24-year-old robotic scientist Diwakar Vaish recently showcased the cheapest prosthetic hand at AIIMS in the Capital. SHAlINI SAKSENA chats him up about how it all started
As you enter the room or the research laboratory, the first thing that catches your eye is a humanoid robot sitting pretty on a table with a clutter of pins, body parts and other electronic devices.
Behind the table sits India’s young scientist who is busy juggling with a lot of things — typing on the laptop and co-ordinating with team members.
Meet head of Robotics & Research at A-SET Training & Research Institute Diwakar Vaish, all of 24, who recently showcased the cheapest prosthetic hand in the Capital.
Though the technology is still under testing, Vaish tells you that it should be made available to the consumers in another couple of years.
“For any product to be cheap, the technology to make it has to be cheap too, which had not been the case in India, until recently. Through extensive research, we have brought down the cost of the sensors needed to move the fingers etc from Rs15,000 to Rs15. This means that the hand that would earlier cost over a lakh will now be able to those who need it at the cost of a smartphone, less than Rs50,000 once it hits the markets,” Vaish tells you.
The hand, he tells you, has sensors and each finger can move individually like a normal hand does. The best part is that if one connects it with bluetooth and wi-fi, the scanner in it detects all the problems and sends it to the makers who can then troubleshoot.
“For example, if there is a person in Kerala who has a prosthetic hand and it is giving him problems all he has to do is scan it and it and that we will give us a feedback. The person doesn’t have to travel all the way to Delhi to get it rectified unless it is a major problem. The person can himself carry out minor repairs on the instructions given by our team,” Vaish tells you.
His interest in robotics and electronics began when he was in Class V and would watch programmes on TV. It was during one summer vacation that he got the opportunity to take some classes at A-Set. Vaish was hooked. He was fascinated how if one connected one wire with another, the machine would light up and start working. Each summer holiday, he was back for more knowledge and by the time he was in Class IX, he knew what a BTech student is taught.
Slowly, he started taking part in inter-school competitions, some he won, some he didn’t. But that didn’t bother him. What mattered was that it opened a world that he had never seen before.
“I interacted with people and learnt so much from them. I came to know of a world of robotics that I never knew existed. It was so beautiful. It was in Class XI that I got the idea to build a robot. Of course, my parents were worried because I was spending so much time in researching and I couldn’t see anything beyond this robot. I convinced them to give me space. I asked them what percentage in Class XII would make them happyIJ They said 80 per cent. So the next year was spent building the robot. Parts were ordered. My father had to pay for it but the end product was worth it. It was a dancing robot — something that was never seen in India before,” Vaish, who passed out from Bal Bharati Public School on Ganga Ram Hospital Marg, says.
This opened more avenues for Vaish who didn’t want to go for conventional studies and join IIT or, for that matter, go abroad for further studies since his mother was opposed to it. He preferred to tinker with his machines rather than sit in a class for five to six hours. That’s when he got an offer from Sharda University, Greater Noida, to do research work.
The deal was that for every product sold, 50 per cent of the profits would go back into research. That was the time when he got a call from IIT-Rourkee to give a guest lectures on robotic technology. Though Vaish has never studied in any of the IITs, as of March 2017, he would have given guest lectures in 12 IITs.
Vaish’s claim to fame is the humanoid robot Manav which he started working on in 2013. Manav came into existence because when Vaish wanted to carry out some research work on robotic technology, he found that none was available for less than Rs15-Rs20 lakh, an expensive proposition considering that one just wanted to use it for experimentation and had to be bought from the US.
Then there was the matter of breakdown and the cost incurred. So, after much deliberation and brainstorming, it was decided that they would build the robot in the lab.
“Various shapes were first designed on the computer. A command was then given to the 3D printer to make the shape that we wanted, using plastic instead of ink. Basically, in 3D printing, layer over layer are built till you get the shape for which the command has been given. This meant that the cost of making fell to Rs1.5 lakh since it costs Rs10 per gm. So, if a piece weighs 9 gm, the cost of making it is Rs90 and even if it breaks or we don’t get the desired shape, we don’t mind replacing it. Also, we can get any colour we want. All we have to do is add colour to the polyamide and within hours you have a robot,” Vaish explains.
Though till now, Vaish has been dealing with B2B, he wants to now venture into B2C. But for this, the robotic technology has to be made very cheap and while Manav costs Rs1.5 lakh what was needed were things that the end consumer could use. Hence, the world’s first mind control wheelchair was born.
Explaining how the wheelchair works, Vaish tells you that the mind is made of millions of neurons and they send electrical impulses which can be felt on the skin as well. These impulses are read by EEG sensor which then sends it to the system to carry out your command which can be as simple as a blink of an eye in case of an emergency.
“While this may look and sound simple, it is not the case. Each brain is different and so are the impulses. We had to apply certain concepts on the basis of how the user’s brain functions. Also, thoughts are continuous and the wheelchair had to be made in such a manner that it was flawless since it for individual use and not for research or testing. It just takes the system to adjust o the individual’s needs and works in tandem of the command given by the brain,” Vaish tells you, adding that the wheelchair costs around Rs1.5 lakh.
The next on his agenda is a robotic jacket that will help the elderly, who have problem in getting up and sitting down. “It is a jacket that can be worn and will assist the person to sit and stand. It will feel as if your are superman. Also, we are working on a robot who will represent you in meetings. Suppose you have to be in two places at the same timeIJ One in Delhi, one in Mumbai.
At one place you can have a robot, who will have your face, the same size and shape. It will walk around and even sit on the chair and you, through the robot, can talk to the people present in the conference without even stepping out of Delhi,” Vaish says.