Advancing Indigenous Assistive Mobility Through Collaboration

 

Accessible mobility remains a critical challenge, particularly in ensuring affordable and reliable solutions tailored to diverse user needs. Addressing this requires strong collaboration between academia, industry, and government support.

At SASTRA University, we are proud to collaborate with Ostrich Mobility Instruments Pvt. Ltd. on the development of indigenous assistive mobility solutions, with financial support from the Ministry of Heavy Industries, Government of India. This initiative reflects a focused effort to translate research into practical, deployable technologies.

Through this collaboration, key components for mobility aids have been developed, including OrbitDrive, a joystick-based control system, and PMDC motors for wheelchair applications—emphasizing performance, reliability, and cost-effectiveness.

This work underscores our commitment to advancing inclusive mobility through research-driven innovation and indigenous product development, contributing towards enhanced independence and improved quality of life.

Indian Patent Granted- Patent No. 567408, dated 13 July 2025

Delighted to share that our patent titled “An Apparatus for Discriminating and Reckoning of Peags” has been officially granted and recorded in the Register of Patents today.

I would like to express my sincere gratitude to my co-inventors — Dr. Joseph Abraham Sundar, Dr. R. Badri Narayanan, and Dr. V. M. Sreehari — for their invaluable contributions throughout this journey.

We are deeply thankful to SASTRA Deemed University for their unwavering support during every stage of design, development, and patent filing. This project was financially supported by the SASTRA-TRR fund.

The invention tackles the challenge of manually sorting and counting large volumes of coins. Our smart, automated system integrates an AI-based module for identifying coin denominations and a robotic mechanism to pick and place the coins into designated bins. A working prototype was successfully demonstrated to officials of the Travancore Devaswom Board (TDB) at the Sabarimala Temple on 15 May 2022.

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.