Just when the incidents of rape and molestation are so uprising and highlighted in our country, Siddharth Mandala, a 17-year-old young software developer, has designed ‘ElectroShoe’ that will help women to protect themselves from rapists and sex offenders.
Siddharth, the only son of Sreeram Mandala and Sashikala Mandala, and like many of us was he was too thrown by the Nirbhaya gang rape in 2012.
Despite the fact that he was just a twelve-year-old kid then, he had voluntarily taken part in the protest and vowed to do something to help women from becoming victims of such heinous crimes.
Therefore with all the efforts, he could put in, Siddharth has developed this entire product from scratch with the basic Physics and coding he learned at school.
Due to its productivity and usefulness that can be legally tampered by many companies, Siddharth has applied for a patent on the product and is working to make it more appealing in the mainstream market space.
So how does this product work?
According to Siddharth, the shoe will inflict 0.1 amp electricity and electrocute the perpetrator. At the same time, it will also send out an alert message to police officials and family.
Talking about the technology involved in designing the shoe, Siddharth said:
The shoe was created using a unique circuit board that uses footsteps to charge itself with the help of a concept called the “piezoelectric effect”. The more the user walks, the more energy is generated and stored in a rechargeable battery.
After obtaining the patent, Siddharth has plans to approach startup incubators in Hyderabad to understand how to make the shoe more viable and productivity when it comes to monetizing this in the mainstream arena.
And it took two years for him to successfully complete designing the shoe.
He further states:
The basic idea was that it had to be something that women would have with them all the time. Women might forget to carry tasers or other protective devices, but no one forgets to wear shoes before they step out. It was very challenging for me to think of a solution dealing with footwear. My product is basically a prototype. I’m still figuring out ways to make the shoe water resistant and overcome other limitations.
