Binspired as the name suggests strives to bring to you stories that will make you sit up and take notice. It is contributing in bridging the gap between successful people and those in the making. Here's a platform where you can connect, discuss, network, and collaborate. We have one of such inspiring stories today, of a very bright, smart and enterprising young man Upamanyu Dey. The Government of India Ministry of Science & Technology, Department of Science & Technology have selected him under the INSPIRE Award Scheme for the Year 2020-21.

Here's in his own words an excerpt about the project he's working on.

“I got to know about this inspire manak award competition in October and then I submitted my project there and my project got selected”

Project Name: VCL [Voice Controlled Lift].

Applications: It can be used in public lifts like the ones in malls, housing societies, offices, railway stations, airports, etc.

 Benefits: The benefit of the proposed idea is that, in these times when COVID-19 infection is also being transmitted through ‘contact’ with infected persons or surfaces, we need to avoid coming in contact with such source of the virus and keep ourselves safe.

 A recent study found that level of bacteria on elevator buttons is 40 times higher than on public toilet seats. Thus, voice-operated lifts will help in avoiding contact with surfaces which may be a source of infection, and keep users safe.

Principle of the build:

- The basic idea is to make the whole process contact less

- To activate the lift a ‘hot word’ needs to be used, for example ‘Alexa’ in echo devices

- When the microphone picks up the hot word it will ask for the command to be executed which in this case will be the floor the user wants to go to or to open or close the door

- As there can be multiple users at the same time the program has to be able to able to accept multiple user inputs

- The inputs then need to be sorted in either ascending or descending order based on what floor the lift at that point may be i.e. if there are 8 floors and the lift is at the 6th floor the user inputs need to be sorted in descending order, this will make the process more power efficient

- In case of an emergency there has to be a backup power supply which would allow the build to function 

Now that's an incredible feat! It's inspiring to be amid such beautiful minds and we promise to keep you inspired. Watch this space for more such amazing stories from India and around the globe. Inspire and be inspired!