Necessity is the mother of invention! This adage goes well with Tripura where to reduce the doctors’ contact with Covid patients robotic technology is being used in serving COVID-19 patients living in isolated wards. In a very timely and innovative intervention, Dr Harjit Nath, a young assistant professor of Tripura has created a device that can serve food, medicines and other essential items to the patients without human intervention. This, if implemented successfully can largely reduce possibilities of contamination of frontline workers tackling Covid-19 patients,
Dr Nath works at the Dept. of Chemical and Polymer Engineering, Tripura Central University and was the founding faculty member of this Dept and first HOD(I/C). He is also one of the youngest faculty members at Tripura Central University.
“The outbreak of the Novel Coronavirus has introduced the world to the concept of social or physical distancing. In order to ensure less contact with the patients, I have used robotic technology to make a device which can be deployed to assist doctors and other healthcare staff and thus maintain safe distance and avoid contracting the deadly virus,” shares Dr Nath.
Interestingly, he has donated his robot (WARBOT) to Tripura Medical College which has in turn put it to service at the Hapania Covid Care Centre of Agartala. Another interesting fact about this highly useful robot is that it is a low cost device, made from scrap materials.
Speaking about the nuances of his innovation, the young professor explains, “I have made just one set and have donated it to Covid Care center of Hapania. Around 25k was spent in making the device which is four-wheeled, controlled by using a transmitter and receiver and works on 12v Lead acid rechargeable batteries. It can carry around 15kgs weight easily. Once fully charged the robot can operate for around 30minutes or more. I have named it COVID19WARBOT. It is basically like a joystick, extremely easy to handle, so much so that even a kid can operate it.”
Dr. Nath has been trying his hands at robot making for quite some time now and has already developed a couple of such devices. One such is a Suitcase Water Purifier developed for military and rescue/natural calamities.
“The purifier can work anywhere and can give pure water instantly using any kind of feed water. It’s solar operated. I have filed a patent for it in 2019. Another one is a touch-less hand washing system with integrated water treatment facility and water reuse facility. The Hon’ble MHRD minister has recently lauded this initiative of mine. Currently, I am working on a number of new innovations which will be beneficial for the society at large,” notifies Nath.
Known for being highly enterprising, Dr. Harjeet Nath has already been conferred with an array of awards and recognitions. In2018, he got theYoung Scientist awards given by Dept. Of Science and Technology, Govt of India (DST-ITR AWARD). Recently he was also awarded as the most innovative faculty of the year 2020, at a conference in Delhi, held in collaboration with Campbell University, USA.
