CHENNAI: S Kavin Prabhu, a third-year mechanical engineering student and son of a farmer in the remote Rasichettipalayam village in Pollachi, has designed the cheapest and smallest four-axis Computerised Numerical Control (CNC) machine using locally-sourced scrap. CNC machines, used in manufacturing industry, carve objects out of plastic, metal, and wood, among others by following a piece of computer code.
The 15x10 cm machine is capable of micro-machining miniature statues on a piece of chalk. Kavin is trying to upgrade it to carve designs on aluminium and plastic to suit industrial needs. He is also exploring the possibility of patenting the prototype with the help of Vellore Institute of Technology’s (VIT) patent cell.About 90% of the palm-sized prototype’s components are scrap, including parts from a discarded DVD writer, PVC pipes, old bearings, and bolts and nuts. The only item purchased is an Arduino microcontroller. The key attractions are its size, low power consumption, and optimised design.
Kavin started working on the project during the second wave of Covid-19 in March 2021, when he had to stay indoors. He collected scrap from nearby electronic shops to try out new things.“I shortlisted a few projects and finally decided to design the cheapest four-axis CNC machine. It cost me just Rs 1,500. A regular table-top CNC machine costs about Rs 2 lakh.”M Manikandan, associate professor, VIT, said: “The project’s uniqueness is size, compactness, low-cost materials used, and scalability, but a lot more has to be done for it to be patented and have industrial applications. We are working on it.”
Kavin said he wanted to be an entrepreneur and was looking for an opportunity to optimise the design. He has also developed an automatic portrait sketching machine, pothole detector, bone-conduction hearing aid, fire alarm, and automatic gate operator. All are made of discarded objects. “I developed most of them to solve real-life problems and compete in science fairs. But I haven’t been able to take my products to the masses,” he said.
Kavin is also an automobile mechanic, a passion got from his father M Sundararaj, a farmer and automobile mechanic. Kavin has handled vehicles as big as an excavator, and has made an electro-mechanical pump for his 110 cc scooter.