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

A group of researchers at the prestigious Indian Institute to Technology (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. The vehicle, named Sammarjak MB 4.2, uses two mechanized brooms in the front and one at the side which have the flexibility to move the dirt on roads in all directions to fit various road conditions.

In a press statement, IIT Kharagpur 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 which kicked in on March 25 to contain the coronavirus outbreak had forced the migration of many daily wage labourers from cities back to the village.

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Manpower gap filled by automation

Talking about the current labour situation on the campus, Prof. Virendra K Tewari, Director, was quoted in the stattement as saying: “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.”

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Prof. Tewari further 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”.

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Highly flexible to suit Indian roads

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

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

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

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