Robot designed to detect cracks on tracks

Chennai: A robot which can detect cracks on railway tracks that could possibly prevent derailments in future and save hundreds of lives every year has been shortlisted for Accenture Innovation Challenge 2018 final scheduled to be held on October 24 in Bengaluru.

Of 13,000 entries received for the Accenture Innovation Challenge, the robot is one of the 16 projects shortlisted for the final. ‘Artemis’, the robot that was developed by a team of students from IIT Madras can detect the cracks as small as 2 cm using ultrasound technology.

“Derailments in India are a major challenge. One of the main causes of derailments is the cracks on the railway tracks. If the cracks were checked on time, the repair works could have begun on time and the accidents could be averted,” said Shashwat Sahoo, a third-year biological engineering student from IIT Madras.

At present, the gang men are manually checking with their bare eyes for the cracks. It’s highly inefficient due to human errors and long stretches of tracks.

IIT Madras students have come with the solution called Artemis. “The robot moves inside the tracks. So, the trains can simultaneously move on top of the tracks while the robot travels inside of them. It goes along all the tracks and will check for cracks using ultrasound technology and sends the GPS location in real time if any crack is found on the track,” he explained.  

The 1.5 foot-long robot also moves fast.Currently, the robot is operating on battery and the students looking to operate it on solar power as well. A particular stretch up to 100 km for could be allotted to a robot so it can move back and forth. The robot can also be recharged at nearby stations. “We can have a network of robots across the country which has specific tracks allotted to them,” Kavan Savla, a third-year biological engineering student and another member of the team said.

The robot may soon be tested on railway tracks. Apart from the robot, two other projects a solution that helps secure an users image on social networking sites using image processing, cyber forensics and machine learning from Vel Tech and a mind-controlled wheelchair designed for paralysed people from RMK engineering college also shortlisted for the final.

Accenture Innovation Challenge will give awards in six categories including Grand Prize winner and theme winners in two categories - innovate for business and society. Each member of the grand prize-winning team will receive prizes worth Rs 1,50,000.