COVID-19: IIT-Guwahati alumni startup deploys drones to disinfect public spaces

Marut Dronetech, a startup founded by IIT Guwahati alumni, has developed and deployed drones for spraying disinfectant in public spaces to prevent new coronavirus. To control COVID-19 situation, drones have proved to be of great use as seen in countries like China and South Korea.

Marut Dronetech is working with the Telangana government and departments across the state to deploy drones for public safety applications, IIT Guwahati said in a statement on Thursday. Karimnagar Municipal Corporation in Telangana recently deployed customised drones of Marut Drones for spraying disinfectants in Mukarampur area of Karimnagar where 10 Indonesians and one local had tested positive for COVID-19.

"At a time when countries across the world are submitting to mass lockdowns owing to the ongoing pandemic, drones have emerged as a fresh breath of air, by proving to be an alternative and plausible lifeline for stranded populations advised social-distancing," said Prem Kumar Vislawath, Co-Founder and CEO of Marut Dronetech. Drones could be the best solution to spray disinfectants and reduce infections, monitor people movement for crowd control, emergency delivery of medicines to those quarantined and elders.

"The contactless, fast-paced operations will strengthen anti-COVID-19 efforts of the government," he added. It is seen that drones disinfect 50 times more area than traditional methods and can keep human operators out of harm, thus proving to be efficient. Marut drones have also developed Public Monitoring and Warning Drones which are fitted with a camera and speaker. These can be used by personnel to monitor places especially with high disease prevalence for crowd gathering and give appropriate instructions, using fitted loudspeakers, to people.

Drones can also be used for temperature check (thermal imaging) and medical delivery of critical supplies. Marut Drones team tested different ways to calibrate airborne infrared cameras to measure body temperature. Results showed that by installing a cotton swab within the field of view of the thermal camera, the camera can get an accurate reading. The calibrated drone camera can then be used to measure body temperatures while the officer remains at a safe distance away. During a recent trial, it was observed that a drone covered a distance of 12 kms in 8 minutes, which is 80 times faster than traditional delivery.