The Tirumala Tirupati Devasthanams (TTD), the administrative body of Lord Venkateshwara temple on Tirumala hills in Andhra Pradesh’s Tirupati district, is contemplating deployment of an advanced four-legged robotic dog with artificial intelligence to track the movement of wild animals in the Seshachalam forest ranges, a TTD spokesman said on Friday.
These features enable detection and tracking of wildlife under low-visibility conditions such as darkness or fog. “The AI system can classify large animals, humans, vehicles and domestic animals. However, the robot will not replace existing camera traps, foot patrols and forest surveillance but would only complement the existing surveillance system.
The robot is equipped with optical and thermal imaging cameras, a 360 degrees LiDAR, multiple sensors and artificial intelligence, according to an official TTD release.
On detecting wildlife movement, the system can send geo-tagged alerts and stream live video and thermal feeds to the control room and patrolling staff for immediate response,” 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,” the official release said, adding that the robot would be tested during the upcoming Tirumala Brahmotsavams to be held in September. “It can serve as a mobile monitoring asset that can be rapidly deployed to locations with high wildlife activity as required,” the release said.
