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Photo: M. Moorthy

Perseverance Pays off

For, that triggered the computer science engineer to design cars to suit the needs of the disabled. While the addition of couple of wheels on either side of two-wheelers has mobilised scores of physically challenged, many were unable to handle the manual gear transmission in cars.

So it was for Padmanabhan, until he decided to customise his Santro to his need. The making of it wasn’t an immediate success. Initially, his fabricated equipment developed snags after few kilometres of drive. He had to splurge on machinery to try out various mechanisms until he fabricated the right one. “Few manufacturers in north India have been designing these. But somehow, it wasn’t of much help to me. My first attempt turned disastrous and I improvised on my previous efforts,” he recalls.

After eight trials, he engineered a fail-safe adaptation. He managed to retrofit a hand-operated accelerator, clutch and brake, similar to those in the bike, to the left of the car’s steering.

Since his auto transmission system doesn’t require gear shift, driving becomes much more effortless. “Manual transmission could also be made simpler. Since the gear occupies the left side, we could shift accelerator and brake to the right,” says Mr. Padmanabhan, who has been travelling extensively in his customised car.

At Samarthya, a national exhibition on aids and devices for physically challenged, that was recently held in the City, his car hogged the limelight for the minimal adaptations that were needed to mobilise the disabled. Having designed 12 cars so far, Mr. Padmanabhan radiates confidence when people approach him with diverse needs to modify their vehicles.

“Some basic changes are all that is needed to customise the cars to their needs. If some can manage to control either the clutch or the accelerator, we retain those parts and modify the rest,” he explains.

His customers have been mostly diabetics, who were on the wheels before one of their legs was amputated. “Very few people with similar cases as mine have approached me,” he says, pointing to his polio-afflicted legs.

He has also been manufacturing other assistive devices for physically challenged, including powered and customised wheel chairs.

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