From automated truck loading to kitchen gloves

During the pandemic lockdown, as more men shared domestic workloads, Venkatesh Prasad used the extra time he had at home to design an automated glove for cleaning utensils. The glove is equipped with sensors, a soap dispenser, and a rotating power scrubber, and draws water from a bucket powered by a motor and cables.

Venkatesh says the glove ensures spotless cleaning – better than most dishwashers – optimal water usage, and reduces cleaning time by half. His innovation wowed not only his wife, but also TCS, where Venkatesh is head of product design, manufacturing and smart machines. TCS went on to file a patent for the device.

Venkatesh has created over 130 products, special purpose machines, complex tooling, and fixtures, and has filed 110 global patents. He did his Bachelor’s in industrial and production engineering from BMS College in Bengaluru, and went on to do a product development course at Stanford University, US. Robotics had always piqued his interest, and early in his career, he began developing end-of-arm tools, the equipment at the end of a robotic arm that interacts with parts and components.

At TCS, where he’s been for more than 20 years now, one of Venkatesh’s valuable patents has been on an automated truck loading and unloading system. In warehouses, a 40-foot container truck is typically loaded with about 3,000 carton boxes, an extremely labour intensive and costly process. The TCS system has a robotic pick-and-place system in conjunction with a telescopic conveyor that is installed on telescopic rails, and all this is mounted on a mobile robot. When a truck arrives, the door opens, and this telescopic system starts loading the parcels. The system’s main advantage over rival systems is that it allows a sensor-controlled robotic arm to move inside the truck without contacting it. So, it is suitable for even small trucks with limited payload capacity and ensures an efficient and error-free process.

“Everyone can innovate. All it requires is a ?can do’ attitude,” says Venkatesh. When you have an idea, he says, you should be open to collaborate. “Discuss with others, don’t hesitate to take others’ views,” he says.

He suggests that you should keep working on a number of ideas. “Reflect on whether it is a success or failure. Don’t give up if there are failures early on. Failure at the beginning is a learning. An idea may ultimately end up in failure too, but that’s ok,” he says. Over time, he says, you need to mature yourself by continuous learning to a stage where you visualise ideas that will make a big impact.

“Most of my patented products are also manufactured, and it makes me happy to see them moving materials in Europe and other countries,” says Venkatesh, who, during the Covid lockdown, also created a foldable e-trike that can go inside the x-ray baggage scanner in Metro stations, potentially making commutes from home to office hassle-free.