Useful innovation: T Bhargavi explaining about her new product, Cabtop, to mediapersons on Monday.
HYDERABAD: Every homemaker with a personal computer at home would have experienced it. The bulky CPU with bulkier monitor perched atop a custom-made desk with a keyboard slide, complete with a chair that is rarely used otherwise, is a set-up every housekeeper would hate to endure. Add the bunch of accompanying cables, and it becomes a clumsy sight, and an obstruction to any kind of cleaning process.
However, few homemakers have ever thought of solutions, like T. Bhargavi has. This barefoot innovator of plus-two education from a remote village of Chittoor district has wrought a few revolutionary changes in the desktop computer to make it compact, lighter, and less cumbersome.
Movable cabinet
No bigger than a briefcase, the Cabtop, as Ms. Bhargavi chose to call her innovation, has hard disk, switch mode, power supply system and CD ROM/DVD writer positioned at the base.
A movable cabinet rests over the base holds the TFT screen and the mother board behind. The cabinet rotates through a pivot, making it convenient to connect the monitor to other compatible devices.
The keyboard comes enclosed in a metal case that covers the monitor when not in use. A single AC input-supply to the display, keyboard as well as CPU rules out the ugly sight of hanging wires.
The size of the contraption varies between 17 and 21 inches depending on the size of the screen.
“I found it very difficult to sweep and mop behind my husband's computer. When I asked him why he can't get a laptop instead, he told me it would be difficult and expensive to re-configure a laptop to suit our changing requirements. After much thought, I arrived at this design,” Ms. Bhargavi said.
Approval and funding
Encouraged by her family, she went ahead and presented her idea to the Department of Science and Industrial Research for perusal under the Technopreneur Promotion Programme.
After technical and business evaluation by the screening committee, she got approval and funding of Rs.5 lakh for the development of a prototype.
The design was then shared with the hardware experts in Bangalore who took it as a challenge and worked to produce a functional prototype in metal sheets. Lab tests by the Central Mechanical Engineering Research Institute (CMERI) certified that the device is as good as a personal computer.
Waiting for investors
“Weight of Cabtop can be brought down from the present 10 kilograms once metal is replaced with plastic. Bulk production would need up to Rs.3crore and we are looking for investors,” Ms. Bhargavi said.
Priced at Rs.25,000, the Cabtop can be carried to any corner in a limited area such as home, and does not need custom-made furniture.
Ms. Bhargavi also offers to convert the existing desktops into Cabtops with an expenditure of Rs.2,000 - 7000.
