A pressure sensor that alerts the driver when a child is in the back.
Engineering problem or Goal
Each year, about 38 children die from overheating in cars. This project is intended to make that number to go down by designing an aftermarket safety device to alert drivers when a child is in the back seat of their car.
Methods
After researching current safety devices for child safety, the price for these devices were possibly out of reach for many parents or guardians. This project sought to use a simple pressure plate, an arduino, speaker, and power source to produce an aftermarket backseat child safety device at a more economical price.
The pressure plate would be used in conjunction with any infant/child car seat. As a infant/child is placed in the car seat, their weight would activate the pressure sensor when the car is started. When the car is stopped and shut off with an infant or child still in the car seat, an alarm would sound until they are removed from the infant/child car seat. This could serve to reduce accidental deaths due to infants/children being left in the car seat.
Results
This is a proof of concept engineering project with the goal of developing a working model for a backseat child safety device. I was able to utilize easily accessible parts to make this working model. The device was able to sound an alarm when mimicking a car being shut with the pressure plate still activated.
Discussion
The next phase for this project would include connecting the power source to the ignition of the car to allow for the sensor to sound an alarm when the car is shut off with an infant/child still in the car seat.
The speaker should have sufficient volume to get the attention of the parent or guardian. A poissible solution would be to incorporate the car’s audio system as the speaker for this device.
Another improvement would be to allow for the parent/guardian to record messages that would be used as the alarm if an infant/child is still in the car seat when the car is shut off.
A containment system for the system would be advantageous to protect the alarm system.
Conclusions
This was a proof of concept, but it works. This safety system could possibly save lives while being economically proceed for parents or guardians.
Works Cited
