17-year-old creates smart spoon to help Parkinson’s patients

Aarrav Anil, a 17-year-old from India, created a smart spoon to reduce hand tremors and help people with Parkinson’s disease. The invention appeared in 2022 and according to The keeperhis inspiration was his uncle Arjun, who suffered from Parkinson’s disease.

The sight of a young man seeing his uncle eating and shaking a spoon suddenly inspired the young man to take up robotics. ABOUT The keeper explains that the young man “locked himself in a room with microcontrollers, sensors, motors and a 3D printer.” The result is a smart spoon prototype that is currently being tested at the College of Physiotherapy in Bengaluru.

The spoon is powered by batteries and sensors that detect shocks on one side of the body while activating movement on the other side, dampening vibrations and keeping the spoon stable.

The young man’s uncle tried out the original design and advised him to make the handle of the spoon harder, as he felt that it was slipping out of his hands while eating.

Aarrav says he was “fine-tuning design according to the teachers’ reaction – it must be waterproof so that it can be washed without damaging all the electronic components inside; it should be removable so that it can be cleaned and replaced with a fork; and the spoon should be deeper to hold more food.”

The spoon project won an award in the future innovator category at the World Robot Olympiad in Germany last year, inspiring and inspiring a young Indian to create a spoon prototype.

The young man says that at first, “it was frustrating that I couldn’t find the electronic parts I needed in India. I had to order some from China and they took a long time to arrive.”

The college’s testing and design verification process is due to be completed in early 2024, and it is expected that the young man will subsequently be able to produce the spoon on a small scale and initially for hospitals.

However, the design of the smart spoon is not completely original. Some American companies are already selling something similar. The difference between the companies and Aarrav is that instead of costing $200 (about 190 euros) a spoon is estimated to cost around $80 (about 76 euros) to become more affordable for everyone.

Aarrav finally explains to the newspaper that his goal is for all families with Parkinson’s to have the opportunity to have this smart spoon. He says his uncle’s words still ring in the young man’s mind: “Who would have thought that something so small could mean the difference between dignity and humiliation?”

It is estimated that more than seven million people in India suffer from Parkinson’s disease. Symptoms vary and include gradual damage to parts of the brain, involuntary tremors and muscle stiffness.