9th Grade Student Innovates Biometric Device to Minimize Miscarriages in Pregnant Women

“She has always been into social service and volunteer work.”

Rishita Samantaray’s mother Rohini Samantaray says this about her daughter during a detailed conversation with Startup Pedia.

A magician, a writer, a Rubik's solver, social worker - Rishita has donned many hats.

And she's just 14 years old! 

It all began when Rishita started raising a small fundraiser in her city - and donated the money to old age homes, elderly care institutions, and NGOs in Odisha. 

Meeting with people helped her understand the issues they faced and how their lives, in general, functioned. 

Talking to Startup Pedia, Rishita says, “Conducting fundraisers has acted as a trigger for me to get neck-deep into social service. There is something about helping people and making their lives better that makes me happy from within. My parents have always inculcated that value system too.”

It was around this time that Rishita’s house help’s daughter had a miscarriage. She was travelling to her village by bus one day - and there were jolts and bumps during the journey.

The result was her second miscarriage. Earlier too, the woman had suffered from public transport journeys.

According to Rishita, “Public transport is a very feasible option. But unfortunately, at present, it doesn't take into account the issues of pregnant women and people with disabilities. These people often find long journeys on buses very difficult, but they don't have any other option.”

“Also, the sad reality is that miscarriages in rural India aren't yet looked at from a scientific point of view. There's a deeply misogynistic approach that is taken. Women who go through miscarriages suffer from taunts by family members and other people are quick to label them as “bad luck” or “apshagun,” she adds while talking to Startup Pedia.

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AN IDEA SPARKED

Being witness to this whole ordeal of miscarriages, misogyny, and struggle, Rishita wondered how public travel could be made safer for pregnant women. 

Her mother, Rohini, mentions, “This happened last year when she was in 8th grade. She was so disturbed by the whole incident that she would discuss it over and over again with me. Rishita has always had a very problem-solving attitude. She wanted to do something that made bus travel safe for people like her house help’s daughter.”

The only way to do this was to inform the bus drivers that a pregnant woman was boarding the bus. This would automatically make the driver drive in a way that ensures minimal discomfort and harsh jolts. 

But questions came up:

How will the bus driver know?

Will every pregnant woman have to inform the driver personally?

Who will keep a track?

Whose responsibility would it be?

That's when Rishita decided to integrate technology into Government buses.

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THE PROTOTYPE

Rishita Samantaray, after extensive research, made a biometric device system that is designed to be installed at Government bus depots and stops. 

A Government-backed database of pregnant women, elderly people, and people with disabilities would be maintained and connected to the system.

A DFrobot Huskylens AI Camera would be positioned in a way that pregnant women, elderly people, and passengers with disabilities can scan their faces on it.

The camera would scan and immediately recognize the identity of the passengers through the database. When a match is found, the GSM/GPRS shield would send an alert to the bus driver and conductor to take extra care during the entire journey.

When asked about how the camera works, Rishita responds, “The camera is connected to the Arduino Mega. It processes the data from the database and then compares it with pre-stored facial data of the already registered identities of individuals.”

Additionally, the system would enable vulnerable individuals to enter the bus number using the keypad.

This system would fulfill four primary objectives:

1. Identify vulnerable passengers on the bus using AI-face recognition features.

2. Provide real-time alerts to drivers and conductors to take appropriate measures.

3. Ensure priority seating for the individuals in need.

4. Enhance the overall comfort during the journey.

While Rishita estimates that the system would cost Rs 4,000 to begin with, she believes that the cost could come down to Rs 2,000 if it’s mass-manufactured.

Rishita Samantaray has titled the project “Comfortable and Safe Travel for Pregnant Women in the Bus" and has represented Odisha for the Nationals for INSPIRE MANAK in New Delhi.

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ACCOMPLISHMENTS 

For her scientific innovation that has great potential to minimize miscarriages in women and injuries in people with disabilities, Rishita Samantaray has been awarded the Doctor APJ Abdul Kalam Ignite Mind Innovation & Creativity Award.

She is also the youngest Grandmaster in Odisha and has solved the maximum number of Rubik’s cubes in the shortest time frame. Apart from this, she is a published author as well and her book Comic Crusaders was launched by the Governor of Odisha. The list doesn’t end here because she is also on the merit list of the ISRO project-making competition.

The 9th grade student became the youngest volunteer for the AudioBook project Hear2Read, which provides accessible audio textbooks for the visually challenged.

Rishita is the youngest magician in Odisha and has performed on the main stage of  Patha Utsav. She has been appreciated and facilitated by the Governor, Deputy Chief Minister, Mayor, and the Transport Commissioner of Odisha. For the national Delhi Horse Show, Rishita won the Gold, Silver, and Bronze medals.

Her mother tells us, “Rishita has never considered age to be a barrier when it comes to volunteer work. She is always participating in various campaigns like Saving Girls, Educating Every Child, Saving Water, Saving Environment, Planting Tree Drives, etc. Social work drives her forward. I am just very glad that we’ve raised a child who genuinely wants to add value to society and help people.”

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