A breath of fresh air for bikers

Aug. 22: An anti-pollution helmet developed by a Delhi based startup can help 2-wheeler riders breathe clean air. The helmet developed by Shellios Technolabs has a Bluetooth-enabled app that lets the rider know when the helmet requires cleaning.

The startup received seed funding from the Department of Science and Technology (DST) and was incubated at Science and Technology Entrepreneur Park (JSSATE-STEP) Noida.

They had signed commercialization deals with leading Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs) for the helmet. The product, at Technology Readiness Level (TRL) level 9 has been granted utility patent and  is now being sold in all parts of the country priced at Rs. 4500/-. The end-users of the product include individual riders all over India and for the next version, Shellios has partnered with Royal Enfield Motorcycles to commercialize the product.

The founders of Shellios Technolabs hit upon the idea on realizing the challenges faced by bikers during the air quality crisis that Delhi faces in the winter months.

“We were disturbed by the health impacts of the air quality situation on the people on the roads, especially the millions of two wheeler riders who were having prolonged daily exposures and that too, to a double whammy of particulate matter and vehicular emissions in the air that they breathe,” said Amit Pathak, one of the founders.

The helmet titled PUROS is integrated with air purifying accessories which include the patented innovations of the startup — a Brushless DC (BLDC) blower fan, High-Efficiency Particulate Air (HEPA) filter membrane, electronic circuit, and microUSB charging port integrated into the helmet. The purifying system set at the back of the helmet picks up all particulate matter coming from outside and cleans the air before it reaches the biker.

Following all mandatory standards stipulated by the government, the 1.5 Kg helmet ensures exposure reduction by more than 80% as measured using a controlled environment.