Helping raise an alarm before the fire

Gautam Kumar, 26, has developed a safety device that helps in detecting leakage of liquid petroleum gas, or LPG, to avoid fatal accidents.

Despite available data showing that accidents caused by LPG leakage form a significant chunk of fire and burn incidents in India, there is still no fool-proof mechanism by which such leaks can be detected in time to save lives.

News about accidents involving LPG gas leakage prompted Kumar, along with his co-founder Kushal Nahata, to come up with a device that could detect the leakage, much like the smoke detector. Not only will the device — called Suraksha — detect the amount of LPG in the air and raise and alarm, but it can also be programmed to send warning messages to up to five phone numbers registered with the device.

Initially, Kumar and Nahata developed a gas detector that would send off an alarm, but soon they realised that such an alarm is of no use if there is nobody in the house. Thus, they incorporated the messaging function into the device.

The device detects LPG at levels as low as seven parts per million (ppm), but the buzzer and the messages are sent only when it reaches 1000 ppm. The alarm stops only after the gas level reduces to within safe limits.

Suraksha costs Rs3,000-4,000 and is sold through a firm started by Kumar and Nahata called Roboticwares and is available for both domestic and industrial use. Kumar tells DNA it would be ideal if the government subsidises the price of Suraksha, so that there is wider adoption among masses. Excerpts:

Is this the first idea that clicked?
No, there have been various things, which I have observed is required by the society. But, yes, this is one that I felt needs to be addressed at the earliest. I have worked on various other projects such as home automation, communication aid for physically-challenged people and robotic solutions.

What are you currently working on?
I am currently working on developing a tracking system. It’s on the beta stage and we are testing it. It could be used for tracking assets, vehicles and various other things. There are various other tracking systems available, but it still lacks the ease of use. We are trying to incorporate such features.

Given a choice, would you work as an individual with funding or as part of a research institution?
It’s very difficult for a single person to carry on research for a long time. So we have formed a team, who works together on research and development. A team is always required to achieve a goal. I always want to work in a team with a common objective and dedication.

For you, is innovation an end in itself or is it one of the means to be an entrepreneur eventually?
I am focused on solving societal problems. I like to study the need of the society and solve them wherever possible with my knowledge of technology. I think innovation is the first stage of solving a problem, but eventually the product should reach the society and should be affordable. And that is where you need an entrepreneur.

As a country, does India value and reward its innovators?
It does reward, but the numbers of rewards are restricted. There are so many innovators who are still not addressed. First up, more awareness needs to be created and then more ways of rewarding the innovators should be found. There are several problems yet to be solved and there are also so many great minds that can help in doing it, but are not identified or supported. If we could bridge this gap, both the problems could be solved.

Has your innovation made material difference to your standard of living?
There has not been much of change in the lifestyle. I used to do research in my childhood because I liked it and now I do it because I feel there are so many problems that need to be addressed. But yes, I have started traveling more frequently. Apart from research, I like to meet people to understand the exact nature of problems they face, so that then I can work on it in our labs in an attempt to solve.

Who have been your biggest influences? Why?
Dr APJ Abdul Kalam has been my biggest influence. His contributions towards science and society have been enormous. In my mind, he is the ideal promoter of innovation. I have never met him but hope to meet him someday.

What has been your biggest mistake?
Someone has rightly said, you learn from your mistakes. There have been many mistakes and I have learned from them. I would like to think of myself as a student, who continues to learn from his own work. But I don’t really recall something as a biggest mistake.

If you could go back and change one thing about your life as an innovator, what would it be?
Suraksha, the LPG detection system, should have been the first project I started working on. It took us long to understand the LPG leakage system. This is one thing, I guess, I should have been addressed earlier. If I had developed it earlier, it would have prevented few accidents that happened while my research was ongoing.

Did you have a childhood dream?
I have been working on electronic devices and gadgets from my childhood days. I used to open all available electronic devices to see what is inside. Then I used to mix components from different devices to make a better device. The one thing I noticed about electronic devices even from then and even now, is the lack of easy usability. Technology should be used to make things simple for the user. My aim from the starting has been to make simple devices. And I am trying to do the same.