We recently celebrated our University week, which was filled with various lively and enjoyable activities that highlighted the talents and abilities of the students. Among the activities that generated a lot of excitement were the sports tournaments and mobile game competitions. Personally, I'm not particularly fond of these activities, but what truly caught my interest was the project exhibit by the College of Information Technology & Computer Studies (CITCS) Department.
Witnessing the capability of young minds to create something remarkable from scratch never fails to astound me. The intellectual power and effort required to bring an idea to life are simply amazing. This time, I felt immense pride as our department showcased its ability to produce diverse prototypes aimed at benefiting the community or society as a whole.
My friend and I walked through the long hallway on the second level of our building, eagerly exploring each invention crafted by the computer students. They used Arduino and C++ Programming language to develop these machines.
Smart Floor Tiles with Piezoelectric Sensors and an Android app for Energy Harvesting and Monitoring.
This one really captured my attention. These floor tiles have the ability to convert your footsteps into another form of energy which can be later used to power up things. According to the proponents of this project, they used piezoelectric sensors that convert mechanical energy into electrical signals. They also integrated their prototype into an Android application that helps monitor the energy harvested.
Given the urgent climate crisis and the growing demand for clean, sustainable energy, I believe this idea has tremendous potential. Imagine if we could install these smart floor tiles in places with high foot traffic, like our school's campus buildings. It could be a game-changer in terms of generating a substantial amount of energy without relying on traditional power sources.
Integrated Air Quality and Temperature Monitoring System with SMS Alert and Android Interface
This cool prototype lets you keep an eye on the air quality and temperature around you. You can use it in your room or wherever you put the device. It's pretty handy if you're sensitive to allergens or just curious about the current temperature. This is a need if you're living in a city since the pollutant in these places is usually high.
The best part is that it can send you text messages if the pollution levels get too high. This means you can get updates and alerts on your phone, no matter where you are. It's super helpful for people who can't always be near the device but still want to know what's going on with the air quality.
Smart Classroom Attendance System with RFID Scanner and Google Sheets/ Android Applications for Monitoring.
Out of all the displays I saw that day, this prototype stood out as the most useful one that I believe our University should consider adopting.
Usually, our professors take attendance by manually writing down our names on a piece of paper, which is not only time-consuming but also a hassle. However, with the introduction of the smart classroom attendance system, all we have to do is scan our ID cards on the scanner, and our attendance records along with the entry time will be automatically saved in the university’s database. Additionally, we can easily access a copy of our attendance records on Google Sheets, which comes in handy when you want to verify your attendance.
I had a brief interview with the project proponents, and they proudly informed us that they were the only ones who incorporated a database into all of the prototypes presented at the exhibit. Let's give them a big round of applause for their remarkable achievement! It was truly enjoyable to watch their enthusiastic explanation of the prototype, and it inspired me to follow suit with the same level of pride. I'm looking forward to sharing my own projects and experiencing that same sense of fulfillment.
The Arduino-based Ultrasonic Sunglasses with GPS Navigation
I was really amazed by this prototype too. The people behind this project had such a noble goal of helping those with visual impairments.
The features of this prototype are seriously impressive. When someone wearing sunglasses comes across an obstacle, it immediately makes beeping sounds to warn them until the obstacle is no longer in their way. And guess what? It even has GPS navigation, so it can guide the user and help them find their way!
At the exhibit, there were also other prototypes that caught my attention, especially the ones related to disaster response.
One prototype that I saw was the earthquake detection system. It uses special sensors to detect vibrations and then sends warning messages through SMS. This would be super useful during an earthquake when we're not sure if it's a small shake or a big one. With this prototype, we can confirm if the ground is really shaking. But, I do think it still needs some more improvements.
Another cool prototype I found was the flood monitoring system. It can monitor water levels in flood-prone areas using water level sensors. If the water level gets too high and dangerous, a red light starts blinking to warn people. Plus, it's even connected to an Android app, so users can easily keep an eye on the water levels using their own phones or devices.
The final prototype that gained significant attention from the news media is the smoke detector. It has a unique feature where it automatically sends a warning SMS to people in the vicinity of the smoke location. This invention is truly remarkable as it not only alerts individuals but also notifies the authorities about the presence of fire. Such an innovation could greatly contribute to early detection and prompt fire response, potentially saving lives and minimizing property damage.
There are still other projects that I would like to share in this blog, but it might get too long if I include them all. So, I decided to prioritize the projects that I believe are more important and relevant to our community.
I had an amazing time attending our department's exhibit. I learned so much from it, and it truly inspired me to come up with even better ideas if we ever have the chance to create our own inventions. I am eagerly looking forward to attending the same event in the upcoming semesters. It's a great opportunity to showcase our creativity and see the incredible innovations of our peers.