Technology Introduction program held for fishermen along with IEEE ADSF SIGHT

The AVCE Student Branch of IEEE jointly organized a Technology Introduction Program with IEEE ADSF SIGHT at Thoothoor on 10-04-2017. In the program a newly developed mobile app called “Fishers' Guide” was introduced to the fishermen of Thoothoor. The functioning of the app which is in the development stage was explained to the fishermen and the fishermen suggested inclusion of some additional features. Mr. I. Tamil Selvan, Chairman of the branch welcomed the gathering. Mr.Vincent Jain, Chairman of IEEE ADSF SIGHT and Mr. G. Gaswin Kastro, AVCE SB Counselor also addressed the gathering.

Students of Annai Vailankanni College of Engineering has been developing a mobile application called “Fishers' Guide”. This app can be used by the fishermen to know the weather, potential fishing zones, wind speed and other parameters. This app is being designed such that the users can be monitored from the shore. This will help the users to get assistance soon at the time of distress and other critical situations. This program enabled interaction between the fishermen and the app developers. The fishermen found the app to be much useful and suggested some more features to be included in the app. The app was installed in the mobiles of fishermen so that they can be monitored during their voyages. This program was also helpful for the app developers to make their final design more efficient.

Reported by

Mr.G.Gaswin Kastro,
IEEE SB Counselor,
Annai Vailankanni College of Engg.,
Kanyakumari.

Solar Powered Self Transportation launched by Mr. Kartick Kulkarni IEEE SIGHT, California, USA

AVCE chairman handing over the vehicle keys

As part of our efforts to improve the socio-economic life of people, a Solar Powered Self Transportation(SPST) has been designed and developed at AVCE for the Women Fish Vendors. It was launched by Mr. Karthick Kulkarni IEEE SIGHT, California, USA on the 12th of December, 2015.

Solar Powered Self Transportation (SPST) for Women Fish Vendors is a three wheeler vehicle which can be operated in solar power with a capacity of carrying 3 persons including the rider and their three vessels of fish. It is a new model named SPTDEC1215 which is developed and designed by the students and teachers of Annai Vailankanni College of Engineering (AVCE). It is one of the project components of the Project of IEEE Artisanal Deep Sea Fishers SIGHT, “Technology Adoption for Reduction of Vulnerability in Fishing”. The major supporters for making the model SPTDEC1215 are ADSGAF, IEEE SIGHT, BOBP-IGO, AVCE and the student team of AVCE.

Mr. Kartick test driving the SOLAR vehicle

AVCE Solar Tri-Cycle Team members

This project mainly focuses to overcome the difficulties that are faced by the fisher women for vending fishes in various places. Fish being a perishable product, requires fast transportation from the market place to the desired destination. The fish vending women face a lot of difficulties in transporting because they are being prohibited from using public transport. So they use other modes of transport such as Load autos, Mini Lorries. They have to afford at very high cost. To minimize the difficulties faced by the women fish vendors this Solar Powered Tricycle was designed and fabricated.The Solar tricycle operates by means of a bidirectional motor which is powered by batteries. The batteries are charged by means of a Polycrystalline Solar Panel which is placed at the top of the vehicle. On rest condition the batteries can be charged by connecting it to a electricity powered charging station. This vehicle has another advantage that is it is easy to drive by women because it does not contain any gearing mechanism such as gears and clutches. It consists of a throttle which manages the required power supply to the motor when accelerated. It is Eco-friendly because it does not cause pollution and has the ability to travel even through narrow places.

IEEE SIGHT Supported APJ KALAM MODEL BOAT Launched by Annai Vailankanni College of Engineering

Annai Vailankanni College of Engineering (AVCE) students and staff built a scale down model boat with the technical support of South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS) at their Boat building and Research Centre, Veli, Trivandrum. The base design of the boat was prepared by Mr. Renju, a Naval Architect from  International Shipping Bureau (ISB) The Six feet length boat with good wheel house, fish hold, kitchen, toilet, water tank, fuel tank, facilities for storing fishing equipments, separate place for crew resting, lights, signal lights, provision for keeping GPS, Fish finder, CC Cams, indicators etc.

The work was supervised by the members of the Association of Deep Sea Going Artisanal Fishermen (ADSGAF). This boat is named as “APJ KALAM MODEL BOAT” after the great scientist Dr. APJ Abdul Kalam.


The boat operation was demonstrated on the 14th of November, 2015 at the Ananthan Bridge, Nagercoil in the presence of general public ADSGAF members, students and others. The demo was lead by Mr. Maria Victor, Correspondent, and Prof. Rahul of AVCE.Students-Kumanan, ThamizhSelvan, Deepak, AjithKumar, Siva, Aju, Maria Priston and Jino were the active participants of this project.

AVCE wins Research grant from IEEE ADSF SIGHT

Since our Inception in 2008, it has been one of our important objectives to add value to the society. In line with this idea, our staff and students have completed multiple projects having socio-economic values. It is happy to record that our students are selected to undertake various Humanitarian Technology Projects connected with fisheries by IEEE Artisanal Deep Sea Fishers SIGHT.

AVCE team with Mr. Vincent Jain

For about a year the students and faculty of AVCE have been working under the guidance of Mr. J. Vincent Jain, CE of ADSGAF and Chair, IEEE ADSF SIGHT to identify the problems faced by the fishermen. The identified problems were studied diligently by our faculty and student members and appropriate engineering solutions to tackle the problems were evolved. The following are some of the ongoing projects.

• Man Overboard Detection System using PIR Sensors
• LED Illumination for Fishing Boats
• Longline Cut Detection System
• Solar Powered Tricycle for Fish Vending Women

Man Overboard Detection System using PIR Sensors

Man overboard is the scenario where the fisherman fall off the boat while fishing. In these situations, if the other crew members are not alerted immediately it may result in the loss of a life. As per a study conducted by South Indian Federation of Fishermen Societies (SIFFS) in 2009, 63 man overboard accidents had been reported from 2000 to 2007 in Tamil Nadu. Many devices are already found to detect the man overboard situations but they are neglected by the fishermen due to the cost factor. Moreover, some of the devices are found to be non-automatic where in the victim should operate the safety device to generate alarm to his crew.

At AVCE, we are designing a cost effective system which can automatically detect man overboard situations with the help of PIR sensors. The PIR sensors detect the fisherman falling off the boat and helps in raising the necessary alarm. They are cost effective and provide an automated solution to the man overboard problem. A prototype was already designed and presented in the conference “First Consultation on Safe Boat Design and Boat Building to FAO Standards” and now the project is in the stage of implementation.

LED Illumination for Fishing Boats

The International Maritime Organization (IMO) has recommended proper illumination in fishing vessels for its safety. To prevent marine accidents while fishing, proper illumination is highly important. Nowadays in fishing boats incandescent lamps and fluorescent lamps, powered by diesel engine of the boat are used. The current illumination system in the boat are high fuel consuming and are hazardous for the fishermen. To reduce the fuel consumption, Our students are planning for illumination using LED luminaries. LEDs offer many other advantages in contrast to the conventional luminaries such as less toxic emissions, compactness, directional lighting etc. Illumination are being planned based on various factors such as the area of work, Type of work done, Materials of floor and walls etc. Outcome of this project will offer an effective illumination system on par with the industrial standards.

Longline Cut Detection System

Longline is a technique used by fishermen in fishing. This technique employs a longline, which is a long rope to which various baited hooks will be attached. This rope is called main line. The main line may get cut due to several reasons, mainly when it is over sailed by a propeller boat. During such accidents, the fishermen has to loose the longline along with the  fishes caught. We have designed a wired technique to detect longline cut. The design includes a microcontroller fixed on board. The microcontroller will check the continuity of the longline by sending a signal through a wire loop spanning along the entire long line. If the longline is cut, the signal will be disturbed which triggers an alarm.

Solar Powered Tricycle for Fish Vending Women

Fabricate specially designed three wheeler vehicle which will be operated in solar power for carrying fish to a short distant market. Since transportation fish from the first point of sale to another point of sale is a major problem, this vehicle may help them to overcome the problem to a certain extend. The fish vending women also need not wait for bus and they also will reach at the destination on time. The solar tricycle mainly consists of Solar panel, Brushless DC motor, Battery, Charge controller and Throttle.