Crisis at Tata power plant averted with robot's help
What's the story
The Tata Power Plant in Mundra (Gujarat) was staring at expenditures worth crores after a 2kg hammer fell into a high-pressure steam pipe during a maintenance drive. Power generation was halted. The hammer had to be retrieved before it could resume. However, Ahmedabad-based start-up Gridbot Technologies came to the rescue with their robot, which saved the firm a lot of time and money.
Data
Tata was looking at expenses worth crores
If Gridbots didn't exist, Tata would have had to locate the hammer itself, which could have taken a week. Then they would have had to cut through the 3-inch-thick pipe, retrieve the hammer and weld the pipe again. It would have cost around Rs. 5cr.
ASAP
Gridbots completed task at 3% of normal cost
When Gridbots, founded by Pulkit Gaur and Govind Godedara, received a call for help, they set about modifying their robot for the task. They rehearsed for a whole day before leaving for Mundra. However, there they found more modifications were needed, as the hammer had fallen 15 meters deep. The operation was over in three hours, and cost Rs. 16L.
Information
The story behind Gridbots
Gaur, an alumnus of MBM Engineering College, launched Gridbots in 2007 to help others with his robots. The start=up has served the Home Ministry, Navy, BARC, ONGC, ISRO, Gujarat Police and more. In 2011, Gaur was named Innovator of the Year by 'MIT Technology Review'.