PETALING JAYA: Four pupils from Sekolah Jenis Kebangsaan (Tamil) Ladang Bukit Jalil, Sasvathram Ramish, Santhosh Varman, Nieranjhanaa Sureshkumar and Ramaprabha Ramu, have innovated a scarecrow using advanced technology to deter the birds.
It was aimed at creating a technology-driven solution that protects and monitors plantations without the need for chemicals and with minimal maintenance requirements.
The Smart Scarecrow won the silver medal at the Penang International Invention, Innovation and Design (PIID) competition organised by the Research Management Unit from May 16 to 18, in collaboration with the Centre for Civil Engineering Studies, Universiti Teknologi Mara, Penang branch.
This competition was in line with the government’s aspiration to encourage research activities in Malaysia and Sustainable Development Goals. Judges were from industry and academia with relevant experience in innovation, commercialisation and research.
The four pupils were mentored by Asia Pacific University of Technology & Innovation (APU)’s academics from the School of Technology (SoT) and the School of Computing (SoC).
They recently introduced and mentored young school children to the wonderful world of science, technology, engineering, and mathematics (STEM).
Dr. Kamalanathan Shanmugam and Associate Professor Dr. Muhammad Ehsan Rana, senior lecturer and associate professor from SoT and SoC respectively facilitated an interesting science project for the young learners, engaging them in hands-on experiments, something wowed them as it was very much beyond what they learned from the existing textbook.
“The project was a continuous effort for a three-month effort which included a series of workshops on theoretical knowledge – fields are often attacked by birds, resulting in poor yield of harvest. The poor farmers often end up losing their income as traditional scarecrows are not scary enough to cast away the birds,” said Dr. Kamalanathan.
The pupils incorporated technical elements such as microcontrollers, sensors and actuators to detect the presence of birds to trigger the response of the scarecrow. This can be placed anywhere on the field, and it is very sensitive in the detection of flying objects.
“The server motor of the Smart Scarecrow simulates the response of humans by moving to the right or left to scare the predators away. The Smart Scarecrow is designed to withstand harsh weather conditions, and it can operate continuously to protect farming fields. The design is structured to be highly durable and cost-effective as well,” said Assoc Prof Dr Muhammad Ehsan Rana.
