THIRUVANANTHAPURAM: The students of Barton Hill Engineering College have come up with an adaptive trolley e-drive to take patients to the doctor quickly in trolleys in hospitals.

It also received the Gandhian Young Technological Innovation Award of the Department of Science and Technology for Technological Innovations. The Award will be presented by the President at the Festival of Innovations in Delhi in March 2025. The construction is being done in collaboration with the Sree Chitra Institute.

The three-wheeled e-trolley will be attached to the back of the trolley. The battery-powered motor has a switch to start and off and take it in reverse. The trolley will move when the e-trolley is turned on. There is an accelerator, like on the scooter, to increase the speed. The controller inside the wheel will control the speed. It can carry up to 250 kg. The patient's IV line can be hung on the one-meter-high pillar on the device. It can reach a top speed of 8 km/h. The speed has been set at 3 kmph for the safety of the patient. Patients can board the lift with a trolley and the e-drive.

Will reach the market

It is being manufactured at the BartonHill Lab. The test at SCT was also successful. The technology of e-drive was handed over to the Coasis Company, which is being set up in Kerala by a voice technology company based in Singapore. Aneesh K John, a teacher at Barton Hill, said it will hit the market soon. The team comprises mechanical students A Arjun, Jayakrishnan C, Gautham Sai Krishna, Aparna Govind who passed out last year and final year student Ayush Arun.

Dr Aneesh K John, Dr Rajeev Rajan, Dr Dinesh Gopinath and Srikanth P who are teachers and Sreelal S, Dr Smita V, Dr Subin Sukesan, Dr Prashanthakumar Dash, Krishna Sharma S and Dr Arun Anirudhan of SCT also helped in the construction.