Grade IX students develop smart pothole detection system at Social Hackathon 2025

BENGALURU, India - May 19, 2025 - PRLog -- Out of 480 registered teams from across India, 95 teams were shortlisted to showcase their projects before an expert panel. Among these, 23 hardware and 72 software projects made it to the final round. Participants hailed from premier institutions including CMR University, NPS, SRM Chennai, NIT Raipur, VIT, Amrita Vishwa Vidyapeetham, Anna University, BML Munjal University, Mohan Babu University, and RVCE, among others. V Ramprasad, Co-founder of Friends of Lakes, inaugurated the hackathon and, along with his team, judged the projects and selected the winners. In the software category, Team Null Pointers won first place, while in the hardware category, Team Bugs bagged the top prize.
The projects were developed under socially relevant themes such as Urban Planning, IndiaStack-based Innovation, Health and Inclusivity, Education, Agriculture, and Sustainable AI. A notable project was the Smart Pothole Avoidance System; speaking about their work, Joshith Talakoti and Dhruv Ranjan of Grades 9 and 10 from National Public School said, "We aim to use this software to save millions of lives on roads and aid in city planning."
Other remarkable projects included a foetal monitor, a proactive animal monitoring system, Medibridge, a software to communicate with differently-abled individuals, a remote patient health monitor, a mine safety device to predict cave-ins, earthquakes, and gas leakages, and many more.
Addressing the students at the event, Chairman of the CMR Group of Institutions and former Member of Parliament (Rajya Sabha), IPS (Retd.), Dr. KC Ramamurthy said, "The ultimate purpose of innovation is to benefit society. Any project that requires assistance, be it financial, technical, or mentorship, CMRIT is always ready to step in and help. We've seen solutions addressing agriculture, social welfare, and a wide range of socially relevant issues. It's this diversity of thought that will drive long-term, meaningful development."
The event was also attended by dignitaries including Dr. Sanjay Jain, Principal of CMRIT; Dr. B Narasimha Murthy, Vice Principal; Dr. Sharmila KP, Coordinator of the Social Hackathon; along with Dean and Heads of Departments.

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