IIT Madras students develop drone for Disaster Relief work
IIT Madras students have developed an 'Eye in the Sky' Disaster Management and Humanitarian Aid Services. The team from Centre For Innovation (CFI), IIT Madras, is building drones which are enabled with Artificial Intelligence and Computer Vision. The objective is to develop an end-to-end solution for identifying accurate and critical information on people trapped in disaster-hit areas and communicate them to relief task force.
'Eye in the Sky' uses analytical modules which are based on the latest available technology with the team creating their own databases for some of the modules. Occluded people detection and Swarm Intelligence Modules are entirely state-of-the-art and work is based on the experience of past data on disaster management.
The 'Eye in the Sky' team includes Ayush Parasbhai Maniar (3rd Year, Electrical Engineering), Rajat Vikas Singhal (3rd Year, Computer Science & Engineering), Nachiket Dev (2nd Year, Mechanical Engineering), and Irfaan Arif (2nd Year, Mechanical Engineering).
Winner of IIGP 2.0
The 'Eye in the Sky' Team won the finals of Indian Innovation Growth Programme (IIGP 2.0) University Challenge held at IIT Bombay recently. They were among 'Top 18 Innovative Startups' from all over the nation and will receive Rs. 10 lakh-worth equity-less funding. The team has also received 'Microsoft AI For Earth' Grant given to only 390 projects globally.
The India Innovation Growth Programme (IIGP) 2.0 is a unique tripartite initiative of the Department of Science and Technology (DST), Government of India, American global defense manufacturer Lockheed Martin Corporation and Tata Trusts. A total of 843 teams from various Universities and Startups participated of which 40 were shortlisted for the 'DownSelect' event at IIT Bombay.
Innovation Based on Futuristic Technologies
Highlighting the technical innovation behind this project, Lt. Gen. (retd) P.R. Shankar, Faculty Advisor of the Team, and Professor of Practice, Department of Aerospace Engineering, IIT Madras, said, "The eye in the sky is an innovation based on futuristic disruptive technologies. It will be a powerful tool for saving lives and providing succour during disaster relief and humanitarian aid operations."
Further, Prof. Shankar said, "With further marginal development it can be extensively used in surveillance operations. The innovation is platform agnostic and has immense value. It is not without reason that Microsoft and Lockheed Martin have recognised this effort. The innovation team is working with NDMA and Armed Forces to develop and deploy indigenous technologies for totally Indian solutions to Indian problems. I sincerely wish this team all success."
Role in Disaster Relief
Air Force and Army readily respond to the needs of the affected community in all possible ways. 'Eye in the Sky' can also help them to conduct an efficient aerial survey, to help provide food and water supplies and other medical and safety aids to marooned and trapped populations. It can also help them to rebuild a collapsed communication channel and can provide navigation support.
The Team plans to collaborate with hardware companies that can provide scalable drone technology to conduct the required spot surveillance of disaster struck areas. Large technology corporations that work with organizations like United Nations that conduct disaster relief operations also have mutual gains from collaboration besides NGOs that specialize in disaster relief operations are also potential collaborators.
Speaking about the project, Mr. Ayush Parasbhai Maniar, Student Member, UAVs For Disaster Management, CFI-IIT Madras, said, "We propose to use a team of drones which can scan the entire disaster-affected region in just a few minutes, analyze, and provide critical data that could potentially save lives. The final aim of our startup is to make end-to-end drone software solutions which can be used by any Disaster Response Force of the world and thus help in saving thousands of lives."
Further, Mr. Ayush Parasbhai Maniar added, "Our analytical modules are based on the latest available technology. We've also gone to the extent of creating our own databases for some of the modules."
An Image of Basketball Court in IIT Madras generated by the Drone developed by 'Eye in the Sky' Team
Role of Local relief task forces and NGOs remains crucial in all phases of disaster management. The 'Eye in the Sky' can help them in documenting the findings of the assessments, identify available resources and capabilities and provide the information to the disaster administration to overcome vulnerabilities and address risks.
An Image generated by the Drone developed by 'Eye in the Sky' Team
After experimentation and working with data provided by National Disaster Response Force (NDRF), the team has identified the technologies and software frameworks to be used. Some of the Advanced and Innovative Technologies that team has worked on as part of this project would include technology to detect people from a high altitude or from a low altitude, technology to detect if a person is conscious or not, technology of detecting people buried under debris.
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