Kerala Students Create Solar Robot to Clean Waterbodies

Rapid Summary

• Students from IHRD College of Engineering,Chengannur,built a robot to collect floating waste from waterbodies.
• The robot weighs 30 kg and measures 1.3 m in length, 1.6 m in width, and 0.4 m in height; it can clean an area of up to 6.4 sq. m at a time.
• Powered by Raspberry Pi, it operates in semi-autonomous or manual modes using a FlySky transmitter-receiver system with a range of up to 700 meters.
• equipped with solar panels and Mono PERC technology for eco-friendly charging; the battery can be fully charged three times via a dedicated solar station.
• The hull was constructed using durable PLA material through advanced 3D printing techniques by DNA RC.
• Tested successfully at Edanad and funded by ₹4.85 lakh under the IEEE EPICS initiative; collaboration involved Chengannur municipality, Pampa Punarjani group, IEEE Kerala SIGHT team, and others.
• Research involved students guided by faculty members Hari V.S., Raju M., and Deepa J.; project coordinators were Yohan C. Mammen and Megha Aji.

Indian Opinion Analysis
This innovation highlights India’s growing focus on environmental sustainability through practical technological interventions led by youth development initiatives like EPICS-backed research projects. By combining cutting-edge technologies such as Raspberry Pi control systems with renewable energy solutions (solar panel-powered charging), the robot exemplifies green engineering tailored for community impact.

Furthermore,local collaboration among municipal bodies (Chengannur Municipality),educational institutions (CE Chengannur),non-profit organizations like IEEE SIGHT Kerala aligns well with India’s push toward partner-driven problem-solving approaches under recent national policies championing circular ecosystems for waste management.

Given its scalable design principles powered through cost-efficient resources such offering modular pathways scale replicability other nationwide rural pilot future rollout adapting similar hydro-protection staples large shared blueprint impactful positive ecological restoration tracks gradually avoids over-reliance urban-centric projects instead prioritising granular transformations .

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