IIT students invent device to improve driving

New Delhi: Students at the Indian Institute of Technology (IIT) have developed a smart sun visor which can improve driving comfort on sunny days by automatically tracking and blocking the point of brightest glare.

The chemical engineering students at IIT Gandhinagar have also filed for a patent for the electronic device called sun protect. Smart Visor is attached to the dashboard using suctions cups and powered by USB charging port.

It has a small central housing that contain sensors, a microcontroller, and an electric motor. An extendable arm, made of transparent material, moves the filter quickly and smoothly to follow the sun. The arm easily folds away when the device is not in use.

"Our invention actively tracks the sun and positions a small disc of light-filtering material on the brightest area of the windshield, intercepting sunlight before it strikes the driver's eyes.

"The filter is small, semi-transparent and discreet and blocks sunlight without obscuring the rest of the windshield or the drivers field of view. This allows for far greater visibility than other solutions like sunglasses (that reduce all light) or standard car visors (that completely block a portion of the windshield)," said Souritra Garai, one of the two students. According to Jay Shah, "installation and calibration is simple.

A one-time adjustment is made when a new driver uses Smart Visor. The driver manually positions the filter such that it blocks the sun and then Smart Visor takes over; intercepting sunlight regardless of which direction the car turns. We believe the device will be more helpful to people with light coloured eyes who are extremely sensitive to sunlight".

The duo came up with the product at "Invent@IITGN", a six-week annual summer programme at IIT-Gandhinagar. The programme, in its second year, focuses on inventing, based on a similar programme in the US called "Invention Factory".