Next time, when you are in need of a physiotherapist, you might just find a solution at home without having to go to a hospital. How come, you ask? Here's the invention of 13-year-old Riddhima L Chukkapalli, ARMsio, the physiotherapy robot.
Riddhima, a Class IX student from Oakridge International School, Hyderabad has possibly made the future of the medical industry easier by inventing ARMiso. What's more? It even helped her bag the gold medal in the 2022 International Youth Robotics Competition (IYRC) in the senior robot design category (solo). Thailand, Russia, Malaysia and many other countries participated in it.
Nursing an ambition to become an orthopaedic surgeon, the first thing that came to mind for this young star was to come up with an instrument that can help people.
The young robotics engineer’s robot ARMsio aids in physiotherapy and rehabilitation services.
After surgeries, patients require physiotherapy sessions by a physiotherapist. The robot that has been developed can aid the physiotherapist. Here's how. The robotic arm must be strapped to the arm of the patient using the velcro straps. The robot moves the elbow and the wrist of the patient at angles ranging from 0 to 90 degrees, at set intervals. “The main benefit of ARMsio is that it can be accessed anywhere, anytime and as per the comfort of the patient,” says Riddhima.
“Being a dancer myself, I know how difficult it is to depend on someone when you get hurt and with ARMsio, one can access their own personal physiotherapist anytime, anywhere,” said Riddhima.
“I faced a number of issues when I had to take this idea from paper and make it work. I had to do a lot of research and only then was I able to successfully execute this idea,” added Riddhima about the challenges she faced during the making of this robot. In addition to being an expert in robotics, this youngster is also interested in Kuchipudi and playing the piano.
The teenage champion Riddhima, who has participated in two IYRCs previously, said, “It was really challenging to participate in this competition online. Looking at your competitors and the reaction of the judges while explaining about the robot is what motivated me, but now explaining everything to the camera felt a bit awkward.”
Riddhima, showed interest in robotics at a young age, when she was in Class V. Pursuing her interest was made possible due to the exposure provided at her school and the help of her cousins. She then decided to take her interest forward by enrolling at Leap Robots, Research and product development in Hyderabad. “My mentors at Leap Robots guided me a lot. They helped me with the structure of this design and I came up with the program," she said. “I really wish that this competition was held offline which would be another great exposure for me to meet students and dignitaries from different countries across the world,” added Riddhima.
The IYRC is an internationally-scaled robotics competition that has been held for the past few years that encourages youngsters to come up with innovative creations and also provides a variety of programmes.
