Civil engineering students develop automated soil testing device

Udupi: A final year civil engineering student’s team of Shri Madhwa Vadiraja Institute of Technology and Management, Bantakal has developed an automated device to determine the dry density of the soil. This density is a factor which affects the strength and stability of the soil.

The automated device determines within 10 seconds the dry density along with recording temperature, humidity, date, time and location of the test place.

The present method in use to determine the dry density of the soil  is mainly a lab-oriented process with the requisition of a large setup of different instruments and will take a day to determine the dry density of the soil.

The newly developed automated device is cost effective, reduces time, eliminates manual calculation and energy efficient, along with being a portable device.

“Using this automated device, dry density can be determined in large number of samples in short time intervals,” said Principal Prof Dr Thirumaleshwara Bhat.

The team that developed the concept includes Kishor, Jeevan B Poojary, Rakshith, and Anvitha k, under the guidance of Assistant Professor Sunil S Haldankar.