Tech-wise: Mumbai students device gadget to protect house from theft

Thane: A group of six teenagers here claim to have deviced a gadget that will protect a house from theft when its residents are away.

The gadget, named 'Robo Nandi', will immediately get activated and send an alert message on a person's registered mobile number if anybody tries to break into his house or attempts to steal or shift anything from there, Purushottam Panchpande, the student's guide for the project, told reporters here on Thursday.

The person can then alert his neighbours and friends to seek quick action, he said, adding that the project was the branchild of six boys studying at different schools here, while he, a professor from Children's Tech Centre here which imparts science and technology practical training to young students, encouraged them in the endeavour.

'Robo Nandi', deriving its name from the mythological bull of Lord Shiva, will soon hit the market and would be available for commercial purposes, Panchpande said.

The gadget will be of immense help to people going on long vacations as they can be free from house-related worries as their home stays protected by 'Robo Nandi', he said.

Though most housing societies and offices these days are equipped with CCTV cameras, they require huge investment and continuous monitoring of the footage, he said.

"Also, what's the point in realising later that something has been stolen and then watching the footage? 'Robo Nandi' can be installed at much lesser cost and works real time, thus avoiding the time lags. The gadget alerts the person without making a noise and without the intruder even knowing that an alert has been sent," he said.

The six students - Shardul Datar, Harshal Veling, Sannel Patil, Vyom Vyas, Aamod Pant and Shaunak Sawargaonkar demonstrated the working of the gadget before the reporters here.