Chennai's Madras Christian College has unveiled a high-tech duck to monitor the water quality of a lake situated on its expansive 300-acre campus in Tambaram. Equipped with IoT capabilities and remote control, this innovative duck will navigate the lake, collecting real-time data on seven crucial water parameters such as temperature, dissolved oxygen, turbidity, and pH. The lake, a vital water source on the campus, underwent desilting by Bisleri International Limited as part of their CSR initiative. They also provided funding for the development of a prototype for water quality assessment. The MCC-MRF Innovation Park team engineered a 3D-printed duck embedded with sensors and designed an app for data reception and analysis. "Based on the collected data, we can make informed decisions to preserve the lake, safeguarding the campus's ecology and wildlife," stated Paul Wilson, principal of Madras Christian College, who conceived the idea of deploying the smart duck. Wilson highlighted that any alterations in water quality, such as increased acidity levels, could indicate contamination, prompting proactive remedial action. Kousik, founder of the startup KOLOZEN that created the smart duck, explained that the duck is solar-powered, able to operate for two days without sunlight and can be manually charged if necessary. The startup has been successfully collecting and transmitting data for the past two weeks. Researchers envision deploying similar ducks in other water bodies beyond the campus for water quality monitoring and data collection for local authorities. "This data can provide insights into water body dynamics during different environmental conditions, aiding in its conservation and disease evaluation. The potential for establishing a water body hydroinformatics platform is immense," noted Professor T Pradeep from the Department of Chemistry at IIT Madras. The campus's scrub jungle is home to diverse wildlife, including around 90 spotted deer, porcupines, toddy cats, and bats.The college uses cameras with sensors in their eyes to monitor the movements of wildlife on campus.