Five Popular Indian Entries at NASA Engineering Design Contest

Although no Indian could win the top prizes, five of the top 10 entries listed as the most popular contestants at the ‘Create the Future Design Contest 2015,’ organised by the publishers of NASA Tech Briefs magazine, were from India.

NASA Tech Briefs design contest is organised every year to ‘stimulate and reward engineering innovation’.

While Puncture-Proof/Burst-Proof Tyre designed by Sameer Panda from Sambalpur, Orissa, was listed the most popular innovation, Areeb Yaqoob and Keshav Gupta from New Delhi were honoured for their CAP Exoskeleton design and Sukeerth Calastawad, Suhas V, Phaneesh M and Swaraj S from Maharaja Institute of Technology, Mysore, for their Self Chargeable Battery Electric Vehicle (BEV).

Others on the most popular list include the designs by Seshagiri Ramachandran, Vinod Vivian G, Vinod K R, and Anne Miriam Alexander from Chennai for their Bullet Proof Vest Using Non-Newtonian Fluid and Himanshu Vyas of Indore for his Anti-Collision Technology for Automobiles.

Sameer Panda’s puncture and burst-proof tyre is a Multi-chambered Tubeless tyre with sealant inside the chambers to take care of puncture and also act as a coolant which increases the life of the tyre and decreases the risk of bursts due to overheating.

Unlike conventional exoskeletons with expensive motion sensors and hydraulics, Yakoob and Gupta have designed a simple, inexpensive exoskeleton which is easy to manufacture and maintain and will allow the person using it to walk, squat and carry loads up to 55 kilograms ‘over considerable distances without reducing wearer’s agility’.

The researchers from Maharaja Institute of Technology, Mysore, have attempted to fabricate a self-charging battery electric vehicle which utilizes the rotational energy of wheels to charge the batteries, which makes the vehicle pollution free and without any external charging source.

The innovators from Chennai say that Non-Newtonian fluids (like corn flour + water mix, PEG + Silica mix) will absorb all the impact of a bullet more effectively than the heavy 14 kg metal-based vests used by security personnel.

The young innovators are working on prototypes of a light-weight bullet-proof vest which will provide full protection against high calibre weapons.

Saying that fast moving cars could be demons on the streets, Himashu Vyas proposes an anti-collision technology based on extended range proximity sensors and infrared (heat) sensors around automobiles to make driving safer.

Courtesy: Agencies