Vasant Shetty | Building Mundhe Banni

Last year, he came across news about an accident near Amarnath. A bus carrying pilgrims met with an accident due to brake failure. Several people were affected. That incident stayed with him and became a trigger for developing a patent pending fail-safe breaking mechanism. ----- I met Khaleel Syed at our ಮುಂದೆ ಬನ್ನಿ meetup in Hubballi in December. Like many others in the room, he listened quietly, asked a few questions, and stayed back after the sessions. A month later, when he explained what he had been building, I understood what confidence can unlock in tier 2 India. Khaleel is from Gadag and studies at KLETU Hubballi. He is pursuing a combined BCA and MCA degree. He is deeply interested in the automotive domain. His father has worked in the automotive field for several years, including time in Saudi. Growing up around that environment, Khaleel always felt that he should do something meaningful in this space. Last year, he came across news about an accident near Amarnath. A bus carrying pilgrims met with an accident due to brake failure. Several people were affected. That incident stayed with him. He and his father started thinking seriously about whether something could be done to address this problem. They began experimenting on their own. Over time, they designed, fabricated, mounted, and tested an apparatus that could act as a fail safe braking mechanism. They developed a system that could be mounted onto the rear axle shaft. In case of brake failure, the driver can press a button placed near the driver’s seat. Once activated, the vehicle comes to a gradual halt within about 10 to 12 seconds. There is no jerk. The stopping is smooth, ensuring the vehicle does not topple or lose control. The system also automatically switches on the hazard lights, alerting other vehicles that something is wrong. To test this properly, they even bought an old Tata Ace truck using their own money. They modified it to install the apparatus and tested it under multiple conditions, both with and without load. The Tata Ace normally carries about 750 kg, but they also tested it with close to 1 tonne of load. The system worked well in all scenarios. Within about 8-9 months, Khaleel and his father took this from idea to a working prototype. With the help of KLETU, Khaleel has applied for a patent. The EIR hearing is already done, and he is hopeful about the next steps. What made me really happy was not just the technical achievement. Khaleel told me that he got the confidence to reach out to me only because of the Hubballi meetup. Because everything was discussed in Kannada, he felt that a small town boy like him could also think big. He felt that his ideas were valid and worth pursuing. He reached out to seek help in connecting with OEMs and others who could support him in commercialising this idea and taking it further through professional testing and industry adoption. If this idea eventually gets adopted at scale, it could make heavy commercial vehicles and buses more fail safe, reduce emissions, and possibly save lives. If anyone reading this knows people who can help Khaleel take this forward and turn this into a real world product, please reach out to me. This, to me, is exactly why #MundheBanni exists.

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