The Hindu 21.01.2014
A safety device and a solar bike
The recent atrocities against women in India prompted
two class VIII students, S. Muskan and J. Srilekha from Kesava Reddy
English School in Andhra Pradesh, to design a device to protect women.
Known
as the ‘Nirbhaya Device’, it consists of gloves that can be worn by
women, especially when they travel at night or alone. An electrical
circuit embedded in the device will cause a mild jolt when the woman
touches a person who tries to harass her. It also has a sensor to raise
an alarm.
The total cost of making this device is only Rs. 100, said N. Rajesh Noone, a teacher who accompanied the two students.
This
invention is part of the 500-odd exhibits at the five-day Southern
India Science Fair, inaugurated at the Madras Christian College Higher
Secondary School on Monday by K.C. Veeramani, minister for school
education.
Over 220 participants from four southern
states and a union territory have displayed their creations at the
exhibition, organised jointly by the directorate of school education,
Tamil Nadu and Visvesvaraya Industrial and Technological Museum,
Bangalore.
Another invention that drew the attention
of visitors was a solar bike made by R. Yogeshwar, a class X student
from Petit Seminaire Higher Secondary School, Puducherry.
“I
converted a cycle into a bike. I fixed a solar panel and a battery to
the cycle. The solar power is converted into electricity and stored in
the battery. The solar panel has to be charged for five hours and the
bike will run for 15 kilometres,” he said. The bike can also be charged
using electricity. The invention cost Rs. 9,000, Yogeshwar said.
Students
also displayed innovations such as eco-friendly bio-fuel from chicken
waste, automatic accident prevention systems and leak detection devices
for water pipelines.