Handwashing has become sort of a mantra for people in the wake of the COVID-19 pandemic. Now, a bunch of engineers in the city have come up with low-cost automatic hand sanitiser dispensers that make sanitising easy and convenient.
Alphavogue, a start-up by a graduate of Government Engineering College, Barton Hill, has embarked on production of the automatic sanitiser dispensers that can be wall mounted or placed on a table, thus doing away with the need to dispense them to each person, especially in places such as hospitals and offices.
Alphavogue team leader K.M. Abhijith says the college had bought an automatic hand sanitiser as part of the ‘Break the Chain’ initiative. However, not only was it expensive, the capacity too was inadequate, making refilling very difficult. Even dispensers available online were not any better.
It was then that the college Principal K. Suresh discussed the idea of developing a higher capacity dispenser at a low budget with the Alphavogue team, which comprises two other undergraduates Wazeer and Manu and 15 part-time interns, including Abhishek.
Within three days, the team fabricated a dispenser with a capacity of 2.5 litres at a cost of ₹3,500.
Made from an aryclic sheet that is 3 mm thick and is bent using heat, the dispenser made by Alphavogue was handed over to the college.
Refilling
Abhijith says a dispenser with a 2.5-litre capacity will not need frequent refilling. Moreover, unlike the commercially available dispensers that are mostly opaque, the dispenser manufactured by them is transparent, making it easy to keep track of the sanitiser levels.
The dispenser works on electricity. The micro-controller placed at the core of the dispenser controls the working with the aid of a motor, pump, and infra red sensor. Upon sensing the hand movement, the pump springs into action to automatically dispense the sanitiser.
Abhijith says a dispenser with five-litre capacity can be developed by them at a slightly higher cost, but will be made available at the same price as the 2.5-litre dispensers in the wake of the COVID-19 threat.
“We just want to recover the cost of the sensors and the labour. We are forgoing the rest.”
Manufacture of a battery-run version of the dispenser will be kicked off in the coming days.
