IISER Bhopal Innovators Develop Unique Monitoring System To Tackle Covid-19 Spread

Innovators from the Indian Institutes of Science Education and Research (IISER) Bhopal have developed a unique low-cost ‘Crowd and Mask’ Monitoring System, to prevent the spread of Covid-19.

This one-of-its-kind low cost AI-enabled device is portable and easy to deploy across various locations. It can replicate manual policing to ensure the Covid-19 prevention norms are being followed. 

As the institute is about to commence the process of bringing students back to campus in phases, this system will help to maintain a minimum of three feet of social distancing. 

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-powered device 

Describing the invention, Dr. P.B. Sujit said, “We wanted a simple advisory system to warn students of breaching social distancing norms at selected locations”. 

In order to achieve the desired outcome, the innovators used the principles of Artificial Intelligence and Machine Learning (AI-ML) 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 on the campus.

If the camera detects that the social distancing and mask norms are not being followed, the device starts alerting the crowd with a pre-recorded message.

The innovators deployed the device at the campus in October 2020 and continuously improved it till it became stable with minimum false alarms. The innovators are also planning to open source the complete system along with a how-to-use tutorial. 

“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”, the team at IISER Bhopal said about the innovation.