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| Sunday, 14 December 2003 |
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by Farah Macan Markar
Channa wasn't given normal toys as a kid. He was given tool kits and hammers. It's what his cousins and aunts gave for his birthdays. His grandest gift, an electric drill given by his father for his tenth birthday. Using whatever raw material he'd dig up in the house Channa would try fix things together. In grade 8 at the age of 14 he made his first creation. An Anti Theft Device for valuable museum pieces. Made for an exhibition organized by the Kegalle Education Department, it enables people to view the items close, yet working on shadow sensitivity could be used to set off alarms, lock doors and switch on video tapes. R.A.Channa Ranwaka today is 19 years and he's the Junior Inventor Of The Year (JIOTY) 2003, in the (JIOTY) Competition organized by the Sri Lanka Institute Of Engineers Sri Lanka. His award winning invention-The MCO-Mouse, a mouth and chin operated computer mouse for the disabled and handicapped. The traditional mouse available in Sri Lanka requires the operator to use his hands. This is a denial of the computer world to those who cannot use it due to paralysis or amputation of the upper limbs. Channa does not want the disabled to be cut off from a world which has become a part of everyday life for other people. He invented the MCO-Mouse.
In 2002, Channa got 5th place in the (JIOTY) Competition, for his creation of a Convertible Mosquito Net (CMN) for the disabled. Through the simple pressing of a switch located at the foot or head of the bed, the box shape net can be pulled over and pulled out. It also leaves enough space inside so the person won't get entangled or irritated by it. Channa wants to create inventions to help the disabled help themselves so that they can lead an independent life. There's a school and home for the disabled children at Ambanpitiya, his hometown. Channa has been to it many times and met youth of his own age, unable to do the many things he can, for their disability. About his invention of the MCO-Mouse Channa says "The children in that school have seen computers all around them. But they cannot use them. I don't want the disabled to be cut off from the computer world. I hope my Mouse will help them in this". It is already in a small way, for every now and then a friend or two, as he calls them, from the home will come to his house to have a go at the computer through the use of the MCO-Mouse. "There are Mouses for the disabled abroad" says Channa, "But they are hardly available and very expensive". The cost of Channa's Mouse, is not more than 500 rupees. He wants to market it here and has already applied for its patent rights. When Channa's at work, his room's a mess filled up with nails, screw drivers, hammers, wires, pieces of metal and pieces of plastic. All those instruments of creation. During the CMN making time, there were no curtains in the house as Channa had taken out their hand rails. He's confined to his room all day, and often looses patience when reminded of everyday things like to come eat his meals. His mother and he constantly are at war and he dreams of his creations at night. Channa's invention of the CMN has an interesting story behind it. Before doing it for the competition he started it off as his Individual Project for his A'levels. His initial idea for the CMN however began at home, with the problems he faced with His Mosquito Net and His Mother. "I hated having to pull that thing out and fold it back up again in the morning. My mother would constantly shout at me for not doing it. I wanted to make something that would help me escape from this daily hassle" he says. Born on June 29th, 1984, Channa's schooling at Kegalle Maha Vidyalaya. He' currently busy studying for his A'levels which he's to sit next April. He's doing Maths. Thus any inventions at present have had to come to a stop. Still although may not be able to get down and do it, it does not stop this young Inventor from thinking, dreaming and creating in his mind. "I've already come up with seven ideas" he says. Careful planning, checking the positive and negatives, playing with the designs and coming up with various ideas is how Channa like to work. He's not one of those Inventors by Chance. He's a Thinker. "I give the matter a lot of study before actually getting down to making it. That's my way". While he still wants to create inventions to help the disabled, his passion is for automobiles. Mechanical Designing. As he grows up Channa wants to be an Engineer, but not the traditional Sri Lankan one. "I don't want to just sit behind a desk all day. I want to think, design and invent. Engineering should create a job. Not be the job". |
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| Produced by Lake House |
He loves creating with his hands. From small days his fingers would
maketh and breaketh things in the house. At 1 1/2 years he would take a
screw driver and remove all the nails from the doors and windows. He had a
little hammer which placed in his destructive hands would break whatever
he could find. He even wanted it to have a longer handle so he could reach
things in the top. The whole house would be and still is often turned
upside down. Still his parents never discouraged him.
Channa's had this idea for about 2 years before actually getting down
to make it, which took just a week. "I was planning and playing with
the design in my mind" says Channa who believes the MCO-Mouse is the
ultimate result from a long though out mental creation. In the MCO-Mouse,
scrolling the mouse ball is done by the movements of the chin of the
operator. Right and left clicking is done by the use of teeth and tongue.
Thus the operation of the MCO-Mouse requires only the movements of the
mouth and neck. It does not tap on the computer memory, nor disturb the
software application and can be used on any computer in the world.
