For 30-year-old V. Karthi, who has built a prototype of a COVID-19 smart swab collecting robot, Wednesday opened up an opportunity to take forward his innovation.
D. Santhosh Babu, the monitoring officer for Dharmapuri to check the spread of COVID-19, was contacted by Karthi, and he was very positive about the innovation.
Dr. Babu also posted a message on Facebook about the innovation. “We should be encouraging such amazing youngsters...the entire process of testing can be automated. He may need conveyer belts to transport a tray full of test tubes, on which a barcode can be stuck...this can be linked to the Aadhaar card of the patient through a camera, so that we give the right result to the right patient.”
He added that it could be installed in Dharmapuri and based on the usage, further improvements can be made.
“Healthcare personnel find it difficult to wear the PPE for long hours when they collect samples. The robot will cost less and will be safe to use. But it has be a fully automated solution. Forge Accelerator ( an incubation facility for startups in Coimbatore), will help Mr. Karthi develop the product," he told The Hindu over phone.
To be evaluated
"The machine has to be evaluated. If it satisfies the basic requirements, it can be installed. I will see the product over video call. It is promising. May need to be improved a bit. But it is likely to be ready for installation shortly," he said.
When contacted, Mr. Karthi expressed his happiness regarding this development and said that he was happy that Dr. Babu was all ears when he contacted him.
The device was made in an inexpensive budget,” he said, noting that the prototype cost only around ₹2,000.
And it was developed in just three days.
Ahead of his meeting with officials from Forge on Thursday, Mr. Karthi said that the cost of the final product will be decided only after its completion.
The prototype will be upgraded based on consultations with medical and engineering experts, he said.
According to Vishwanathan Sahasranamam, Chief Executive Officer of Forge Accelerator, Forge will support the innovator for about six months with all the resources and also a grant.
"We will put him through an accelerated product development programme. It may be developed into a robot. We have studied a similar product developed in South Korea. Because of the precautionary measures that need to be taken, it will need human intervention and cannot be completely automated. A deployable solution will be ready in a couple of weeks. To become manufacturing ready, it will take another couple of months," he said.
(With inputs from
R. Akileish)