Inspiration
It is claimed that “curiosity is the mother of invention”, this phenomenon best describes the path followed in the creation of the Covid-19 Helmet. On a rather normal day, my family was sitting after lunch following the latest Covid-19 developments. This is when my father suggested as an Engineer that I should think about something, which would help with the current situation. My father described a video he saw a video with a man using his apple watch that alarm with peep sound when he rise hand to touch the face. This is where the curiosity kicked in; one of the main reasons of Covid-19 infection is self-infection i.e. One touching face their own face with contaminated hands unintentionally. As human being we touch our faces 23 times/ hour, touching surfaces is too danger, but for Blue Collar workers it’s a completely different story who touch their faces on higher occasion sometimes even due to necessity of intense labor work so it’s clear that blue collar workers are at maximum risk of exposure.
What it does
The mechanism behind this device is that it works as a reminder to workers not to touch their faces; this reduces the chances of a primary self-infection but also secondary infection spread to other workers who usually work in close proximity. It initially will sound alarm when any object is near the face area, which reminds user not to touch the face, and help in enforcing social distancing. The helmet can be improved further more than the main valuable product (MVP) to be able to acquire data such as how many times user got alarmed ( that can be used in research on the relation between touching face more often and the chance of getting the virus). Moreover, it has multiple languages voice alarm, and I have plans to add recorded voice option in the future; these entire features are surely going to make workplace a more secure and stress free environment for the labor class.
How I built it
The design depends mainly on the IR obstacle avoidance sensor. There are Infrared emitter and receiver, which are places on the front part of the helmet. When any object is near the face area, it will reflect the infrared light to the receiver that will result in an output signal, which will activate the alarm cautioning the worker. I built it from simple components to keep it a low cost and high availability product so construction companies can consider it as an easy and accessible option. It runs on rechargeable battery to make sure that it is eco-friendly. Please check the link to visit our landing page to have more clear idea about the device
Challenges I ran into
I ran into many challenges during developing the idea of having a device to remind users not to touch their face. Using technology while keeping it low cost is hard task unless we have good design idea. There were a lot of designing phases such as the IR obstacle avoidance sensor on a mask, or neckless, to be able to cover the near the face. all were either not comfortable to convince worker to wear it, or expensive in term of connection. Finally, the last good idea was placing bot IR emitter and receiver near face area, and optimizing the best place to minimize number of sensor and have full near face area coverage.
Accomplishments that I'm proud of
What makes me proud about this device is that it provide comfort for workers, so they have a safe working environment where they can work with a stress free mindset under already very challenging environments.
What I learned and What's next for Anti-Covid19 Helmet
Finally, I learned, trailed, to discover ideas that would make the product a worthy invest even after the Pandemic, as this helmet will be a better choice for the construction companies than the regular ones. It will ensure that their blue-collar worker’s heath is safe, and the chances of infection by any virus or germs is reduced. Furthermore, it will develop healthcare knowledge between workers and allow them to develop more responsible and healthy habits. We are requesting 30000$ to cover the production marketing and distribution process. We need to invest in a specialized factory to help fast production during the pandemic
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