KOCHI: Dismal roads and trailing traffic gridlocks have taken commuters for a rickety ride. This in turn has expanded exponentially the market for gearless vehicles in the country.
Taking cue from the change in the market sentiments, Bisko Labs, a Kochi-based startup, has come up with an Intelligent Gear Transmission (IGT) Technology for motorcycles. IGT, once installed, will convert any geared two-wheeler into automatic mode, without altering the performance of the vehicle.
“We have applied for patent rights for the product, the work on which began in2012. We have been conducting test runs for the past one and a half years, covering over 20,000 km on road, says Vivek Mohan, CEO and co-founder of Bisko Labs.
Established two years ago and angel funded by Guerrilla Ventures founded by Dr Ritesh Malik, Bisko Labs focuses on development of hardware products which redefines the daily life. During his college days at Cusat, Vivek had always been keen on experimenting with different concepts.
Thus was borne the hacked version of the Quadcopter. Quadcopters are multi-rotorcopters with four arms, each having a motor and a propeller at their ends. He had modified the remote controlled quadcopter into a gesture-controlled mechanism, gaining applause from tech domain.
A fourth-year mechanical engineering student of Fisat, Angamaly, Alfred John is the managing director and co-founder of Bisko Labs. Magic Plotter, a highly precise moveable robot that can plot or draw on any kind of surface with high accuracy, is the brainchild of Alfred.
It can be programmed to draw patterns or images according to preset instructions. Alfred had also worked as a guest engineer with Fermilab in Chicago on the pilot programme ‘Intern Me’ of Lab-X Foundation.IGT Technology With IGT, any geared two wheeler can be converted into a gearless vehicle with the same comfort provided by an automatic transmission vehicle. Depending on the model, the price would range between Rs 3,000 to Rs 5,000.
“We are in touch with prominent automobile firms for the manufacture and marketing of this technology. After entering into a tie-up with automobile manufacturing firms, the IGT will be marketed as a company fitted mechanism,” says Alfred.
He adds that IGT technology will also be replicated on cars with normal manual gear system in the near future. After getting the approval of Automotive Research Association of India (ARAI) the IGT mechanism can also be installed in the existing models of motorcycles.
According to Vivek, the IGT technology, which is a much faster one, will not have an impact on the mileage and won’t affect the gear system of the vehicle. The IGT identifies the driving style of the rider and shifts gear automatically with the variations in speed, he says. The company is on a massive drive to collect potential customer database for the IGT. Interested parties can preorder the product on the website www.igt.bisko.in for queries, mail to igt@bisko.in or call 91-8547070940.