Conversations with your father can be taxing at times. At other times, they can be richly rewarding.
As it has been for 20-year-old Pavan O, a third year ECE student at Chennai Institute of Technology. During the second lockdown, on a day when he had little else to do, Pavan indulged in a casual conversation with his father, Hari Krishna, about the situation the world was in due to COVID-19. After talking about general issues, their subject of discussion veered towards temples.
“Our neighbourhood, Kolathur, has quite a few temples and we wondered how the new normal there would be once places of worship reopened,” recalls Pavan.
One thing led to another. Soon, Pavan, who is passionate about mechanical engineering, worked on a prototype that he believed would change the way places of worship would function in the future: a touchless vibhuti and kungumam dispenser.
Anybody who goes to a temple comes back armed with some kungumam for their loved ones at home. This offering is usually given by the archakars at the temple or kept at a common area for devotees to take from, thus increasing the risk of contracting the novel coronavirus.
“My invention is to help devotees have a peaceful time at the temple and be free from concerns about their health during the darshan,” says Pavan. His eco-friendly dispenser is enclosed in a 3D printed container and uses a small microcontroller and the Auger mechanism to dispense the vibhuthi or kungumam. All you need to do is keep your hand at a distance from the sensor; it is similar to the experience you have with touchless water taps at star hotels and malls.
“Like wearing a mask, this could probably be the new normal in temples,” says Pavan, who did his schooling in Kolathur’s Durgadevi Choudhary Vivekananda Vidyalaya and Jaigopal Garodia, “It helped that we have a 3D printer at home; it was useful in generating the prototype for the product.”
Pavan plans to soon patent the design of his current model, made of a 3D printed plastic material called PLA+. He estimates that one unit would cost about ₹1,500, and is ready to assemble more if temple authorities reach out to him. “If they are interested, this unit could be made in sheet metal, which is generally used in making the hundis that we see in temples. That would be ideal for long-term use,” says Pavan, whose vision is to set up something on the lines of Mumbai’s Maker’s Asylum, a learning space that helps people get their hands dirty and make ideas happen. “That will happen someday. My lab at home already has a 3D printer, CNC router machine and power tools that help in prototyping,” he says excitedly.
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