Odisha: Rourkela Engineering Students Design Pedal-Operated Grass Cutter

Rourkela: In a world of technological advancement, a group of diploma engineering students have come up with an affordable solution for wild grass and weeds in the farms and even backyard.

Ten final year Mechanical Engineering (diploma) students of SK DAV Polytechnic Institute, have developed a manual grass-cutter.

Jitendra Mahanta and Jagdish Parida along with other group members used simple accessories like bicycle wheels, iron frames, cycle chain, pedals and other equipment  to give shape to the grass-cutter in 10 days. They call it a replacement for other lawn mowers, most of which run on petrol, and pollute the surroundings.

 “The requires further modifications to boost its efficacy,” they said. The four-wheel machine operates with a foot pedal attached to gears.

Head of the Mechanical Engineering department Reena Ray said the manual grass-cutter has two main mechanisms of steering and gear. The present machine has only forward movement and needs few changes to facilitate reverse movement, as per a report in The New Indian Express.

“The grass-cutter can also be converted into a bush-cutter by changing its attachments,” she said. Students would be advised to make some necessary changes to make it more effective, Ray said.

The other team members Amit Soreng, Santosh Oram, Nikhlesh Soreng, Maheswar Majhi, Akash Samal,  Kuna Ray, Manisha Majhi and G Nagma Reddy termed the machine as an ideal choice at a time of rising fuel costs.