India: IIT-K develops robots to guard fields against insects

IIT Kanpur

Kanpur: The robots developed by the Indian Institute of Technology, Kanpur, can steer through agricultural fields thereby helping the farmers guard the crops, leaves and flowers against onslaughts of the fatal insects.

It will treat the crops sending out instant alert signals about the viruses. These infect the soil. The farmers will thus plan better ways to get good crop quality and yield, said Prof. V. Bhattacharya.

These robots will be put at the Agriculture University fields here to secure information on soil and crop conditions between October and November.

Bhattacharya said: We have named it Saathi to help the farmers.

Equipped with artificial intelligence, the robot has numerous sensors and cameras, which helps in scanning even the smallest detail.

It will assess the affected area in the field and sprinkle pesticides just in that particular area, he disclosed.

The best thing about the robot 'Saathi' is that it regularly assess soil health and measures the growth of crops and production. It also records the changes in the field analytically. 

It will be used at the CSA fields fully fed with details of diseases that harm potato and tomato crops, and the pesticides that are used, he pointed out.

This robot is an outcome of the team efforts at the mechanical engineering department of IIT- K, as was reportedly said.