IISER BHOPAL INNOVATORS DEVELOP A UNIQUE
‘ CROWD AND MASK’ MONITORING SYSTEM TO PREVENT COVID-19 SPREAD
THIS ONE-OF-ITS-KIND LOW COST AI-ENABLED DEVICE IS PORTABLE AND EASY TO DEPLOY ACROSS VARIOUS LOCATIONS
Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research ( IISER) Bhopal Innovators have developed a low cost ‘ Crowd and Mask' Monitoring System, to prevent the spread of COVID- 19. Wearing masks is among the primary precautions adopted to prevent COVID- 19 spread along with social distancing. With the Institute commencing the process of bringing students back to campus in phases, this AI- powered system will help to maintain a minimum of three feet of social distancing. In an initiative to tackle the spread of COVID- 19, Dr. P. B. Sujit, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, along with Dr. Mitradip Bhattacharjee and Dr. Santanu Talukdar, Assistant Professors, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, and Dr. Venkateshwar Rao, Assistant Professor, Department of Chemical Engineering, IISER Bhopal, and BSMS Student Mr. Kasi Viswanath developed this AI- enabled device that can replicate manual policing to ensure the COVID- 19 prevention norms are being followed.
Elaborating about this innovation, Dr. P. B. Sujit, Associate Professor, Department of Electrical Engineering and Computer Science, IISER Bhopal, said, “We wanted a simple advisory system to warn students of breaching social distancing norms at selected locations”
To achieve the desired outcome, the innovators used the principles of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning ( AIML) in a high definition camera attached to a microchip computer and a 5V battery in a 3D printed case to monitor the movement of people in the campus. If the camera detects that the social distancing and mask norms were not being followed, the device starts alerting the crowd with a prerecorded message. The innovators deployed the device at the campus in October 2020 and continuously improved it till it became stable with minimum false alarms. As a result, people have become sensitive to the social distancing violation and are following the safety protocol with more caution. The innovators are planning to open source the complete system along with a how- to- use tutorial for the betterment of society in such disruptive times. “Given opportunity, this device can be deployed at various crowded public places to ensure that the basic safety rules are not violated in this tough time of Covid- 19 pandemic”, feels the IISER Bhopal team.
Established by the Ministry of Education ( then Ministry of Human Resource & Development), Government of India, in 2008, IISER Bhopal is the youngest of the first five IISERs. In a decade, the Institute has received several distinctions, duly carving out its own position in the national and international arena. With a vision to provide high quality education to the students and contribute to the society through its research, IISER Bhopal is the first IISER to have been declared by the Ministry of Education for project competition.
IISER Bhopal is continuously consolidating its position in the National land International rankings and has secured 40th place in The National Institutional Ranking Framework, Ministry of Education, Government of India. Along with this, IISER Bhopal has gained rank 201 in the overall category of the QS Asia Ranking. The Institute has also been ranked 26 ( National Rank, out of 63 in the 1000 Institutes) in the Times Higher Education 2021 Rankings.