Makers Hive builds affordable bionic arm

Embedded with electromagnetic sensors, it can help upper limb amputees carry up to 8 kg weight.

Hyderabad: Imagine a hand that is straight out of movie ‘I, Robot’ doing everyday chores like picking up grocery bags or functions like a human hand. This is what Hyderabad-based Makers Hive has created through its bionic arm called KalArm. Designed for upper limb amputees, the bionic arm is multi-functional and affordable. Launched in December 2020, the multi-functional prosthetic arm is embedded with electromagnetic sensors, is lightweight and 3D printed and can help upper limb amputees carry weight till eight kgs.

Named after the founders’ inspiration Dr APJ Abdul Kalam, the device is a creation of three innovators Harsha Reddy Ponguleti, Pranav Vempati and Suren Marumamula.

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“Building products for a better tomorrow has always been my life goal. After completing my Bachelors in Electronics Technology from Loyola Academy in Hyderabad, I went to work with TCS in Chennai. That is where I learnt to collaborate with different teams on a variety of subjects like drones, robotics and 3D printing among others. That was where I met my mentor MS Swaminathan, a famous agricultural scientist and the father of Green Revolution,” said Pranav Vempati, who has featured in Forbes 30 Under 30 Asia list 2021.

Meeting Swaminathan changed the way Vempati viewed the world and the scientist made him realise that any product that we built must be useful for society. This led to him to cancel his plans of going abroad and build something indigenously. With a background in robotics and a need to change society led him to research about the disability space. This made him realise that the prosthetics being made in India were only for cosmetic purposes or the advanced ones were highly expensive.

“That is when we thought of building a low-cost, light weight and multi-functional bionic arm. And after researching and developing the product for two years, we were able to make our final product in December 2020. While Dr Kalam was our major inspiration, the other inspiration was from Indian Space Research Organisation (ISRO) which is able to make advanced innovations on par with NASA at one-tenth of the cost,” said Vempati.

KalArm costs Rs 3-4 lakh and has features like interchangeable panels for customisation, mobile app to monitor the performance, 18 pre-defined grips and it is a smart hand which means that it can be updated wirelessly. The company plans to partner with hospital chains and set up its own assembly line in the next 2-3 months which will have a capacity to make 1,500 hands per year. Currently, it has over 100 work orders. The startup plans to build advanced bionics like bionic eyes, skeleton and Parkinson’s gloves.

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