Technical wizardry

“I sleep between dreams filled with electrical and mechanical objects that I have never seen in my entire life. Next morning I wake up and see if I can create them…” says Channa Ranawaka, Gold Medallist of the Junior Inventors Competition 2003.

Channa’s creation, the MCO Mouse, a mouth and chin operated computer mouse especially designed for the disabled and handicapped, won him the top prize at the competition organized by the Institution of Engineers Sri Lanka last month.

A 19-year-old student of the Kegallu Maha Vidyalaya, Channa has been fascinated by anything mechanical ever since he broke his first toy car to see its inside.

“When he was very small, I had to buy a torch every other month, because he used to remove all the parts and use them to make his own circuits and stuff,” recollects his father who is extremely proud of his son’s achievements. “But it did not take long for him to learn how to fix almost anything; from electronic appliances to my motorbike.”

The MCO (Mouth and Chin Operated) Mouse for the disabled and handicapped is a specially designed computer mouse for those who cannot manipulate a normal computer mouse with their hands.

The traditional computer mouse requires the operator to use his/her hands, left or right, supported by the arm and forearm. This, says the inventor of the MCO, is a regrettable denial of the computer world to those who are physically disabled.

“The MCO Mouse has four main components; the mouth clicker, the chin piece, the adjustable podium with mouse pad, the auto wire retractor and the head strap,” explains Channa.

The Mouth Clicker should be placed inside the mouth of the user. It has been designed to do the left and right clicking functions. The chin piece has been slightly adapted from a normal computer mouse. To scroll the mouseball, in order to move the cursor on the screen, the user has to keep his chin on this part and slightly move his head. The head strap fixes the chinpiece to the chin. The disabled person can be at a comfortable position thanks to the adjustable stand.

Channa exhibited his creation at the Techno 2003 exhibition. With the encouraging comments he received from Sir Arthur C. Clarke and many other engineers, he hopes to continue turning his innovative ideas into practical applications. He has already applied for the patent for this invention.

The speciality of the MCO is that it can be used on any computer available in the world right now. It also works on any computer software. The cost is also a big advantage. An alternative computer mouse for the disabled available in the market now costs ten times the price of a regular computer mouse. “For example there is one advertised on the Net that costs about Rs. 45,000,” says Channa. The MCO Mouse, on the other hand would cost almost the same as a normal computer mouse.

Spanners, nuts and bolts, tool boxes, rolls of wire and a thousand and one gadgets fill his room, evidence of many more inventions in the making. His bed, for instance has a metal frame fixed to it, apparently “a convertible mosquito net for the handicapped and aged”. The poster behind his door gives us a clue as to his inspiration: It reads,
‘For a world beyond disabilities ……

To you out there
To reach an equality where we belong…’

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