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Open inclusive Innovations |
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"SRISTI Summer Schools have been organized for the last several years to develop devices for economically poor people through inclusive and open innovation. A palm leaf broom maker has to beat the leaf on a wooden plank with nails to tear the leaf into a fibre. The drudgery involved in this act drains the en- ergy of women who generally do this task. Similarly, hundreds of thousands of tribal have to crack Mahua [Madhuca indica] nut to get the seed out for oil extraction. The construction workers carry brick on their heads straining their necks and spines. Women in Saurashtra and many other regions get hurt while harvesting the fruits from cactus like Opuntia growing on the field bunds. Gooseberry [Amla, Phyllanthus emblica] harvesting in the forest often involves cutting branches rather than just harvesting the fruits.
These and many other problems have been mobilized by the Honey Bee Network to challenge young people to design solution to get over the indiffer- ence of some of the formal design and technology institutions. Eventually, ev- ery institution in the country will have to take the responsibility of mapping the unmet social needs in their hinterland and address them through student proj- ects and summer and winter schools. Like every initiative that Honey Bee Network has taken, it may take years before policy and institutional reforms follow. Engineering students from all over the country work intensively during summer school over a period of a month on different problems face by marginalised communities and try to solve them technologically.
Case 1: To redesign the broom to make it more efficient while reducing drudgery. Team Members: Hitarth Parikh, Bhanu Pratap Asiwal
Problems Identified:
The road cleaners/ sweepers often work in intense heat. The work is manual, cumbersome and time consuming while repeated joint movement of both the hands causes pain in the shoulders.
If this work can be done in less time than they can utilize their time more productively somewhere else..
The garbage lies mostly at corners or on side of streets but vehicles parked there acts as a hurdle to their work.
Solutions discussed:
The product should not depend on other sources of energy like electricity etc., it should be manual till they can afford or be given mechanised solution. . .
Vacuum cleaners can be a solution but the problem is that the waste gets stuck and these have high acquisitions and maintenance cost.
Half of the problem will be solved if people generate less garbage by using alternatives, recycling and reusing things.
Putting dustbins at an interval of 10 m each will ease their collection problem as the workers can easily pick those dustbins and unload them in the lorry.
Final Solution:
Initially, the team focused on a better collecting/cleaning device but the mentors advised to improve a what was made by a previous batch (here is the link: https://drive.google. com/file/d/1RPD GaGJhNs2NS c- x w e n d z d D A a i R T x D r E / view?usp=drivesdk). But the machine could not work in the corners. The team then decided to work on the design of the broom with a long handle itself to reduce pain and increase efficiency of the sweepers. After brainstorming on different design proposals, the team decided to provide hinge (universal joint) to the broom. It will decrease the pressure on the hand used to hold the tail end of the broom. This hand provides axis for the circular motion of the broom while the other hand holds the broom at the lower end and manoeuvres to sweep the ground. The broom was made light weight using aluminium pipes as bamboo is heavy. The bamboo pierces their hand at times and hence using light aluminium rod provides better grip. , The hinge increased the efficiency of cleaning and eliminated the movement of one of the hands, reducing fatigue.
Case 2: To design a low-cost portable kiln for rural small-scale pottery with a smoke extractor to improve production output and improve the safety of the user Team Members: Ayush Pandey, Rahul Bishnoi, Sairaj Khope
Problems Identified:
The clay is mixed and kneaded manually, hence the consistency and texture varied between families. This variation in clay mixture resulted in different production output efficiencies and quality of pots which was hard to determine.
The Bhatti (Kiln) used by the potters was made with broken pots and was not giving good uniform heat all around. It released a lot of smoke into the surroundings due to incomplete combustion making it an unsafe working area.
Lac making process involved direct contact with boiling hot lac from water which is unsafe. The coating is also uneven.
Solutions Discussed:
The team decided to focus on solving the problem with the makeshift Kiln by trying to fix the problem of production inefficiency and inadequate thermal reflectiveness.
The team also discussed that if they could make a machine for lac application process, it would help tribals a great deal. Finally, the team decided to concentrate on design an energy efficient safer kiln
Final Solution
The structure was designed keeping in mind the drawbacks faced in previous design. The structure can be divided into three sections.
Section 1:
The lower part consists of the base of the structure.
The material used for the base structure is Tin (2mm thickness).
The base is supported by stands on four sides. The main base has been kept wide for stability.
The upper part of the base comprises basically the mesh which is constructed using Stainless Steel
504 of 4 mm width. It provides proper air flow from bottom and helps in filtering .
the leftover ash below to prevent any deposits on the utensils.
Section 2:
The upper part is a frustum structure made of tin. This will serve as an enclosure structure for reflecting heat back to the combustion chamber. The upper part is hinged with lower section which can easily be detached from the second section. The base is kept open from three sides to provide proper air flow to the fuel chamber for natural aspiration. The four sides of the frustum are provided with reflectors for reflecting a considerable amount of heat back to the fuel chamber and also it maintains the proper air flow inside the structure. Material used for reflectors is asbestos sheets (4mm thickness). The sheets are attached with the surface of frustum using synthetic rubber adhesive.
Section 3
Section 3 consists of a chimney, the exhaustion system of the kiln. It provides a proper draft and vertical acceleration to the flow of the smoke and additional heat. The exhaustion system is 2.5 feet above the upper base of the frustum and 5 feet from the upper base of section 1. The ratio of the lower to upper base of the frustum was kept 2:1. In this prototype, it was 400mm edge square at the bottom and 200mm edge square at the top. The cross section of the frustum is square.
Final design description
Changes done at structural level:
There is no change introduced in the structural look. The considerable change that is going to be in the final design is the size. The main objective behind doing this was to increase the capacity of the design to be used at a slightly larger scale so that groups of people can use this by sharing the expenditure. The changes in the dimensions are as follows:
1. The lower base of the section 1 is 58 inches, length and breadth wise.
2. The mesh is 48 inches length and breadth wise.
3. The height of exhaustion system is increased from 2.5 feet to 5 feet.
4. The height of the frustum is kept constant (2.5 feet).
5. The tilt angle of the frustum is changed to 47 degrees.
6. For proper placement of the reflector the asbestos sheets will be jacketed with aluminium composite panels (0.5mm thickness).
7. The gaps are being provided sliding panels of the same material which will serve as the checking system for the smoke coming out from the gaps.
8. The lower base of section 1 is being provided with a tray to collect ash. That can be detached from the kiln and the ash can be disposed off properly.
Case 4: To create a load distribution bag that increases efficiency and reduces body pain of labourers (of any age or gender) while collecting cotton and vegetables in a cost-effective manner.
Team Members: Drishti Baid, Md Zisan Khan, Prashant Nahar, Uday Agrawal
Problem Identified:
Initially, the team picked the problem of traditional cotton picking and wanted to make a product which increases the efficiency of labourers and also reduces the problems faced. The team soon realised that carrying heavy bags of cotton (10-20 kg while picking) by the traditional method is as big a problem as is cotton picking done by hands at present.
The first goal was to observe the cotton-picking process in great depth and identify all the problems that trouble the labourers and farmers.
1. The second goal was to focus on features in Natubhais machine that can be improved further.
Solutions Discussed
First Prototype
After discussing various ideas, the team decided to work on load distribution For the cotton picking workers. Purpose was to minimize the distance between the centre of gravity of the human body and the centre of gravity of load.
second purpose was to divide one type of stress into multiple components. In the traditional approach, there was only a single tensile component, thus the point of load fell on the particular point on the shoulders. The proposed prototype divides this component into three components and four directions. The team made a a bag which is made up of a waist belt and two straps for the shoulders for the proper distribution of load around the waist and the shoulders. To deal with the buckling problem, they used foam as a reinforcement.
Shortcomings & Challenges
1. The first shortcoming is the storage issue. The prototype could carry only 4 kg of weight in total while these individuals carry roughly
10 kg in total using traditional method.
2. The carrying bags of the prototype currently get in the way while walking. The knees collide with the bags, thus restricting free movement.
3. The stitching of the first prototype was not perfect and thus it took them some time to wear. Also, the weight fell on the waist as opposed to equitable distribution over all the pain points.
4. The idea of the unloading mechanism was appreciated but it would be difficult to untie and open it with weight as bags will become voluminous.
5. The problem that labourers pointed out was that two bags may disrupt the balance between the two sides. Also, due to asynchronous cotton picking process, there is a chance that one bag fills faster than the other
hindering the natural movement of the hands.
The challenge identified was to make a single large bag with two inlets while also ensuring they do not accumulate at a single place again making one side of the bag heavier.
The Final Solution
Keeping in mind the traditional idea, the aim was to redistribute the weight. While the carrying capacity of the traditional method is massive, the problem is that all the weight falls on the shoulders. Thus, the team made a large bag with the capacity of carrying about15 kg load.
1. To ensure that the bags do not hinder the knee movement, the team changed the shape of the bag in such a way that the ends of it are on the part of the waist which is parallel to the knee. Hence, it doesnt hinder both the forward and the backward movement.
2. The team made a belt which is easier to wear with minimum tightening and loosening mechanisms. Also under the current system, the straps were very long thus creating the need of cloth unnecessarily. As the team planned to make it Do It Yourself product, the labourers can make and adapt it according to their physique eliminating all the extra material.
4. A knot mechanism is provided which when untied empties the entire collected material. Several changes can be made like using a button or buckle instead of simply typing a knot.
5. Instead of two bags, only one bag is used but with inlets at both sides. Also, as needed, irrespective of the side from which the bolls are put into the bag, they would go and get collected at the same place at the back.
6. It can be made a minimal cost of Rs. 150 and thus will cost very less and is durable.
Projects done by other groups:
Case 3: To design toilets in the Little Rann of Kutch addressing privacy and water shortage problem in a cost-effective manner.
Team Members: Avani Saraswat, Lalit Gautam, Arushi Rana
Case 6: Prevention of unintentional exposure to toxic gases in the wells of Agariya salt farmers in the Rann of Kutch
Team Members: Awanish Kumar, Mathias Dockweiler, Swapnil Prasad, Tanisha Sushil
Case 9: Generating a method for Salt farmers to create their own Iodine Salt with less equipment and resources. And also creating awareness of Gypsum, its uses and its market value to increase their earning.
by: Tanisha Sushil
Case 11: Implementing the spirit of Right to Education through technology in the remote desert of Kutch.
by: Saumay Garg
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee, 31(1-2) ,40-44, 2020 |
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