BHAGALPUR: An IITian has developed a device to protect the standing crops from animals, birds and thieves.
IIT-Kharagpur alumnus Ajit Kumar has named it Farm Surveillance cum Animal Scare Device (FSASD).
Based on Artificial Intelligence (AI), the FSASD is a computerized electronic sensor device, which monitors the farms and agricultural field using day-and-night camera and AI-based algorithms running on the device continuously, Ajit told this newspaper on Sunday.
The prototype of FSASD has been used in the agricultural fields and farms extensively at Khirighat, Antichak and several other villages under Kahalgaon subdivision in Bhagalpur district, he said, adding that the trials and testing to check its efficacy gave 100% results.
The FSASD has a loud siren attached to it to scare the animals, birds and thieves in case they enter the agriculture farm.
It also sends an alert notification message to the farmer on his/her mobile phone number, Ajit said.
It is a visual image-catching device, which is powered by battery and kept in a field or mounted on a pole along with installed solar panels to charge the battery.
“We were able to scare animals, birds and human suspects entering the farm and damaging the standing crops during our mock drills,” the IITian said, adding that it can be customized as per the farmer’s needs and demand.
The cost of basic FSASD, including camera, solar panel, battery and other devices is Rs15,000 only, he said and added: “We are planning to attach other monitoring sensors with this device to monitor other aspects of the farm and farming activities along with surveillance to serve the farmers and to stop their losses.” Ajit, a resident of Kahalgaon subdivision in Bhagalpur district, is a mechanical engineer.
He left his plum job in a private sector at Mumbai and established a ‘startup’ christened as ‘StepUpify Labs’ at Lalpur-Bhader village in Kahalgaon to serve the society to which he belongs to.
He also imparts training to local youths in science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) to make them employable, Ajit added.