Taking robotics research to the next level a challenge
- Too a lot college R&D focused on guide instead of commercialisation
Startup estimates it would need RM500,000 to kick off and maintain the enterprise
ONE in six humans within the world will suffer a stroke in their lifetime – in Malaysia, about 52,000 humans, and not just the aged, go through a stroke every year.
Because of the massive wide variety of sufferers and a lack of therapists, stroke patients normally don’t have the hazard to get sufficient rehabilitation for a proper healing, an area Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) spinoff organisation TechCare Innovation Sdn Bhd hopes to deal with.
The organisation has advanced a sequence of robotics structures it calls Compact Rehabilitation Robot (CR2), and one version, CR2-Haptic, is geared toward those who've suffered strokes, traumatic brain accidents or other neurological disorders resulting in hand and arm impairment.
As part of the reputable release of the Malaysian Global Innovation Centre (MaGIC) in past due April, TechCare Innovation has launched a pledge force on Malaysian crowdfunding platform pitchIN, with the primary RM5,000 allowing it to donate the software portion the National Stroke Association of Malaysia (Nasam).
The company is however aiming to get RM35,000 that could allow it to fully expand CR2-Haptic and donate it to Nasam, and additionally help it on its way to commercialising the generation and bringing it to market. [RM1 = US$0.31]
The TechCare Innovation team incorporates at its middle those three gentlemen:
Dr Yeong Che Fai: Senior lecturer at UTM, were given his PhD from Imperial College inside the United Kingdom and is currently leading several research and commercial initiatives worth a total of more than RM 1 million. He is also an entrepreneur and has based several corporations. He actively encourages his college students to grow to be marketers. He is lead researcher and advertising and marketing strategist at TechCare Innovation.
Khor Kang Xiang: A mechatronics graduate and Vice Chancellor Award Winner at Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM). Over the beyond 4 years, he has won approximately 30 innovation awards at both the countrywide and global levels. He is the core mechanical and electronics fashion designer inside the group and is currently persevering with his Master’s research in bioengineering at UTM.
Patrick Chin: A programmer with six years’ enjoy in software program, games and embedded systems. His background in mechatronics engineering facilitates him create and integrate hardware with therapy software program and video games into a entire device. He is the core software developer inside the crew.
In our previous article, the agency advised Digital News Asia (DNA) how its founders came up with the concept. Here, they talk approximately the technical and commercialisation challenges they face as they are trying to find to build a commercial enterprise.
Dr Yeong and Khor replied more questions in an email interview with DNA. Here are excerpts:
DNA: You’ve been operating on this for the final 3 years. What factors, if any, brought about you to take this to the following degree?
Dr Yeong: Actually, it’s not just about this task, but in general, all R&D (research and development) initiatives in Malaysia. Malaysia spends near RM650million on R&D every year, however now not lots of those projects are commercialised. One of the primary motives is our Malaysian mindset.
I changed into in the United Kingdom for quite a while, and also visited Silicon Valley inside the United States, and plenty of other countries. People in those places have a lot issue getting price range to begin their entrepreneurship trips. I met some who had superb ideas however who had a lot issue getting even US$10,000 to begin their tasks.
But in Malaysia, there are so many opportunities and budget equipped for studies. Some researchers effortlessly get funded for RM500,000 and a few even get close to RM2 million.
Unfortunately, most of these projects recognition on guide, because all universities are combating for international rankings, and publishing studies is one of the predominant criteria for this. In my opinion, this cash may be higher spent and convey more benefit [in other ways].
In the real international of enterprise, it's far my information that if humans spend money on your employer, they're awaiting returns of 10 to twenty times inside 5 years. Thus, if Malaysia spent RM650 million on research, and if we genuinely made the effort to take this R&D into the commercialisation stage, RM650 million would cause RM6.5 trillion in revenue to the country.
I even have had revel in with rehab robots, and had a few budget for research, and as a result turned into looking for companions to paintings with me to project into this. Fortunately, I met [Khor] Kang Xiang and Patrick [Chin] who've the equal passion.
More importantly, they're truly right at what they do, which could be very important for our agency.
DNA: What has been the finest undertaking – technical or in any other case – in the ultimate 3 years? What did you do, or are doing, to deal with this mission?
Dr Yeong: There are a whole lot of challenges. One of them is that we do not have experience in growing an quit product. Thus, we are not positive of the right methodology and system – this is which include technical, R&D, commercial enterprise, and other areas. So, we spend a number of time figuring and studying the proper approach to remedy some of the issues.
Khor (percent): We confronted numerous challenges in information and selecting the requirements to fit the needs of physicians. As we're all from engineering backgrounds, we had to construct, take a look at and ask the critiques of therapists by journeying rehabilitation centres and hospitals.
Fortunately, we've our accomplice the National Stroke Association Malaysia (Nasam) and different capacity collaborators from the scientific area who're fascinated to paintings together in this assignment, so development can be even faster.
DNA: Your basic funding intention was RM5,000, which you have already obtained. The closing aim is RM35,000, with that you might be to increase a new robotic set, CR2-Haptic, and provide it to Nasam. What will you do if you fail to acquire the second one pledge mark?
Dr Yeong: If we do not get the finances we need, we can placed the cash to properly use to retain growing and great-tuning the robotic. We will nevertheless finish the product and mortgage it to the rehab centre.
The purpose we can not supply away is if we don't get the RM35,000, we'd need to apply our different price range to build the robotic.
Khor: We had been working with Nasam for the past few years, and we virtually hope the association can get the robotic. However, we understand that it has constrained budget and won't be able to manage to pay for the device, but we are hoping the crowdfunding power gives us enough cash so we will develop it further for the gain of Nasam sufferers within the destiny.
DNA: After this pitchIN drive, what could your subsequent step be? How an awful lot funds would you want to completely commercialise the answer and go to marketplace?
Khor: We estimate we would require about RM500,000 to assist the commercial enterprise take off and maintain it for the first few years before it'd be capable of stand on its very own. The funds could mainly be used for the employer’s operational charges: The robotic production price, patents, product certification, and salaries.
DNA: Are you guys nevertheless running out of UTM right now, or is TechCare Innovation based somewhere else?
Dr Yeong and Khor: We are based at UTM. We have had terrific help from UTM and other institutes to push this product to market – these which include Cradle Fund Sdn Bhd (an organization of Malaysia’s Ministry of Finance), CREST (Collaborative Research in Engineering, Science and Technology), Agensi Inovasi Malaysia (AIM), and some government and personal hospitals.
DNA: I noticed that a number of the pledges on pitchIN have come from corporate entities – are you going to preserve partnership discussions with any of them?
Khor: Yes, we have had discussions with some of these businesses on capacity collaboration or partnerships within the future.
DNA: Serdang Hospital executives have visited your lab and tried out the solution. Have they expressed an interest in purchasing it? You say you have got visited visited rehabilitation centres and hospitals around UK and Malaysia. Have any of them expressed such an hobby as properly?
Dr Yeong: Yes, they have got expressed excellent interest in the usage of the device. This consists of Serdang Hospital and Hospital Sultanah Aminah, with the intention to recall buying after the product has passed through certification and scientific trials.
Previous Instalment: Startup with rehab robotic aims for next degree with crowdfunding power
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