IIT Kharagpur develops vehicle-based mechanised broom to clean public spaces

A group of researchers at prestigious Indian Institute to Techlogy (IIT) Kharagpur have developed a motorable mechanized broom that runs on battery and solar power to clean public places like its sprawling 2100 acre campus. vehicle, named Sammarjak MB 4.2, uses two mechanized brooms in front and one at side which have flexibility to move dirt on roads in all directions to fit various road conditions.

In a press statement, IIT Kharagpur said that it has planned to deploy vehicle on campus as administration expects to face a short of sanitation staff even after lockdown opens. nationwide lockdown which kicked in on March 25 to contain coronavirus outbreak had forced migration of many daily w labourers from cities back to vill.

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Manpower gap filled by automation

Talking about current labour situation on campus, Prof. Virendra K Tewari, Director, was quoted in stattement as saying: “We had restricted entry of a significant section of workforce to our campus since late March. Furr we have reassigned some cleaning staff towards sanitizing key areas in campus which are frequented by residents. But considering our campus size we needed a substantial number of sanitation workers and this gap is being filled by automatizing brooming system across all pathways.”

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Prof. Tewari furr said that this invention will “avoid any disruption or slowing down of productivity due to less labourers”. He remarked that it is “crucial” for society to move towards automation in industries as well as community maintenance mechanisms. In same statement, responding to wher automation would lead to job losses, Prof. Tewari said that “opportunities in automation will create new avenues”.

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Highly flexible to suit Indian roads

Prof. Mihir Sarangi, who led this team of invators, said system is "highly flexible to suit Indian road conditions including those in semi-urban areas".

"Being an indigeusly built techlogy we kept in mind steep curves and undulations of Indian streets and made brooms adjustable vertically and horizontally. Furr, we have added solar power charging in addition to battery to keep running cost low,” said Prof. Sarangi.

He is hoping this would enable organizations and public bodies, with budget constraints, to adopt system.

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