Indian Patent Granted- Patent No. 371329, dated 07 July 2021

 

Finally, eight years of waiting comes to an end. Our patent titled, "Turn table based transfer facility for wheelchair" has been granted and is recorded in the register of patents on 07 July 2021. I would like to take this opportunity to thank my teacher, mentor, Ph.D. supervisor, and Co-Inventor, Prof. S. Pugazhenthi for this constant support, motivation, and guidance. I am indebted to SASTRA University for supporting us in every means throughout every stage of design, development, and patenting. SASTRA funded the research for the original ideation & POC development, till the patent was filed, and later the work was funded by DST-SERB to develop a prototype. 

As the next step, we have signed an NDA with M/s. Ostrich Mobility Instruments for possible MVP development and commercialization. 

The invention is a novel design of a self-transfer facility for wheelchair users. It is a unique system that transfers a person with lower limb disability from a wheelchair to any other surface and vice versa. The device is specifically aimed at helping wheelchair users access toilet commode without caregiver support. 

The transfer process could be manual or powered, making use of actuators and control systems with or without the aid of a caregiver. The facility is designed to be attached or detached from any wheelchair (powered/manual) with minor modifications.

Resource Person for Alumni webinar series conducted by Dept. of ECE, Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai

Interacted online with the students of my Alma mater - Hindustan Institute of Technology and Science, Chennai on the topic: "Robotic Solutions for Rehabilitation and Assisted Living", as part of their Alumni webinar series, on 02 May 2020.

Won the Emerald Literati Award for the outstanding paper of the year 2018.

08/09/2018: Our research article titled “Design and development of a robotic self-transfer device for wheelchair users” published in the Journal of Enabling Technologies has won the Emerald Literati Award for the outstanding paper of the year 2018.

For over 25 years the Emerald Literati Awards, which have included the Awards for Excellence and Citations of Excellence, celebrate and reward the outstanding contributions of authors and reviewers to scholarly research. The criteria used to judge the awards are based on contribution of something new to the body of knowledge either in terms of approach or subject matter, excellent structure and presentation , well-written, rigor in terms of argument or analysis, relevance – to practice and further research, up-to-date – demonstrating that the latest/key works in the field have been cited and many more.

To know more about the award please visit here

List of 2018 winners: here

All credits goes to my Ph.D. supervisor Dr. S. Pugazhenthi.  Thank you so much Sir.

Resource person for AICTE sponsored FDP on IoT for Ambient Assistive Living & ICMR sponsored seminar on IoT for Health care Technologies for India, KCG College of Technology, Chennai

Was one of the resource persons for AICTE sponsored FDP on IoT for Ambient Assistive Living & ICMR sponsored seminar on IoT for Health care Technologies for India organized by Department of Electronics and Communication,  KCG College of Technology, Chennai on 12 November 2017. Shared my research interests, gave an overview on self-transfer devices and introduced the self-transfer devices that we had developed at SASTRA, to the enthusiastic audience.