College projects making it big

As companies cry themselves hoarse over lack of talent at the college level, there are students burning the midnight oil by putting together innovative models that can be commercially viable.

Be it an electric cycle rickshaw or remote-controlled wheelchair, engineering students are busy juggling lectures with their prototypes. Experts say that with the number of student competitions, the motivation to ideate is high.

Ajay Prabhu, COO of engineering firm Quest Global, says nowadays students work hard on their college projects not just from a marks’ perspective, but to scale them up later as independent ventures.

Intelligent wheelchair
Fourth-year students Meghana, Kiran and Chandan from Siddaganga Institute in Tumkur, are busy giving finishing touches to their battery-operated wheelchair, which started as a college project. The wheelchair that can be controlled through different ways without assistance from another person.

“The person using the wheelchair can control it either manually through a keypad, or through the tilt sensor,” says Meghana.

The tilt sensor is a device that can be fitted onto a cap the wheelchair user wears, and helps in moving the chair in the direction in which the head tilts. The wheelchair also comes with an obstacle-detection device that can automatically move the chair in a direction opposite to that of any obstacle. “This can prevent collision with objects or other people,” says Chandan.

The students are working to take this project ahead. They feel the wheelchair can be commercially viable with each commanding Rs25,000.

Electric cycle rickshaw
Mechanical engineering students Alan, Akhil and Ankur on the other hand, are fine-tuning their battery-operated cycle rickshaw that moves both through pedaling and the electric motor.

Being eco-friendly by not needing fuel, the students now want to make it friendly for all people, including the physically challenged.

Alan says that with the electric motor, the rickshaw can easily run at least 100 kilometre a day at a maximum speed of 30 km/h. “People who cannot pedal can use the electric motor. The rest can pedal and use the motor.”

Again innovated as part of their college project, the boys from Jamia Milia in New Delhi, who are in Bangalore to display it at contests, say it has tremendous commercial viability.

“Since no fuel is involved, it can be a cheap mode of transport. Something like Rs4 per km for the passenger,” says Alan. The boys are planning to tie-up with drivers who can use the cycle rickshaws to ferry commuters. “And we could collect a part of their profits to recover our costs,” says Akhil.

They are now in the final stages before launching the hybrid cycle rickshaw.