Researchers from Indian Institute to Technology Kharagpur, or IIT Kharagpur, have developed a vehicle-based mechanized broom that runs on battery and solar power to clean its 2100 acre campus. The cleaning vehicle, named Sammarjak MB 4.2, uses two mechanized brooms which have the flexibility to move the dirt on roads in all directions to fit various road conditions.
IIT Kharagpur, in a press statement, said that it has planned to deploy the vehicle on campus as the administration expects to face a shortage of sanitation staff even after lockdown opens. The nationwide lockdown declared on March 25 to curb coronavirus infections had forced the migration of many daily wage labourers from cities back to the village.
Talking about the current labour situation on the campus, Prof. Virendra K Tewari, Director, said: “We had restricted entry of a significant section of the workforce to our campus since late March. Further we have reassigned some cleaning staff towards sanitizing the key areas in the campus which are frequented by the residents. But considering our campus size we needed a substantial number of sanitation workers and this gap is being filled by automatizing the brooming system across all the pathways.”
Prof. Tewari 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 the same statement, responding to whether automation would lead to job losses, Prof. Tewari said that “opportunities in automation will create new avenues”.
