written by Sharadiya Mitra

At IIT Kharagpur’s Mechanical Engineering department, a remarkable innovation in smart farming has taken shape: a machine that will deploy pesticides after detecting plant diseases.

“This breakthrough aims to address key challenges faced by farmers and enhance agricultural efficiency,” said Professor Dilip Kumar Pratihar. Under his leadership, a team of PhD and project students has successfully developed a semi-automatic tracked mobile manipulator cum agricultural robotic system.

“The robot has already been tested both inside the lab as well as on the ground outside the lab. We are trying to test it on the agricultural field of our campus within the next six months. We are also searching for some industries for its transfer,” he said.

“Once the battery is charged, it can be run for about 1.5 hours, and it can spray the pesticides for about 40-50 metres. It can also be rotated by 360 degrees,” said Professor Pratihar. Recognizing its potential impact, an Indian patent has been granted to Professor Pratihar, Pradeep Nahak, Atanu Jana, and their team.

The roots of this innovation trace back to 2018 when Prof Pratihar first introduced the concept during his invited lecture at the National Seminar on “Trends and Applications of ICT in Agriculture (TRACT),” organized by C-DAC Kolkata.

“The diverse nature of agricultural terrains—neither entirely smooth nor completely rough—demands a unique solution. That’s when I proposed the idea of a Tracked Mobile Manipulator, designed to adapt seamlessly to such environments. This system, equipped with a serial manipulator resembling a human arm, was envisioned to bring precision and intelligence to the field of agricultural robotics,” he said.

While drone-based farming tools have gained popularity, they often face limitations in capturing clear images of plant leaves.

The forced draught from their propellers tends to disturb the leaves, resulting in blurry or noisy data. To solve this, the IIT Kharagpur team developed a ground-based alternative.

“Addressing this gap with thoughtful precision, the team designed the Tracked Mobile Manipulator. Unlike aerial systems, this robot employs stable, camera-based image analysis to accurately detect plant diseases, followed by the targeted, automatic spraying of suitable pesticides,” the professor explained.

The project has been supported by the Ministry of Electronics and Information Technology, Government of India, and the robot is being manufactured by the OEM TECHNIDO.

It aims to reduce farmers’ exposure to harmful chemicals, minimize crop loss, and improve food quality.

With this innovation, India takes a bold leap toward a future where cutting-edge robotics and traditional farming wisdom come together.

(The writer in an intern with the Indian Express)