From the time he was a little boy, Mihir Garimella has been finding ways to tackle his problems with technology. From “simple” inventions such as a violin-tuning robot, to a motion sensor that turns off the lights in his room, Garimella has always had a passion for innovation. Over time, Mihir’s inventions got even more complicated and advanced. In high school he developed a system that would assess people with concussions, and in his free time he created an application that could solve hand-written math equations. The Pittsburgh native really began to push himself, however, when he decided to enter the drone market. After observing some fruit flies, Mihir noticed that they had an incredible ability to react to any sort of danger lightning fast. He wondered what it would look like to create a tiny drone that could move in a similar manner. Mihir created FlyBot, a small modular drone that could be used in various crisis settings by emergency services. His drone is primarily suited for search and rescue, but Mihir certainly wants to explore other uses. Modification is a large portion of the draw to Mihir’s drones, as they can be used as a modular platform. A nigh time search and rescue could require a thermal camera to be plugged in, whereas a rescue in daytime low-visibility could possibly utilize a siren to help evacuation efforts. There is also numerous possibilities with mission program software, so that agencies can tailor the drone for their specific uses. Mihir is just finishing up college at Stanford, so FlyBot hasn’t gone big-time yet, but it is certainly hard to deny the significance of his innovations within the field.
That’s such a cool story, this guy must be insane to have invented all of that. I would be interested to hear more about his other achievements, concussions can be a big problem in some point and developments in quickly identifying them and treating them is important. His drone business also sounds interesting, neat that it just came from observing fruit flies.