Bengaluru-based mechanical engineer designs AC helmet for rider’s comfort

Riding bikes in the Indian summer is quite a difficult task, more so because of helmets. The helmet keeps riders safe while riding bike, but the heat and suffocation after wearing it, is a big problem. So in order to make the heat bearable and adhere to the traffic rules, a mechanical engineer from Bangalore has come out with a solution.

Sandeep Dahiya, director with a multinational company, has designed an air-conditioned helmet that will keep the head cool while riding a two-wheeler. Sandeep is fond of making user-friendly products. He took four-and-half years and 8 prototypes to achieve the final product- ‘Vatanukul’, what he calls ‘perfect product’. Vatanukul works on DC power 12 volts, supplied by the bike battery. He developed this product at the garage-turned-workshop of his RT Nagar residence.

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When asked about the reason behind this invention, Dahiya stated that he is a rider himself and he totally relates to the suffocation under the helmet.

"The sight of two-wheeler riders taking off their helmets and putting them on the fuel tank of their vehicles while waiting at traffic signals is what drove me to design Vatanukul. I am a rider myself. When the helmet's visor is closed, there is no air and it becomes suffocating, though it may be life-saving. So, I decided to come up with a user-friendly helmet," Dahiya said.

Sandeep further explained on how Vatanukul works. It weighs not more than 2kgs and is divided into two parts- the first has rubber tubes for air circulation inside the helmet; the second is the wear-on unit which is like a backpack. The wear on unit has a reverse thermo couple, heat exchanger, control and blower unit. The heat exchanger has a semiconductor that helps in either dropping or increasing the temperature. The helmet requires no external energy and is connected to a remote-like handy AC control device.

Dahiya uses the helmet while riding to his office from his RT Nagar home in Bengaluru, and he is testing it for a month now. He told, 'Many people ask me what I carry on my back and when I tell that this is an AC helmet, people are shocked.

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