Bandicoot robot brings dignity to scavenging community

Thiruvananthapuram: Bandicoot robot, the world's first manhole cleaning robot developed as MakeInIndia and Swachh Bharat initiative by National Award winning startup up Genrobotics, can provide a better and dignified lifestyle to the manual scavenging community.

"Cleaning of manholes effectively requires humans to enter it, but the manholes are death pits for the workers due to harmful gases. Bandicoot robots help the workers to ensure zero contact with the Sewage waste and this will help the workers stay away from all forms of dangers present in the sewage," a release said on Wednesday.

Bandicoot robot comes with a human comparable robotic arm and various sensors that help the robot to perform the cleaning action more efficiently. It is also equipped with poisonous gas sensors which help the operators to know the presence of poisonous gas inside the manholes. Poisonous gases are the most common reason for the manhole accidents.

Bandicoot robots are also featured with special 4 IP68 waterproof cameras to clean the manholes in a more precise and efficient manner even under low light conditions. The most advanced 'bandicoot 2.0' can clean and maintain city manholes safely without workers entering into the manholes.

This equipment will bring more safety in the maintenance of city manholes with advanced technologies. The Bandicoot robotic technology is developed for ending manual scavenging with a vision to help and improve the safety and dignity of sanitation workers and bring positive changes in the sanitation workers community.

The bandicoot robotic technology is designed to mimic and replace the entire human requirement inside the manhole for efficient cleaning

Bandicoot robotic technology is an AMRUT Tech Challenge Award winner as a Promising Innovative Solution for sanitation by the Ministry of Housing and Urban Affairs, Government of India.

This bandicoot robotic Technology has been exporting to other countries to improve safety in confined spaces such sewer manholes, Refinery pits etc.

Recently, the Pune Municipal Corporation took a faster move to end manual scavenging using robots. This initiative is in align with the vision of Pune smart city to bring more safety in the maintenance of city manholes using advanced technologies. The PMC is now using robots to clean sewers.

The Bandicoot Robots was launched by Pune Municipal commissioner Vikram Kumar, IAS.

The event has been presided over by other dignitaries, CEO of Pune smart city Dr. Sanjay Kolte IAS, Additional commissioner of Pune smart city Dr. Kunal Khemnar IAS. The user interface of the bandicoot robot is designed for manual scavengers which is interactive and user friendly, which will help in rehabilitating the existing manual scavengers to be the robot operators.

Bandicoot robots can do every action a human can perform inside the manhole, and also it can clean manholes more efficiently and effectively than a human by using the most advanced technologies like robotics and Artificial Intelligence.

Bandicoot can converge its diameter by using its legs to enter into the unseen depths of the manholes and after entering the manholes it will use its legs to move and gain more stability inside the manhole while pulling out the solid waste materials.

Its specially designed robotic arm is to perform multiple operations such as shovelling, grabbing and pulling the wastes even from the corners of the manhole, which helps the liquid waste to flow through the sewer system naturally.

This procedure is more efficient in cleaning manholes than any other conventional cleaning methodologies. The robot has specially designed four-night vision, water and sewerage proof cameras so the depth and darkness of manholes won't be a threat anymore for cleaning the manholes.

After collecting all the wastes using its robotic arm from every corner, its intelligent bucket system will collect the wastes and pull it out from the Manhole. The bandicoot robot can be electrically powered through direct electricity, generators or batteries.

The robot's simple controls made it easier for the sanitation workers and it comes with an inbuilt training assistance that helps the sanitation workers to learn the operation through symbolic graphical representations. The operator can use the Robot within a single touch of control and with the ease of playing a mobile phone game. (UNI)