Archive · 20 Jan 2026
IIIT-Hyd Develops Affordable IoT UPS Monitor
At IIIT-H, a campus IT staffer named Prakash Nayak noticed that power outages were causing problems with servers and other equipment.
Despite having UPS (Uninterruptible Power Supply) units, no one could track what was happening during outages.
This led to a research project that created a low-cost device to monitor UPS behavior.
The device, costing only ₹2,000, can track UPS performance with near-second precision.
It was tested on campus and successfully detected 61 outage events, confirming suspicions about a malfunctioning UPS.
The research was recognized with a Best Paper award.
The key takeaway is that this solution was born from a real-world problem and involved the IT staff in the research process, making it more practical and impactful.
The device clamps onto UPS input and output lines, tracking current flow during outages, switchovers, and recovery phases.
It continues recording even during complete power and internet failures, making it highly reliable.
The results were highly accurate, with no missed outages, no false alarms, and timing errors within three seconds.
A low-cost IoT-based UPS monitoring system was developed at IIIT-H to address frequent power outages and equipment failures.
The device costs ₹2,000 and can track UPS behavior with near-second precision, making it affordable and reliable.
The system was tested on campus, collecting 3.7 million data points and detecting 61 outage events, confirming suspicions about a malfunctioning UPS.
The research was documented in a paper titled 'Low-cost IoT-based Downtime Detection for UPS and Behaviour Analysis' and received the Best Paper award at COMSNETS-2026.
The project highlights the importance of involving campus operations teams in research to create more relevant and impactful solutions.
- Who
- Researchers Sannidhya Gupta, Prakash Nayak, and Prof. Sachin Chaudhari from IIIT-H
- What
- Developed a low-cost IoT-based UPS monitoring system
- When
- Recently, with the research paper presented at COMSNETS-2026
- Where
- International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H)
- Why
- To address frequent power outages and monitor UPS performance affordably
- Institution
- International Institute of Information Technology, Hyderabad (IIIT-H)
- Problem Identified By
- Prakash Nayak, campus IT staffer
- Solution Developed
- IoT-based UPS monitoring device
- Cost of Solution
- ₹2,000
- Data Points Collected
- 3.7 million
- Outage Events Detected
- 61
- Research Paper Title
- Low-cost IoT-based Downtime Detection for UPS and Behaviour Analysis
- Award Received
- Best Paper award at the 18th International Conference on COMmunication System and NETworkS (COMSNETS-2026) Workshop on AI of Things
- Commercial Alternatives Cost
- ₹20,000 per unit
- Monitoring Precision
- Near-second precision
