Hundreds of students from various universities across the country came together on Saturday to showcase their innovative solutions to urban challenges at a tech festival held at IIT Madras. The event, known as Shaastra, featured over 500 students presenting their ideas and concepts vetted by industry experts.
Among the top 10 ideas selected for the final round were an AI-enabled drone designed to monitor and identify defects at construction sites, pervious concrete roads that can absorb rainwater instead of causing waterlogging, and an automated tank for tackling water contamination post floods.
The AI-enabled drone, developed by Shyamkumar M of Sairam Engineering College, aims to address construction errors caused by equipment malfunction and manual assessments. It can also detect workers neglecting safety gear.
The team from Karunya Institute of Technology and Sciences (KITS) proposed pervious concrete roads in response to the damage caused by Cyclone Michaung. These roads would consist of a special blend of cement, aggregates, and water-absorbing agents, allowing rainwater to be soaked up instead of causing waterlogging. The roads would also include void gaps to divert excess water to reservoirs.
The IIT-M team presented an automated aerobic tank that uses algae to remove chemical pollutants from water before passing it through a filtration system. This innovation ensures the availability of clean water for use.
In addition to the student showcases, the tech festival also included eight workshops led by technology experts in fields such as robotics, machine learning, AR/VR, and vehicle dynamics. These workshops provided students with valuable insights and resources, allowing them to apply their learning in real-world scenarios.
The event was hailed as a comprehensive platform for skill development and encouraged students to think outside the classroom, providing them with the opportunity to interact with industry experts and researchers.