Latest news with #TRACT
Indian Express
16-05-2025
- Science
- Indian Express
Now, a robot can self-detect crop diseases and spray pesticides, courtesy IIT KGP
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. 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)
Time of India
15-05-2025
- Science
- Time of India
IIT-Kgp robot to help keep your crop pest-free
Kharagpur: IIT Kharagpur 's mechanical engineering department has unveiled a robot that can identify plants with diseases and apply pesticides in farms. The team had earlier developed a railway track inspection robot. Apart from preventing crop losses, thereby enhancing yield, the Union ministry of electronics and information technology-funded project also aims to reduce farmers' health risks from manual pesticide spraying. Dilip Kumar Pratihar and his team of PhD and project students, including Pradeep Nahak and Atanu Jana, have developed the semi-automatic tracked mobile manipulator-cum-agricultural robotic system that has secured an Indian Patent for this intelligent system. The concept was initially introduced by Pratihar at a CDAC Kolkata National Seminar in 2018, titled "Trends and Applications of ICT in Agriculture (TRACT)". After receiving the funding the following year, a patent was filed in 2019, but was finally granted in 2024. "Considering the varied nature of agricultural terrain, we have developed a tracked mobile manipulator featuring a serial manipulator mounted on a tracked vehicle, designed for precise field operations. Unlike drone-based agricultural robots that struggle with image quality due to air disturbance, this ground-based system utilises camera-based image analysis for precise disease detection and automated pesticide application ," Pratihar said. by Taboola by Taboola Sponsored Links Sponsored Links Promoted Links Promoted Links You May Like No dark spots, 10 years younger! Just take this from Guardian URUHIME MOMOKO Learn More Undo The robot, weighing 50 kg-60 kg can cover 3 m of farmland in a minute, stopping to inspect the condition of crops, assessing the kind of damage caused by pests by analysing a photo of the crop, selecting the type of pesticide required, operating a pump to spray the pesticide, and move ahead. The robot is capable of carrying three types of pesticide in three tanks of 4-litre capacity each. The AI robot can rotate 360° and spray the chemicals all around. It is fitted with a battery that can last 1.5 hours when fully charged.
Bloomberg
24-02-2025
- Business
- Bloomberg
Bloomberg Launches Climate Risk Management Solution To Help Investors Evaluate The Financial Impacts Of Climate Change On Portfolios
The new solution is part of Bloomberg's award-winning Multi-Asset Risk Management suite MARS, which is used by over 900 firms worldwide Bloomberg today announced its risk management solutions suite has been expanded with the launch of a new module, MARS Climate, to help portfolio and risk managers assess their exposure to the financial impacts of climate change. The new solution adds to Bloomberg's physical and transition risk offering. Regulators and central banks across the world increasingly demand that financial firms assess their exposure to climate risks, driven by growing evidence of the economic impacts of climate change. A study by Swiss Re estimates that economic damages caused by natural catastrophes have doubled in real terms over the past two decades, reaching $280bn globally in 2023. As the climate risk regulatory landscape evolves, coupled with the need to integrate climate into risk management systems, firms need tools to manage climate-related risk and comply with regulatory reporting requirements. To address this need, the new MARS Climate module aims to help buy-side and sell-side firms assess, quantify and manage climate risk and opportunities across portfolios. The solution will enable users to transparently analyze various climate scenarios based on different integrated assessment models, consistent with the framework set forth by the Network for Greening Financial System (NGFS). MARS Climate's transition risk model is powered by BloombergNEF's Transition Risk Assessment Company Tool (TRACT), which projects company revenue risk and opportunities, combining companies' activities, supply chain exposure and regional footprint under different NGFS climate scenarios. Initially users will be provided with a report assessing the financial impact of climate-related risk down to security level, split out by physical acute, physical chronic and transition risk. Dharrini Bala Gadiyaram, Global Head of Risk Product at Bloomberg said, 'Portfolio and risk managers increasingly look to perform climate risk analysis alongside other financial risk assessments to manage risk and regulatory reporting. As we continue to expand our climate risk solutions across Bloomberg, the latest addition to our widely used risk management offering, MARS Climate, will enable users to assess portfolio vulnerabilities and opportunities related to climate change.' Customers will be able to access MARS Climate through the Bloomberg Terminal via {MARS CLIMATE }. MARS provides risk analytics for cash and derivatives securities and enables firms to manage front office risk, market risk, XVA counterparty risk, credit risk, hedge accounting, as well as collateral and SIMM requirements – all by using a common pricing and data library, providing consistency from front to back. For more information, visit our website here. Bloomberg Terminal users also benefit from access to Bloomberg's broader sustainable finance offering which spans company-reported climate and other environment-related indicators such as GHG emissions forecasts. In addition, users have access to sustainability research from Bloomberg Intelligence and BloombergNEF. Clients can readily access this data on the Bloomberg Terminal or across their enterprise via Data License at for use in proprietary or third-party applications. To learn more, please visit our website here. About Bloomberg Bloomberg is a global leader in business and financial information, delivering trusted data, news, and insights that bring transparency, efficiency, and fairness to markets. The company helps connect influential communities across the global financial ecosystem via reliable technology solutions that enable our customers to make more informed decisions and foster better collaboration. For more information, visit or request a demo. Media Contacts Anna Schoeffler, aschoeffler1@ +33 6 75 54 70 92 Gauri Andriks, gandriks@ +1 (212) 617-6361
