Animatronics originates from the words anima and electronics. Anima means to animate, while electronics provides the control parameters for the movements. Animatronics refers to the use of robotic devices to emulate a human or an animal or bring lifelike characteristics to an otherwise inanimate object. A robot designed to be a convincing imitation of a human is more specifically labelled as an android. Modern animatronics have found widespread applications in movie special effects and theme parks and, since their inception, have been primarily used as a spectacle of amusement.

Animatronics is a multi-disciplinary field that integrates anatomy, robots, mechatronics, and puppetry, resulting in lifelike animation. Animatronic figures are often powered by pneumatics, hydraulics, and/or electrical means and can be implemented using both computer control and human control, including remote operation. Motion actuators are often used to mimic muscle movements and create realistic motions in limbs. Figures are covered with body shells and flexible skins made of hard and soft plastic materials and finished with details like colours, hair, feathers, and other components to make the figure more realistic.

Intravenous injections have been used in the medical industry for various drug deliveries. Locations for conducting venipuncture are hospitals, pathology labs, dispensaries, etc. A key issue in this procedure lies in finding a suitable spot for injection. Many individuals face difficulties as their vein is not visible or close enough to the surface for a successful venipuncture. A vein detection device was made by Trivikram Annamalai, an IDC ex-student, in 2014. This project takes the technical learnings from the development of the vein detector and targets a specific user segment—kids—owing to their special requirements and constraints.

Kids, owing to their soft epidermal tissues and thin bones, allow for red light (in the near infrared region) to pass through their palms and make the venal structure visible on the back of the hand. This aspect, along with ethnographic observations from the hospital about the way paediatric patients are handled for a venipuncture, led to the development of a doctor- and patient-friendly form. The final design includes the following:

Ambadi, globally known as Roselle (scientific name: Hibiscus sabdarifa), is a nutritional herb with various health and economic benefits stemming from the processing of its various parts. Over the past few years, the importance of Indian rosehip has re-emerged as a nutritional and medicinal herb. Global demands have skyrocketed for its healthy Hibiscus tea. It is envisioned that Indian rosella reaches a higher economic potential to match that of Malaysia, China, and Africa. The current bottleneck lies in optimising the separation process so that more produce can be made from the 10-day annual cultivation season. Hence, this project aims at bringing in a design intervention for enhancing production while exploring MSME and SHG style set ups to enterprise the crop and bring benefit to the farmer and associated channels at large.

The plant’s morphology and vernacular nomenclature were first observed, along with gathering all available information about the dimensions of the varieties under cultivation. Through the RuTAG team and the project guide’s network in Vidharbha region, two enterprises were found: one was an institute for village initiatives, and the other was an entrepreneur who has India’s first FSSAI licence for Ambadi Tea. The two economic models were thoroughly studied for their approaches to labour, logistics, and quality. Desk research about Roselle’s development in Florida, Sudan, Kenya, and Malaysia was done, along with understanding the basics of food post-processing. Two commercial retailers from e-commerce websites were also contacted to seek bottlenecks for the industry in general.

The task at hand was to reduce the drudgery in the calyx removal process of Ambadi, and initial ideations, including sketches and mockups, were done much before the harvesting period so as to get primary feedback from stakeholders while doing an initial field visit. This helped us have very involved conversations with the enterprise heads, and the modifiable nature of the mockups helped us quickly iterate based on feedback.