Portable microscopes, wheelchairs, 5G network at IITs’ R&D showcase at IIT Delhi

NEW DELHI: All 23 Indian Institutes of Technology (IIT) gathered to showcase their research and development innovations at ‘IInvenTiv 2022’, a two-day fair at IIT Delhi. The fair, which ends today, was organised to celebrate the 75th year of India’s Independence, as part of the government’s Azadi ka Amrit Mahotsav initiative.

A total of 75 projects from across the IITs were on display. They addressed problems in a range of sectors including defence and aerospace, healthcare, climate change, clean energy, sustainability, smart city architecture, rural agriculture, drone technology, communications technology and so on. Nearly all the projects had reached the technology readiness level five (TRL-5) – that is, advanced stage development – while most reached TRL-9 – system test, launch and operations – and some were in the market.

Here are some of the innovations and the IITs they came from.

Neomotion | IIT Madras

Swosstik Sourav Dash

A personalised wheelchair designed for all kinds of terrain in India and reduced dependence of the user on a caregiver. The product comes with a ‘NeoFly’ and ‘NeoBolt’. NeoFly is the main chair with an adjustable backrest, puncture-resistant tires and a rigid frame. NeoBolt enables hassle-free transfer into cars and auto-rickshaws and comes with reverse gear for parking and mobility.

Commercialised in 2020, the product has already been in demand across India and comes at Rs 1 lakh inclusive of taxes. The product was incubated at IIT Madras.

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Brain-computer interface (BCI) exoskeleton | IIT Kanpur

The exoskeleton

Developed for the neuro-rehabilitation of stroke patients, it uses a fusion of electroencephalogram (EEG) and or electromyography (EMG). EEG measures electrical activity in the brain and EMG measures the health of muscles and nerve cells that control them. This is the first product in the world, a BCI-based robotic hand exoskeleton, for the rehabilitation of stroke patients. Pilot clinical trials of the product have been completed in the UK and India. The product was incubated at IIT Kanpur and developed by a team led by professor Ashish Dutta.

nLite 360 | IIT Hyderabad

The nLite 360 incubator

An intelligent phototherapy device – the world’s first – that provides customised therapy. The device caters to severe cases of jaundice in newborn babies without interrupting breastfeeding. It was incubated in IIT Hyderabad by a team of bio-design fellows, Prasad Muddam and Akitha Kolloju.

Indigenous 5G/5Gi network solution | IITs Delhi, Bombay, Kanpur, Madras, Hyderabad

Dr Radha Krishn Ganti, professor IIT Madras and Rohit Budhiraja, professor, IIT Kanpur

Five IITs worked together on building a secure end-to-end 5G network. The five IITs have built the hardware and software.

The product development took three years. The product works with both 5G and indigenously developed 5Gi standards. The design can be modified for any India-specific use. It will be particularly useful for defence and railways. It has the feasibility of incorporating additional security frameworks.

Also Read | IIT Bombay to showcase 8 industry-ready technologies at IInvenTiv 2022

Matsya | IIT Bombay

Matsya

Developed by a team of BTech students, this device detects and classifies objects underwater. It can perform underwater research for the exploration of oil, gas and other resources.

It also helps detect defects in underwater construction and ships; locates black boxes in case of an air crash disaster, and detects underwater GPS systems.

It has been developed by Ayushi Gupta, Parvik Dave, Sidharth Mundhra and Tejas Bhalla – all students of IIT Bombay.

Portable digital inverted microscopes with single, variable magnifications | IIT Bombay

The portable digital inverted microscopes

Designed to be used in the field with a smartphone, this microscope uses a tablet for image capture and is battery-operated. It is intended to be used in diagnostics.

Developed by professor Debjani Paul and her team in IIT Bombay, the product targets pathology labs in tier-two and tier-three cities which lack access to good microscopes capable of capturing quality images.