Daily wage worker in Goa builds robot to feed his differently-abled daughter

A daily wage worker in Goa with no technical skills created a robot to let the girl have food on her own out of pain over his sick wife's inability to feed their differently-abled daughter.

The Goa State Innovation Council applauded Bipin Kadam for his invention, which he named "Maa Robot," and is giving him financial support so he may continue to develop the device and investigate its practicality for commercial use.

A dish that is a part of the robot holds the meal. On a vocal command indicating what she wants to eat, such as veggies, dal-rice mix, or other items, it feeds the girl who is unable to move or lift her hands.

Kadam, a resident of Bethora hamlet in the Ponda taluka of south Goa and a man in his 40s, has been working odd jobs for a daily income.

According to him, his 14-year-old daughter has special needs and is unable to eat by herself.  She had no other way to eat than through her mother.

"About two years back, my wife was bedridden. She used to feel sad and cry as she was not able to feed our daughter. I had to come from work to feed our daughter," he stated.

Kadam's wife insisted he should do something so that their daughter may get meals on time without being dependent on anyone.

This prompted Kadam to begin looking for a robot that could feed her around a year ago.

"There was no such robot available anywhere. So, I decided to design it myself," he stated.

Kadam looked for information about the software's basics online.

"I would work for 12 hours without a break and then spend the rest of my time researching and learning how to make a robot. I researched continuously for four months and then designed this robot. I get energised when I come back from work and see my daughter smiling at me," he added.

He stated that the girl is fed by the "Maa Robot" at her direction.

"Prime Minister Narendra Modi has been promoting an Atmanirbhar Bharat. In the same way, I wanted to make my child atmanirbhar (self-reliant) and not dependent on anyone," he said.
Kadam stated that he intends to create such robots for other kids as well.

"I want to take this robot across the globe," he said.

The Goa State Innovation Council has praised Kadam's efforts and is giving him financial support so he may continue to develop his robot and look into the possibility of selling it.

Sudeep Faldesai, the project director for the Council, claimed that Kadam had produced a scalable solution that can assist many others who are in a similar circumstance.

Faldesai stated that because this product has not yet undergone a commercial evaluation, a price cannot be set at this time.

(With inputs from PTI)