The Leaders Accelerating Development (LEAD) Program of Deshpande Foundation, Hubballi, Karnataka fosters innovative and entrepreneurial thinking within college students by exposing them to social issues and by encouraging them to volunteer their time and effort into the community. LEAD ignites their latent talent to come up with creative solutions. LEAD is an incubator where innovation meets implementation, knowledge meets experience, social issues meet solutions and efforts meet impact.
Yuvraj Patil pursuing final year mechanical engineering at Nippani came to know about the problems associated with arecanut farming during during his visit to a farm in Sirsi through LEAD Prayana. Yuvraj’s mind was fixated on that and he couldn’t get over it, there was that urge in him to find the suitable solution for these problems but he wasn’t able to focus and put all his thoughts together. The turning point to his story came when Yuvraj Patil participated in the boost camp and business module session conducted by Sandbox Startups Hubbali. That is where he got the right direction to his ideas. Once his scattered ideas were focussed, there was nothing that stopped him! After months of hardwork, he came up with an innovative design.
Multi talented robot machine- which is capable of climbing arecanut trees, spraying pesticides, cutting and collecting bunches of arecanuts. The machine is also equipped with a camera through which keen observation can be done. It’s also economical and is a single shot investment. The prototype model has come out with flying colours in all tests and Yuvraj is all set to start its mass production. This technical initiative of his, which lead to the birth of multitalented robot machine was recognized in Yuva Summit 2017 and his initiative was awarded as the most innovative project. The recognitions and appreciations didn’t just stop there; Yuvraj Patil became the winner of Anveshana 2017 conducted by Agastya International Foundations. Yuvraj Patil is happy for all these things because his hard work didn’t go in vain.
LEADer Yuvraj Patil is a true example of the saying that Innovation distinguishes between a leader and a follower. It’s time we focus on our goals and objectives and achieve them and do something for this society before we die!
In conversation with Yuvraj Patil:
Q: How did you come up with the idea of building a robot machine?
Firstly, I am a mechanical engineering student. Since childhood my hobby was breaking things and then joining them and finally making new things out of it. So it was not difficult for me to think about a robot machine.
Also, I got to see the problem of arecanut so I started working on this and finally I got success.
Q: Who was your inspiration in the field? Do you have someone who motivated for the work you did?
Actually I failed a lot of times while making this project. So this highly motivated me towards being a winner. My parents and my friends motivated me too.
Q: Please tell us about your educational background. Which school did you go to and college?
I did my schooling and passed high school from G.S. PATIL High school, BEDKIHAL. I did my 12th from VSM G I BAGEWADI PUC SCIENCE COLLEGE, NIPPANI. I completed Mechanical engineering from VSM institute of technology Nippani.
Q: Can you please tell us about the project you are working on now?
I am working on the same project itself and trying to convert this project into a business model.
Q: Tell us about your future goals. Where do you see yourself in the coming five years?
I see myself as a scientist in any of these: ISRO, DRDO or NTRO.
Q: Please tell us about the robot machine designed by you. How does it work?
The people in rural areas of south India like Karnataka and Kerala mainly depend on agriculture for their livelihood. The main crops grown are Arecanut and coconut. Arecanut trees attain a height of about 60-70 feet. It is mandatory to climb the trees, a minimum of five times a year for a successful harvest – twice for the preventive spray against fungal disease, and thrice to harvest the arecanut. Only skilled labourers can carry out these farming operations. They have to climb the trees using muscle power. In an acre that has 550 trees, a labourer has to climb a minimum of 100 to 150 trees. As this involves real hard, physical exertion, younger generations of labourers are losing interest. Because of this we found that there is wastage of arecanut, manpower and money. To avoid this all wastage we
have come up with the concept of “MULTITALENTED ROBOT MACHINE FOR ARECANUT FARMING” . The robot will run by using power source as external dc source or by using solar panel dc current. This current is supplied in remote control, which controls the motion of motors. For designing the robot first we considered a specification of arecanut plant and also we studied the monsoon and summer effect on arecanut plant. And we made a concept design of robot body, climbing mechanism, cutting mechanism and basket and lowering mechanism. And we decided specifications of motor, camera, actuators, etc. We will analyse the final design of robot machine with the help of software for load, power, material and its working to check the required results. After this, we are going to manufacture the parts of various mechanisms. Then the cutting mechanism is made by using slider crank mechanism and connected to DC motor. Then we will fabricate a robot arm with a spraying nozzle and connected to small motors to obtain 3600. Then we will assemble all these parts in body, and we will connect to control board and power supply. And finally the robot will be tested for requirement.
Q: What were the problems faced by you in making that robot machine?
I faced problems only in Design, assembling, joining and wiring. But it was not a really big problem for me. It were the stepping stones to my success.
Q: Please tell us about the financial back up for your project.
I won 20+ national level events. So that PRIZE money is also present in the LEAD funding as the financial backup.
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Q: Can you please tell us about some events in which you got rewarded for the machine you made?
The events in which I got rewarded are as under: Yuvasammit 2017, Anveshna 2017, Empire 2017, NAVPRAVARTYA 2017, LEAD Talaash
Q: What advice would you give to young people who want to innovate and help like you did?
Don’t go back, when you fail in any field. Try to solve the problem until and unless you do not get success.
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