Students build 3-wheeler with cost-cutting edge

Water as fuel

Students of MVJ College of Engineering (MVJCE) in the City have developed a ‘hybrid tricycle’ which runs on water and LPG, in the ratio 80:20. The invention increases fuel efficiency, besides bringing down hydrocarbon emissions.|

The team - comprising Ashok M, Jagadish Gunde, Mahantesh Hiremath and Manoj of the Mechanical Engineering Department - claims that the tricycle is cheaper than conventional vehicles.

Team leader and final year student Ashok said it was equipped with a HHO (abbreviation for two parts hydrogen and one part oxygen) generator kit that produces energy by breaking down the Hydrogen-Oxygen bond through electrolysis. The HHO gas is blended with LPG at air intake to improve combustion efficiency and increase horse power, he said.

Jagadish, another team member, said that the tricycle can also be used for transporting heavy goods or serve as a passenger autorickshaw. The hydrocarbon emissions come down from 14.9 per cent (in conventional vehicles) to 0.6 per cent (in the tricycle).

Mahantesh said the technology does not replace gas with water, but enhances efficiency of the gas-based engine by utilising energy released through HHO technology.

Human mouse

Another group of students of the college has developed a ‘human mouse,’ which is a head-controlled keyboard and mouse input device for paralysed users. This project was conceptualised and the device was built by a team of four students - Amrit G, Anupam, Lalan Kumar and Saket.

Amrit said the system uses accelerometers to detect the user's head tilt in order to direct mouse movement on the monitor. The click of the mouse is activated by the user's eye blink through a sensor. The keyboard function is implemented by allowing the user to scroll through letters with head tilt and with eye blinking as the selection mechanism, he said.

Anupam, another team member, said an interface system has been developed that allows a similarly paralysed user to interact with a computer with almost full functional capability. In other words, the system operates as a mouse initially, but the user will have the ability to toggle in and out of a keyboard mode allowing the entry of text.

This is achieved by using the control from a single eye, tracking the position of the pupil for direction and using blinking as an input.