Bhubaneswar, Feb. 5: Twelve prototypes devised by 27 participants from institutions across the country attracted students and visitors to Prototype Challenge - 2014, an exhibition that showcased devices used in smart homes to sweeping streets.
While six students from Dibrugarh University of Assam displayed their prototype that can be used to clean streets and also for agriculture operations, three girls from KIIT University showcased a bio-sensor to detect ripening of fruits to check spoilage.
Director Translational Health Science and Technology Institute N.K. Ganguly inaugurated the event organised by KIIT-technology business incubation (KIIT-TBI) of KIIT University here today. Founder of KIIT University Achyuta Samanta was also present.
Explaining its prototype, Abinash Sharma, a member of the team from Dibrugarh University, said: "If the machine is mounted on a tricycle then it can collect waste on the street. The same machine can be used to help farmers glean rice from the fields."
Rama Mishra, a member of the KIIT University team, said: "The biosensor will work wonders without harming the fruit stocks and it can be very helpful for horticulturists in Odisha as the state is lacking cold storage chains to manage food and other stocks.''
Ankur Tiwari, a computer wizard from Bilaspur and a student member of the Indian Science Congress Association, displayed his prototype computer 'Shastra' that has the ability to eliminate errors from computation.
Two participants - Souvik Choudhuy and Reha - displayed a prototype of a low-cost device that can store both vegetarian and non-vegetarian food with ultraviolet and infrared lights so that food can be stored without even refrigeration.
Ashwin from Vishakhapatnam and Pawan from Nagpur displayed their products that can produce electricity from unconventional sources to charge mobile phones, laptops and even act as light source while studying.
"It can be a great source of energy and light using LED (light emitting diode) lamps,'' said Ashwin.
Pawan's small device with two mini fans (similar to those used in laptops for cooling) if held for an hour on a motorbike with the vehicle moving at a speed of 30-50kmph, it can charge a small mobile fan.
Jagdish B, whose start-up company has presence in Odisha and Bangalore, provides smart ideas to monitor the consumption of power bill across the state. He said: "Our prototype, a computer hardware named 'Shadow' can manage the use of electrical devices in a planned way so that power bills could be reduced. We have the option to connect it to the mobile as well through an application software (app).''
Chief operating officer of KIIT-TBI and director of varsity's School of Bio-techology Mrutyunjay Suar said: "This forum will inspire students to work more on innovative prototypes so that they can develop more low-cost but effective technologies and products.''
