Students of Aditya Birla World Academy robotics team called Binary Bolts have designed an innovative device ‘SAATHI’ for senior citizens. SAATHI is a smart wrist band that has been developed with the objective of motivating the elderly citizens to prioritize their health.

According to the school’s press release the idea was developed for the First Robotics Competition Qualcomm Innovation Challenge where these students won a semi-finalist award. The team took the idea further by developing prototypes of the watch and conducted efficacy research. The students wrote a white paper based on their invention and it was published in the International Journal of Software & Hardware Research in Engineering (IJSHRE). The students feel that it has become crucial for elderly citizens to take care of their physical and social wellbeing and the core aim of the project was to encourage the elderly to stay active with friends and family with the help of technology that offers simple and convenient use.

According to the World Health Organization, back and neck discomfort, osteoarthritis (wearing down of joints), pulmonary disorders (affecting the lungs), diabetes, and depression are the most well- known ailments among elderly persons. Physical activities address nearly all of these ailments, ensuring that even the elderly can remain healthy and happy. Taking charge on supporting senior citizens to become more aware about their physical health, students Vibhav Singh, Aadit Shah, Rishne Jain, Neer Mehta & Ishaan Makharia initiated the project to help the elders make healthy decisions to boost their physical fitness and reduce their risk of illness.

SAATHI can be easily paired with a mobile app and consists of two primary parts: a band that fits around the wrist like a watch and an app that connects with people who have similar fitness demands, activity types, and locations. Older adults can create goals and challenges for themselves, review the previous exercise, and make groups with friends as well as strangers with similar fitness interests. SAATHI provides individuals with complete control over their fitness in a hassle-free and convenient way as the interface of the smart wrist band and the mobile app is quite easy to use.

Commenting on the device and its USPs, Vibhav Singh, Innovation Challenge team leader for BInary Bolts, a grade 11 IBDP student said, “Walking, which was the primary source of exercise for the elderly, was put on hold due to the pandemic. We recognised an opportunity to innovate, to address this challenge, and thought of SAATHI, which means companion in Hindi. We believe that by motivating people to stay active, we will be able to support the elderly to lead a healthy lifestyle which has become more crucial than ever. Hence, we focused on features such as recording of the individual’s fitness activity, access to join small fitness groups, personalized fitness goals, etc. We are optimistic that this project will revolutionise fitness levels of the senior citizens and significantly improve their physical and emotional health.”

Neerja Birla, Founder & Chairperson, Aditya Birla Education Trust said, “I am incredibly proud of our students at Aditya Birla World Academy who devised this initiative to support the elderly population in taking care of their physical and mental wellbeing. This is a wonderful moment for us because it shows that the students are proactive in recognising problems at a young age and taking various steps to help the society at large. I am looking forward to witnessing great innovations from Binary Bolts.”

The students brought the device plan into a reality with the support of Reetu Jain, Vikramjeet Singh and Shekhar Jain from On My Own Technology Private Limited, Mumbai, India. In addition, ABWA FRC team, Binary Bolts had also conducted an outreach program Rocket Didi to encourage girl students to participate in the field of STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering & Mathematics)

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