The objective of this project is to design a system that prevents pediatric heat stroke in two ways: by reminding caretakers/parents to remove their child from the car and keeping the infant from overheating if left in the car.
Sponsored by: Cecil Hankins
Team Members
Rachel Nimisha Rackrow Sarah Gawne Jiarui Geng
Instructor: Sean Knecht
Project Poster
Click on any image to enlarge.
Project Video
Project Summary
Overview
Heat stroke is a medical emergency that happens when environments of high surrounding temperatures cause the body to create more heat than it can release with signs including dry skin, unconsciousness, and lethal internal temperatures of over 103ºF. Onset of signs and symptoms can happen within 10 to 15 minutes in mild outside temperatures of 80ºF. Specifically, for infants, this can occur more suddenly than in adults. Unfortunately, a primary reason for heat stroke related emergencies in infants is caused by caregivers forgetting their child in the car, trapping the infant inside.
Objectives
-To create a system that will remind a parent or caretaker of their child in the back seat as they go to exit the car
– To create a system that will help keep a baby from overheating if the child is accidentally left in the car
Approach
-Discussed with our sponsor and ideated the components for both a reminder system, labeled The Preventive System and a medical care system, labeled The Medical Intervention System. The Medical Intervention System also includes the added cooling sub-section, The Cooling System.
-Modeled each system’s functional components and developed each system’s code in Tinkercad using C++
-Downloaded each system’s code into separate Arduinos and built corresponding circuits. There is a total of two Arduinos used for this project, one for The Preventative System and one for The Medical Intervention System
-Tested the Preventative System inside the vehicle and determined the best location inside the user’s vehicle.
-Tested the Medical Intervention in plexiglass box and speculated best location in the user’s vehicle
-Tested different cooling mechanisms for the Cooling Sub-system, testing both evaporative cooling and thermoelectric cooling techniques
-Conducted weight testing, battery analysis, systems’ cost analysis, and ensured the final design meets additional Engineering Specifications and Design Requirements previously established during the ideation and prototyping process.
Outcomes
-Results of testing the Preventive System in a vehicle were successful.
-The Preventative System meets all Design Requirements and Engineering Specifications.
-The best location for the Preventative System is on the side facing the door and on the back of the driver’s seat.
-The Medical Intervention meets all Engineering Specifications and Design Requirements excluding those regarding the Cooling Sub-system.
-The Cooling System showed failed results. It was unable to meet specifications for time it takes to cool air and how much it cools the air inside the plexiglass box. It is recommended that further testing and ideation for alternative cooling methods is done to meet Engineering Specifications and Design Requirements
–>