Thiruvananthapuram :

Remember those good old days when we used to yell out loud ‘I am Spiderman’, mimicking his each and every move, reciting his famous dialogues, yet disappointingly not making it to the gravity-defying Spidey climb! Seems like the students of Marian Engineering College, Thiruvananthapuram, have an answer to our woes!

As a part of their final year project (B Tech Mechanical Engineering), Dheeraj Sudesh M, R Aditya, Selva Manoj R and Sooraj K built a ‘vacuum assisted climber’ under the guidance of Ajith C Menon, assistant professor in the department. “Top twenty videos of the ‘You have been warned’ series kindled the idea in us,” said Selva Manoj, one of the team members.

This project which works against gravity enables one to climb any wall – be it glass, brick or concrete, claim the students. It works on the principle of suction created by the vacuum motors with the help of impellers placed within them. The user can scale his way up by means of a pressure release mechanism with the assistance of two suction pads attached to the backpack and foot stirrups. The machine can climb efficiently up to an height of 30 metres, the students said. However, due to safety considerations they had to limit their testing to ten metres in the college premises.

The machine, which cost around Rs 25,000, works on direct AC current and on a voltage of 220 Volts. It has an extension cord of four metres attached to the backpack to connect it to power supply. The product finds application in military, construction and rescue operations, Sooraj K, the team leader, said. The students said they would like to work further on the product to make it noise-free. This project, which is graded as one of the best one under the Marian Innovation Technology along with two other projects, received a financial aid of Rs 5,000.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> Cities> Thiruvananthapuram / by Express News Service / April 26th, 2016