Tirupati

TTD, the official custodian of Sri Venkateswara Swamy temple, is eyeing the deployment of an advanced robotic dog to strengthen real-time monitoring of wildlife movement to enhance devotees' safety in the woods surrounding Tirumala.

TTD additional executive officer Ch Venkaiah Chowdary and other temple officials reviewed the performance of a quadruped robot (Robotic Dog) at Sri Padmavathi Guest House in Tirumala.

"To strengthen real-time monitoring of wildlife movement and enhance devotee safety in forest areas around Tirumala, TTD is evaluating the use of advanced robotic technology," an official release from the temple body said on Thursday.

The robotic dog is equipped with optical and thermal imaging cameras, including a 360-degree LiDAR, multiple sensors and artificial intelligence. These features enable detection and tracking of wildlife under low visibility conditions such as darkness or fog, the release said.

The AI system can classify large animals, humans, vehicles and domestic animals and on detecting wildlife movement, it can send geo-tagged alerts and stream live video and thermal feeds to the control room and patrolling staff for immediate response.

"Priority areas include the forest stretches adjoining the Alipiri-Tirumala footpath, where early detection of leopards and other wildlife will help warn devotees and enable rapid deployment of forest, vigilance and security teams," the release said.

The feasibility of using the robot's sound and light units to non-physically deter animals away from pilgrim areas was also examined to avoid direct human-wildlife confrontation, it said.

Further, the temple body views that the robot would complement but not replace the existing camera traps, foot patrols and forest surveillance. It can serve as a mobile monitoring asset that can be rapidly deployed to locations with high wildlife activity as required.

Analysis of video, thermal imagery and movement data collected by the robot is expected to improve understanding of wildlife patterns and inform better patrol scheduling and surveillance deployment in critical zones, the release added.

TTD considering robotic tech to monitor wildlife assumes significance as there were instances of leopards attacking devotees earlier, especially minors.