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Profile |
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No Odd Man Out |
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How many times have you felt quirky over not switching off your lights and fans when you left your house? How many times have you felt irritated with the staff of your housing society for not switching on the water-pump for overhead tanks in time? How many times after reading about a railway accident, have you wished that there was some way out to avoid the deadly collision? While the wish list can go on, most of us leisurely forget about the wish-lists once the overriding emotion evaporates.
But it’s not so for some people. Welcome to the world of gizmos made by Prem Singh Saini, a matriculate from Ambala, Haryana. Prem Singh has quietly been solving many day to day problems that dog us every day. At the age of 18, he prepared a multi-functional robot that he calls the ‘BSF Robot.’ Prem Singh came up with a grassroots robot comprising 18 sensors, 45 chips, 6 motors and more than 200 transistors. The robot is equipped with two rockets, can move independently and at the same time remote controlled, can light a match, detect oxygen and also transmit video images wireless to TV. Thus, if there was a damaged building, this robot would let us know the situation underneath debris through wireless communication on b/w TV screen. This innovation received the Presidential award from National Innovation Foundation in 2003. Numerous young men and women come to serve the county through the armed forces. Many of them combat the enemy and die unknown. “It is sad,” rues Prem Singh. “I wanted to prepare a gadget that can replace human life to undertake the dangerous military functions in the borders, so that many lives can be saved,” adds Prem Singh. There were no takers for his outlandish sounding ideas at that time, yet nothing deterred this determined young man. He created what he believed in after months of experimentation.
The list of Prem Singh’s innovation is both impressive and interesting. 'Since I made my robot, I have visualised nearly 500 other devices. Some of them are completed, others are in the stage of prototype and yet others merely at the level of ideas', informs Prem Singh. A lanky youth of 27, Prem Singh has an air of vulnerability about him. Son of a junior railway employee, he wears his achievements lightly. His restless mind can be gauged from the restlessness in his eyes. He hands are seldom still, searching or working with something all the time.
Lately, Prem Singh has designed a cellular phone operated switch for electrical/electronic equipments. The device is meant to switch on or off electronic equipments through mobile phones. Unlike the gadget made by the students of Nirma University that uses the short messaging service to control the electronic flow, my gadget uses the mobile network only for an outgoing missed call to control the electronics of the gadgets. Since it’s only a ‘missed call’, my system is more cost effective. Secondly sms can get delayed due to network congestion, resulting in inefficiency. There is no such possibility with my system. Either the call goes through or it doesn’t, clarifies Prem Singh.
Enquiries about the genesis of the ideas are answered with a chuckle. “Somehow I am quite defence-minded. One fine morning I called up Prof. Gupta of NIF and told him that I have devised a cellular driven system for bomb explosion for our defence forces. Professor chided me and told that I only think of destruction. He told me to think of something positive and hence the idea for this product originated”, replied Singh. His penchant for user-friendly, cost-effective electronic solutions engulfs a wide range of creations like a hand operated mobile charger, cycle operated mobile charger, automatic sensor, anti-collision device for trains, mutual inductance radio detection system for cars etc.
This impressive list of sophisticated gadgets in Prem Singh’s portfolio should not lead anyone to assume that he is a trained engineer. He is just a matriculate and essentially self-taught. 'I fell in love with electronic gadgets early in life. My brother owned a small electronic shop. I used to carry lunch for him and later used to ask a lot of questions on the electronic instruments kept there. He did not enjoy feeding my curiosity, but I never stopped. I have been fascinated with electronics ever since then', says Prem Singh with a sense of déjà vu. “His thought process is quite unique. Unlike engineers who are bound by the principles and theories of electronics and instrumentation, Prem Singh challenges them outright and starts from the requirement. There lies his success story', explains Lalmuanzuala Chinzah of National Innovation Foundation.
Prem Singh confesses that he designs only those products that appeal to him. Does market preference guide him? 'Well, honestly, I have never been inspired by market. I design only those products which, I feel will make the life of thousands of people easier. Some of the products might be market friendly but all of them are human-friendly', explains Prem Singh. It was sheer good will that motivated him to design the Heart-beat amplifier. “I had a neighbour who used to work in Delhi. He came back home and got severely ill. Despite a compounder attending on him, he died the next day. Later, people came to know that he had suffered a heart attack and the compounder could not diagnose it properly', narrated a rueful Prem Singh, with a long sigh. This incident prompted him to think of a device that could transmit the heart sounds to a doctor far away.
The ensuing device is quite simple. A stethoscope is connected to an amplifier which in turn is attached to a transmitter. There is a receiver at the other end. The machine is attached to the patients in the ward and the doctor can keep a tab on the patients through the receiver placed in his cabin. When confronted that such a device is already available in the market, he retorts, “There
is an essential difference between the devices that are available in the market and the one designed by me. My system uses an FM transmitter and hence it can be used inside a house, even in remote places. It is also cheaper.”
'Adaptability and cost-effectiveness is the essential difference between a professional electronic designer and a grassroots designer like Prem Singh', explains Chinzah. 'Professional designers begin with market needs. They come up with products or solutions which cater to the market demands. Then they zero in on the product/ solution that give optimum benefit. However, grassroots innovators are mostly driven by a sense of general goodwill. Though they also could be focused on specific societal problems. They can infact, take the risk of designing solutions to meet the need of even a single person', explains Chinzah.
Prem Singh is addicted to his innovation spirit. Asked when would he think of becoming an entrepreneur, he says, 'May be after twenty years. There are so many ideas bubbling up in my mind. I can’t rest until they materialize'. If this is a characteristic of all innovators- a zest for conquering impossible, dreams that elude common eyes, not too many considerations and just the spirit that says ‘Just do it!’, then Prem Singh is no odd man.
Regarding any repentance in life for not having received formal education, or making money, or even a regular 9 to 5 job, or leaving his family behind, Prem Singh says wistfully, 'It does hurt at times that so much space and resources are given to military, police, and the bureaucracy for meetings, discussions and so many other things but there is no space for creative people'. Pointing to his small workshop in the premises of Gujarat Grassroots Innovation Augmentation Network (GIAN), Prem Singh concludes with
saying 'creativity thrives upon encouragement'.
There are several Prem Singh’s tucked away in the rural heartlands of India. It is imperative that we find them on a war footing, besides encouraging several others to lead from the front – both, by finding solutions to everyday problems and bringing such people to the forefront.
(For feedback and information about innovators, write to us at honeybee@sristi.org. You can write to Prem Singh at inventorprem@yahoo.com)
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| Volume No. |
Honey Bee, 17(1) & (2): 5-8, 2006 |
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