06-07-2025
- Automotive
- New Indian Express
Beating distance with design: Vizianagaram student builds e-cycle to ride to college
SRIKAKULAM: Rajapu Siddu, an Intermediate second-year MPC student from Jadavari Kottavalasa village under Poonivalasa Grama Panchayat in Therlam mandal of Vizianagaram, has designed a battery-operated e-cycle to commute to his college in Rajam, located 17 km away. Drawing upon the knowledge he gained from the Atal Tinkering Laboratory (ATL) during high school, Siddu transformed necessity into innovation.
Siddu had faced difficulty in attending college in first year, struggling to maintain punctuality while travelling from his remote village. He have to walk at least 3 km to reach Therlam-Rajam main road and later he has to travel another 14 km either in auto or bus to reach his collage. Therefore, he needs to spend at least Rs 60 a day towards travelling expenses.
With his parents, Rajapu Simhachalam and Venkatalaxmi, had left to Chennai for their livelihood. Siddu and his sister Deepika were left in the care of their grandmother in the same village. Deepika is currently studying in Class 10 at Perumali Government High School.
During the summer vacation, Siddu brainstormed ways to overcome his commuting problem for the second year. Inspired by his ATL training from Classes 6 to 10 at Perumali, where he learned robotics, Siddu applied that knowledge to design an electric, battery-powered cycle. He procured the materials online from Delhi, and Rajasthan. Siddu designed the electric cycle with the help his teacher Y Eswara Rao and classmate Jaggupalli Rajesh.
