Sandeep dons the air-conditioned headgear

BENGALURU: The mandatory helmet rule sends tempers soaring as most riders argue it can be suffocating on a sunny day. So a Bengaluru-based mechanical engineer has designed an air-conditioned headgear that keeps the head cool.

Sandeep Dahiya, director with a multinational company, is passionate about designing user-friendly products. His efforts to invent an air-conditioned helmet took shape at his RT Nagar residence’s garage-turned-workshop,

Sandeep designed eight different models in four and a half years before coming up with what he called the ‘perfect product’ — Vatanukul works on DC power (12 volts) supplied by the bike battery and no other external energy is required for the cooling effect.

“The sight of two-wheeler riders taking off their helmets and putting them on the fuel tank of their vehicles while waiting at traffic signals is what drove me to design Vatanukul. I am a rider myself. When the helmet’s visor is closed, there is no air and it becomes suffocating, though it may be life-saving. So, I decided to come up with a user-friendly helmet,” he explained.

How does it work

Vatanukul weighs not more than 1.7kg, while the weight of most helmets in the market is in the range of 800 grams to 2kg. The air-conditioned helmet has two parts — the first component is manifold that has rubber tubes for air circulation inside the helmet; the other is the wear-on unit which is like a backpack. The wear-on unit includes a reverse thermo couple, heat exchanger , control and blower unit.

The heat exchanger takes care of air-cooling and there is no need for ice or water. The heat exchanger (used in spaceships) has a semiconductor which helps in either dropping or increasing the temperature. The helmet has no power supply, but has air circulators in the form of rubber tubes. It is connected to a remote-like handy AC control device.

Sandeep has been using the helmet while riding from his RT Nagar home to his office in UB City, and has been testing it for a month. “Many ask me what is it that I carry on my back, and they are surprised when I tell them it’s an air-cooler helmet,” he said.

