NIDians create smart gas-stove knob

It is rare when a product is developed keeping the elderly of the society in mind. Three young guys from National Institute of Design did just that and won a national award for it. Orb, an LPG gas knob automation that can turn itself off, control the flame and even track the number of whistles is a product that has recently won the Tata Elxsi's Ignite competition that aimed at designing a smart kitchen appliance for the elderly.

Created by fourth semester postgraduate students - Sushant Darake, Tawfik Manham and Arjun Raj Kumar - Orb was developed keeping in mind the competition, held on the World Industrial Day. "Elderly people often fail to keep track of the whistles blown by their pressure cookers. They also tend to forget to switch off the gas stove. We had a lot of ideas but decided to work on creating a knob that can do all these things for them," said Tawfik.

Orb is designed in a way that allows it to be used on all existing gas stoves and in fact, turns them into smart appliances. "It has three modes for various functions: timer mode that informs one about the time left, flame mode that tells if the flame is high or low and the whistle counter mode that shows how many whistles are remaining. The dials are mechanical and the knob has a display screen as well," Sushant explained.

The gadget additionally uses a simple microphone and a micro-controller coupled with a low latency e-ink display system to monitor time and count the whistles. A stepper motor is used to disengage the lock enabling the knob to turn off after the set time. "With this innovation, we can bridge the divide between gas stoves and new age electric ovens," he added.

Not just for the elderly, this automatic knob can be handy for working women who multi-task, or hostel students who study for long hours and tend to forget that they have kept something on the stove to cook.

Source: TOI

Destiny's design: Rag-picker makes it to NID

Sanjay Parmar spent much of his childhood picking rags, sifting through mounds of waste at Rama Pir No Tekro in Vadaj area of Ahmedabad to supplement the family's meagre income. Sanjay's father Dineshbhai was a driver and barely managed to put food on the table for his three children. On lucky days, he would find a pair of footwear for his little sister Manisha in the garbage. When bored, Sanjay would fashion boats out of waste paper and cars from discarded thermocol packaging.

Then destiny intervened. At 19, Sanjay is perhaps the only one with a rag-picking past to make it to the country's premiere design school 'National Institute of Design' - and aims to become an automobile designer.

But first, he wants to design is an aid which cuts the burden of LPG cylinder deliverymen. "I have seen my father break his back delivering cylinders in multi-storey houses which don't have lifts. It is my dream to design a simple aid," he says.

The young boy's life turned when he was selected as one of eight kids who were enrolled in a special project by NGO Visamo Kids which gave bright children from poor families a chance at a good education. "If I was not plucked out of the slums and given an education, I would not have gone beyond class X. All my best friends are school dropouts", says Sanjay.

Initially, it was tough for Sanjay to adjust to the new world. "He was an angry, stubborn child. He was not good at learning and writing but he was good with his hands," says Amee Shah, boarding in-charge of Visamo Kids. Sanjay calls Amee his second mother. While the residential programme covers education till class XII, an anonymous donor came forward to fund his education when he made it to NID. He was also trained by city-based designer Bhanvar Rathore for the entrance test.

"I did not have the means to educate Sanjay; I could just provide him a roof. When he becomes a man, he will buy us a house," says Dineshbhai.

Source: TOI