The motivation for his invention came to Aarrav Anil last year when he saw his uncle Arjun, who has Parkinson’s disease, struggle to eat. Some food spilled out of his mouth, the rest splattered on his clothes. Arjun attempted to keep his dignity but the frustration forced the retired civil servant, who is in his 70s, to give up and call his helper to feed him.
The sight of his uncle’s tremors shaking the spoon so violently inspired Aarrav, 17, from Bengaluru, south India, to turn to robotics. He locked himself in his room with microcontrollers, sensors, motors, and a 3D printer. What emerged was a prototype of a smart spoon that is now undergoing trials at the RV College of Physiotherapy in Bengaluru.
The sensors in the battery-operated spoon detect tremors on one side and activate movement on the other, effectively cancelling out shaking to keep the spoon stable.
“I’ve been fine tuning the design based on the college’s feedback – that it needs to be waterproof so that it can be washed without damaging all the electronics inside; that it must be detachable so it can be cleaned and replaced by a fork; and the spoon needs to be deeper to hold more food,” Aarrav says.
His uncle also tested the original design, advising Aarrav the handle was too slippery and needed a firmer grip.
For Aarrav it is the culmination of a 10-year interest in mechanics that began when his mother bought him a Lego set. He has now represented India at more than 20 robotics competitions across the world.
When the blueprint for the smart spoon won first prize in the future innovators category at last year’s World Robot Olympiad in Germany, Aarrav felt encouraged to make the prototype.
“It was frustrating not being able to find the tiny electronics parts I needed here in India. I had to order some from China, but they took ages to arrive,” he says.
More than 7 million people in India are estimated to have Parkinson’s disease, a condition in which parts of the brain become progressively damaged and which mainly affects people over the age of 50. Symptoms include involuntary shaking and stiff muscles. As the disease progresses, eating can become more difficult, forcing people to rely on help from others.
The smart spoon is not completely original. A couple of US companies sell something similar but they cost anything upwards of $200 (£164), which Aarrav knows is unaffordable for most Indians. He estimates that his spoon will cost about $80.
The trials at the college and the validation process are expected to be over by early next year, and results will be published in a medical journal. Then Aarrav hopes to manufacture it on a small scale, initially for hospitals.
When he isn’t studying for his exams, Aarrav spends most of his free time working on his plans. His ambition is that every family that has someone with Parkinson’s will have the smart spoon. He says his uncle Arjun’s words keep echoing in his mind: “Who would have thought such a small thing could mean the difference between dignity and indignity?”
• This article was amended on 25 October 2023 to correct the spelling of Bengaluru.
