Slashdot Mirror
Mobile Phone Technology and Developing Nations
angry tapir writes "Mobile Operator Tata Teleservices is testing technology that allows farmers to use their mobile phones to remotely monitor and switch on irrigation pump sets in far-flung locations. The technology, called Nano Ganesh, is being tested in two villages in the Indian state of Gujarat. In India, where the electricity supply is erratic, farmers often walk several kilometers to where their irrigation pumps are located, only to find that there is no electricity available. By dialing a code number from a mobile phone to a wireless device attached to the pump, farmers can now remotely monitor the electricity supply, and also switch the pump on and off. It's just the latest example of how mobile phone technology is being employed in novel ways to solve problems in developing nations. For example in Kenya, GSM technology has been used to help tame marauding elephants."
Anyone else put in mind of EM emissions deterring bats? Wonder how much you'd have to heat an elephant's skull to deter it...
Meta will eat itself
Irrigation manufacturers have been doing this kind of thing for years. It may be new in India due to economics, I suppose.
In most of the Developing economies mobile phones are the first and mostly the only computing devices people have. How much can they realize the potential of such devices is upto the developers and innovators. Having a computing device gives people a lot of leverage. The challenge to us as developers is, can we use it solve real world problems ? Can we make people's lives better with technology ? Or do we continue to waste time in iFarting and Pulling the Fingers ? Or in having a flame-war about OSes and Vi over Emacs ?
Kudos to Tata Teleservices.
My company currently produces what we call "potato stations" though they can be used in farming of other stuff.
They monitor humidity of soil and some other factors like temperature, and send SMS when these exceed preset thresholds and require attention.
The SMS can be either received on personal phone so the farmer just goes to start the sprinklers or whatever, or can be read by automated system that does it without human attention.
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OMG, how is this news?
Now the problem is covering all these poor countries areas with cell antennas.
At least here in Brazil, that's a big problem in rural areas, much worse than electricity.
Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.
i can receive images, switch lights on and off, open and close blinds and switch water heater on/off in my village home in a less developed part of the world via gsm ... from basically anywhere.
all you need is a basic stamp module (or similar card), a second-hand phone, a serial cable, some simple electronic parts and a little patience.
and I am sure someone here can do it with less and make it better than I have.
Or in having a flame-war about OSes and Vi over Emacs ?
Of course we don't have to argue about that; vi is much better.
Any life is made up of a single moment, the moment in which a man finds out, once and for all, who he is.
I live in the north east US- we have electricity (mostly- excepting 12/2008), running water, heat- all kinds of fun things. While I appreciate the ingenuity discussed in the article, I'd be much more excited by reliable mobile infrastructure in my neck of the woods, damn it!
Nano Ganesh is good, but Harvest Moon is better
Since the switch would need a battery and charger of some sort to operate it and the radio link, just get a pump that runs on solar. .25GPM up to like 50,000GPD.
They make anything from
solar pumps
I was in Cambodia last week, when I saw a weather alert sent to locals via a free SMS. It was warning people that a storm was spotted with dangerous lightning, so people should go indoors.
In a place without the weather channel, I thought this was a rather inspired way to easily inform people of approaching danger.
The technology, called Nano Ganesh . . .
Well I don't know about you but this got me thinking about small elephants, but how farmers are gonna use them to aid remote irrigation is beyond me . . . those Indian folk are packed full of ingenuity though!
Ok...quick question. Is everything named "Tata" over in India? Don't they have a car and other stuff with that name?
Light travels faster than sound. This is why some people appear bright until you hear them speak.........
I am a continuous reader of slashdot , now these good post are becoming not widely known; especially valued for its uncommonness.
Of all in the background of it, I see the reason that we live in Developed nations, we port stories mostly from our sites, rather than Developing nations.
These rare news often like a inspiration to me, even if I am not gonna be part of it,sooner or later.but what a great story- These countries rely more on
agriculture (and not on manufacturing indutries like us []who created this effing race, among us).
Some one said earlier that Being #2 is always a joy. because there are always opportunities and that never let success gone into mind and become ineffective in later stage. developing countries are really like this.
Same company. Somewhat like the Keiretsus (Mitsubishi, Sumitomo, etc) in Japan and Chaelbols in Korea, you'll find their paws in many businesses. Outside India, they own Jaguar and Tetley Tea, IIRC.
Go somewhere random
Website for this Project : http://www.nanoganesh.com/html/Index.html
Date of Project Launch : 23rd September 2008
Place : Pune
Mobiles Used : Nokia 1100, 1200,
Cost : Rs.560 and Rs.1700 [USD- 12$ to 34$]
Units Installed in Pune : 3400
I dare Tata to start manufacturing toothpaste
Professor Karmadillo Songs of Science
Can we make people's lives better with technology ?
By "people", you must mean the execs and stockholders of Apple and AT&T. We (the USA) have not yet reached the status of 'developing nation'. We're still under the thumb of corrupt officials who bend the laws around to maximize their take from the economy. The only difference is that, in Africa, its someone who has installed himself as president for life. In this country, its private business getting legislation (like DMCA) written to keep technologies safely locked inside their walled gardens.
Have gnu, will travel.
Can they also use GSM to tame marauding leprechauns in Ireland?
All said good, but hope they fix the 'erratic' power grid first. In India much of the power is stolen by bribing guys working in power companies. So bad that, there areas near Bombay (the place is called Bhiwandi) where stealing power is almost a norm.
The Tata Group has been around for ages (like over a 100 years), and they own a huge bunch of businesses. Everything from Hotels to tea to steel to cars to cellphones to salt... you get the idea.. They are also very respected in India, since they actually have corporate values that seem to work... In fact, the Tata factories don't have unions, as far as I know, since the workers actually trust the management (shock!). They're pretty good at what they do, so usually when they start something, people pay attention.
People will always use any new technology to REINFORCE their illegal or immoral advantage.
Slashdot = Sarcasm
A pilot SMS service run by Reuters, called Reuters Market Light, was launched two years ago in the Indian state of Maharashtra. RML has been sending market rates for agricultural produce to farmers based on their location or based on markets they've selected. And local weather narrowed down to 50 km radius. And localized agricultural news. And crop advisory, preventive measures and pest attack warnings, based on whatever crops farmers have selected. The service has now spread to many other states in India and won much acclaim from farmers and the government.
It is amazing to see what a difference mobile services can make in a country like India, traditionally bereft of proper wired telecom services. A significant part of the country's land mass is now within the range of a cellphone tower. A lot of rural India now has cellphone connectivity. Mobile phones have made it easier for rural folk to get better information about everyday issues, easier access to the internet, the government, etc. Reuters' service takes this one step further.
With mobile coverage increasing, 'Broadband' over mobile phone spectrum becoming more common in the country. So it is no longer unusual to see internet availability over GSM based EDGE and CDMA 1x in very small towns, places where the incumbent telecom operator never took much interest in providing such services.
If the internet has made a difference to people's lives in cities, imagine how much it can change lives in regions that lack proper communication facilities.
Disclosure: I am associated with Reuters Market Light.
Timely preventive action can save lives too.
Diabetes? Have you taken your insulin injection?
Hypertension? Have you measured BP since the tense business deal?
Obesity? Have you walked 30 minutes today?
Did you forget any important medication today?
Why wait for cardiac arrest to happen?
Why not have a two-button shortcut on your mobile phone to send a pre-designed SMS to a friend or family?
Why not use Twitter and the like to help people get out of danger zones?
Why not SMS for public interest messages?
Why not SMS to interact (GET, not POST) with the Emergency Storm warning system in Florida?
Why only stock and sports updates ?
Why no emergency *prevention* SMS services for the elderly in the US?
SMS is nearly omnipotent when interfaced with the right systems.
If you look carefully, 160 characters of an SMS very nearly make it a command line shell prompt - interfacing with the whole fscking internet super computer.
THAT is the power of SMS.
----------
Please enter command (160 char limit)
me@mobile ~$_
----------
And of course this:
me@0121234345 ~$ mcat --sms "snack at 5, starbucks?" > +1 -1234567890 | grep "ok" | music --tune=sexydate
I am originally from a rural place in India. I see pretty much everyone uses electric powered irrigation motors and too have an employee sleeps near the motor so that he could start the motor as soon as the electricity comes on. I wondered why they couldn't use a solar powered motor. I found out that there is no incentive for the farmers to move to solar powered motors as they are expensive to buy and more importantly the electricity is free for agricultural usage (in the state of Tamil Nadu...not only that you don't have file income tax if your income is only from agriculture..sweet..huh..while it helps a lot in terms of food sustainability...but i see it exploited as well.).
Well said... i am an African and this hits straight home! Thanks