EXPERIMENTAL BY CHOICE
GREEN THUMBS UP
In 2017, two PhD students from Lovely Professional University (LPU), Punjab, began developing a device to monitor agricultural lands for fertility, soil temperature and moisture, as well as controlling water pumps, blowers and sprinklers. Mentored by professors from the School of Electronics and Electrical Engineering, Mahendra Swain and Wasim Akram developed E-parirakshak, which comprises several sensor nodes that are deployed in the field, a handheld tool that displays information and micro controllers.
BRIGHT IDEA
Their inspiration came from the realisation that most Indian farmers don’t have modern farming tools. “We wanted to develop a solution that would ultimately improve productivity,” says Akram. “We built the prototype from scratch, starting from layout fabrication to integrating all components,” says Swain. “A major hurdle was figuring out how to place the device in an open field.”
GROUND REPORT
In February, the device was exhibited at the PRME 2020 IILM Sustainability Carnival in Greater Noida and was listed in the top 15 projects presented. The device has been tested in the fields of the LPU campus. Explaining the system, Akram says, “It analyses
