Student's innovation can make vehicles turn safely

Chennai: In an accident that took place in Madurai on Sa­tu­r­d­ay, the reckless driver of a bus turned a corner without reducing the speed of the vehicle. The vehicle ov­er­turned and a woman lost her left hand in the accid­e­nt. Many a time news items ca­rry the intriguing line th­at ‘the driver lost control of the vehicle while turning’. Help is on its way to make such incidents history.

A group of B.Tech third year (Mechanical Engin­eering) students from VIT, Ch­­ennai campus, have co­me up with a simple but ef­fective solution to prevent su­ch accidents. The stude­nts have connected the ca­r’s steering to the brake sy­s­tem, which would slow do­wn the vehicle when it turns more than a particular angle.

“We have seen several acc­idents happen when people drive fast without applying brakes at turnings and cr­ash on to vehicles or people. This made us work on an automated solution, which will slow down the car wh­en it turns at more than a specific angle,” Kanabar Viral, one of the innovators, said.

Pratik Rachchh, another member of the team, went on to explain that when an automobile makes a turn, the differential allows driving a pair of wheels to rota­te at different speeds.

“We connect steering wh­eel to brakes mechanically in such a way that the rotation of the steering column results in applying brakes on the side in which the car turns. Braking effect will be minimal so as to reduce the speed but not stop it fully. This will enable the driver to make sharp turns at high speeds with great ease and better stability,” Aditya Vasudev Rao, part of the team, said.

Kothari Anshul, the fou­rth team member, chipped in to take the discussion for­ward. “We have used two brake pedals each on either side of the wheel and the brake fluid will flow to separate cylinders in tandem,” he added. The team has spent less than '50,000 to develop the system, which they plan to patent and commercia­lise soon.

G.V. Selvam, vice-president, VIT University, said the university sets aside ma­­jor funds for students research. “We are committed to do society-oriented re­­s­earch. So, we have allocated a large chunk of mo­ney for research, especially students’, and we believe that high-quality research combined with good quality teaching will help us take on universities abroad,” he said.