trolley’ to make shopping faster and more convenient. The trolley is designed to scan products as soon as they are placed inside, display a running bill and allow customers to make payments without waiting in long queues at the billing counter. Key features of the ‘smart trolley’