IIT-M team made a solar powered unmanned self- driving survey craft for Indian ports.
By Ishank Katyal
The research team of IIT Madras has developed a solar powered self driving vehicle which will be used to survey Indian water bodies.
This unmanned vehicle will be used to survey for Indian Ports and inland waterways and undertake autonomous hydrographic and Oceanographic surveys, while providing the real time- data about its environment.
The autonomous robotic vehicle records the precise depth measurements in both deep and shallow water of any shape.
It is equipped with echo sounder for depth measurements, an onboard GPS system for tracking, 360-degree view camera, and Light Detection and Ranging (LiDAR) for topographical measurement.
The craft was developed by a research team at National Technology Centre for Ports, Waterways and Coasts (NTCPWC), the technology arm of the Ministry of Shipping, in IIT-Madras, and the IIT-Madras Incubation Cell. The NTCPWC works in collaboration with IIT-Madras.
The institute is already set to commercialise and license the craft in Indian market with the help of the ministry by early 2021.
This technology is the first automatic survey water vehicle and it is a big step towards Indian maritime industry, which is currently doninated by foreign technologies and services.