By Satyaki Paul
Recently, the Indian Institute of Technology—Ropar has developed a novelInternet of Things (IoT) device called AmbiTag.
This USB-shaped waterproof device documents real-time ambient temperature of a place during the transportation of perishable products (such as vegetables, meat and dairy products), vaccines (such as COVID vaccine), body organs, and blood samples. The data can be retrieved by connecting it to the universal serial bus (USB) port of any PC.
The device generates an alert when the temperature goes beyond a pre-set limit. The device can continuously record the temperature of its immediate surroundings from -40 to +80 degrees in any time zone for a full 90 days on a single charge. That recorded temperature further helps to know whether that particular item transported from anywhere in the world is still usable or perished because of temperature variation.
The device was jointly developed by IIT Ropar Technology Innovation Hub— AWaDH (Agriculture and Water Technology Development Hub: A Govt. of India Project) and its Start-up ScratchNest. The ScratchNest is an Internet of Things (IoT) technology start-up founded by 4-IIT-Ropar students. The device developed by them is superior, as because most of the similar devices available in the international market record data only for duration of 30- 60 days. While AmbiTAG has diverse features such as logging intervals, time zone, alarms under the price tag of Rs. 400. Thus, such newer innovations are in consonance with the view point of Atmanirbhar Bharat. Such devices are also exported to countries such as Ireland, China, etc.
The author works as a Ph.D. Research Scholar at the Department of Anthropology, University of Calcutta, and the co-author of the book Anthropology For All (2021).