THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: Sunil, a contract sanitation worker with Kerala Water Authority (KWA), says his job has become easier and risk-free. Previously, Sunil had to go into manholes and sewer lines every day to clean and unclog them, thereby exposing himself to all kinds of hazardous wastes. But now, he has the assistance of a robot. Similarly, Murugan, another sanitation worker with the KWA, is relieved that he doesn’t have to go inside the manholes, especially in the wake of the pandemic. Bandicoot, a robot by Genrobotics startup deployed by KWA, has come to the rescue of sanitation workers and has made sewage cleaning human intervention free.
“Sanitation workers are highly exposed to different kinds of hazardous waste which also includes biomedical waste such as used gloves and masks. We had received information that there was a 70 per cent increase in waste after the Covid-19 outbreak. Therefore, we considered deploying the robot,” said Arun George, co-founder of Genrobotics. He also added that a recent Metrowater test conducted by a team of experts in Chennai detected Covid-19 RNA in sewage water samples.“As per the requirements, the robots are being used for cleaning manholes and sewer lines in and around Thiruvananthapuram. It cleans up to 10 manholes a day,” said Arun.
How Bandicoot 2.0 works
The latest version, ‘Bandicoot 2.0’, which was launched in 2018 is being efficiently used by KWA to clean manholes that have been clogged by domestic and hazardous wastes. Bandicoot 2.0 is a user-friendly model which lifts the heavy manhole cover, scoops out solid waste and empties it into a bucket without any human intervention. “We have trained sanitation workers to operate the robot so that their jobs are retained and their safety is also uncompromised,” said Vimal G, another co-founder.
Genrobotics Medical
Genrobotics is currently providing service to more than 10 states. A new division, ‘Genrobotics Medical’, has been added to the startup to introduce robotics in the medical field. “Rehabilitation robots have been considered to complement conventional therapy in clinics and are being widely used in many countries. However, as it is expensive, we are planning to make economical rehabilitation robots which can be used in hospitals for therapy purposes in our country. These robots will also be helpful during pandemics,” said Vimal. The team members said that they have already started procuring resources and will launch the prototype soon.
The Machine
Bandicoot 2.0 can clean any type of sewer manholes
It has two major units – a standing unit and robotic drone unit
Bandicoot 2.0 can check the release of poisonous gases inside the manhole