BHUBANESWAR : The Defence Research and Development Organisation (DRDO) is set to collaborate with all 18 AIIMS in the country to prepare a unique database of the Indian population in terms of their susceptibility to different environmental conditions. The database will be helpful in developing optimum deployment strategies and also designing climate-compatible defence equipment for the Armed forces.
Initial discussion with AIIMS, Bhubaneswar, is already over. The institute will collaborate with DRDO for research on heat stress susceptibility factors, which play a significant role in the entire troop deployment cycle in adverse weather conditions.
DRDO sources said, heat stress and/or environmental extremes of heat and humidity, present a perennial challenge to military personnel. The consequences of inadequate heat adaptation sometimes turn fatal and increase susceptibility to military hazards, including combat.
“DRDO and all AIIMS will be working together for a project called Viswakarma. We will research human-machine interface related aspects to create a database on the population. With the data, we will use artificial intelligence (AI) and machine learning (ML) technology to develop the Viswakarma platform,” a senior scientist of Defence Institute of Physiology and Allied Sciences (DIPAS) under DRDO told The New Indian Express.
Under Atmanirbhar Bharat initiative, the scientist said, most of the military technologies are being developed indigenously. The database of Indian population, especially the anthropometric and body composition data, which is not available, is required for designing defence equipment. The collaboration will help generate the data to prepare the state-of-the-art platform, he said.
DRDO is also working on extreme cold conditions, hypoxia and high altitude-related health factors. Presently, the response to heat stress is symptomatic. With the help of AIIMS, the DRDO is looking forward to identifying the susceptibility factors, which will help decision making easy on deployment of military troops.
DRDO, AIIMS to tie up for military physiology
“Those who are susceptible to heat waves need not be exposed to the absolute environment. They can be in the back line and those who have more resilience to heat can be deployed in the extreme heat conditions. Once we know the factors, some sort of protective strategies can be developed for those who are susceptible so that they do not get the heat stress,” said the scientist.
With cognitive warfare and cognitive domain operations emerging as one of the significant new dimensions and will play a decisive role in future warfare, the DRDO believes, the project Viswakarma will be a game-changer.
DIPAS director Rajeev Varshney said the collaboration with AIIMS for research on different aspects such as underwater, heat, high-altitude and hypoxic stress will strengthen military physiology.