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| "8.feb.2002" |
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| "8.feb.2002" |
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 Keys, purse, mobile - these are all things that are easily left mistakenly behind in a car. However, your child may not be something you would normally add to that absent-minded list. For people that are a tad on the forgetful side, NASA has developed a device to alert you to the neglected tot.
The alarm, inspired by aircraft flight-test technology, uses precision materials and electronics to sense when a child is seated in an infant or booster seat after the driver has left the vehicle. Called a Child Presence Sensor, it was developed at NASA's Langley Research Centre. The research centre is looking for a commercial partner to further develop and market a product based on the technology. "I wanted something that would serve as a second set of eyes and ears, something that could easily and inexpensively be retrofitted to existing child car seats," says principal inventor William Edwards. Edwards has small children of his own and had read about cases around the country where well-meaning parents had inadvertently left a small child in a vehicle with disastrous results.  Don't forget!
Overloaded, exhausted, distracted or confused by a change in routine, working parents can completely forget that they've left their children unattended. Others may leave sleeping children in car seats while the parents exit their vehicles for what they believe will be a quick errand. Yet, left alone for only a few minutes, a small child can be abducted, set the vehicle in motion, or suffer a deadly heatstroke. The Child Presence Sensor driver alarm is designed to hang on the driver's key ring. It sounds ten warning beeps if the driver moves too far away from the vehicle. If the driver doesn't return within one minute, the alarm will beep continuously and cannot be turned off until it is reset by returning to the child safety seat. The sensor switch triggers immediately when a child is placed in the seat and deactivates when he is removed. The switch has a large activation area with a sensitivity of about eight ounces. The sensor detects weight once the child is placed in the seat, transmitting a unique code to the driver-alarm module via a radio-frequency link. The system incorporates a long-life battery for reliability. If the battery is low, the system alerts the driver with an audible alarm.  Baby alarm
Edwards was aware of a simple, yet precise, sensor technology developed for the NASA Langley 757 research aircraft. The aircraft is a highly modified flying research lab for experiments ranging from aviation safety to increasing capacity at major airports. The aircraft sensor is mounted in the main landing-gear area to detect environmental effects acting on the aircraft. That data is then beamed to the cockpit by way of a radio-frequency transmitter and receiver system. Co-inventors Terry Mack and Edward Modlin adapted the self-contained radio-frequency technology from the 757 aircraft project and combined it with Modlin's highly sensitive switch technology to create an inexpensive prototype device. |
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