A young boy from Bihar has designed a voice-controlled battery-operated wheelchair for his grandfather whose age is around 80-85 years. His grandfather wants to maintain his independence in the twilight years of his life. The boy thought of making something that helps his grandfather in daily holds.

“My grandfather hates it when somebody tries to help him with his daily chores or holds his hand to help him walk. I am sure there are much more like him. I wanted to do something for them,” said Ashutosh Prakash, a final semester student at the Birla Institute of Technology, Patna.

While Prakash was doing his internship at the Indian Institute of Technology, Patna, three years ago, this idea of making a wheelchair came up. Prakash’s internship guide Dr. Atul Thakur helped him in this idea.

Prakash made this wheelchair comparing it with the one used by physicist Stephen Hawking and it is a traditional wheelchair that responds to voice command for four basic movements left, right, forward and reverse. The chair even stops when it encounters an obstacle or a staircase. It senses unevenness on the floor, near a staircase and stops, ensuring the safety of the person using it.

The wheelchair features voice-processor, microcontrollers, motor, and battery. The chair is fit for a person weighing up to 80 kgs and it costs Rs. 20,000. Prakash had kept it open-ended and he wants other people to develop it. Prakash said that ‘my objective is to not make profit, but to help people like his grandfather.’