The Story Of Teenage Prodigy Who Developed The Six Feet Apart Cap:
Coronavirus or Covid-19 pandemic is getting worse day-by-day. It has so far affected over 24 million people in 213 countries. This has not only created panic among people but also gave tech nerds an opportunity to develop a gadget using technology. The rapid spread of the disease is causing people’s death. This is mainly because of the simple mistake of not correctly following social distancing practices. This situation disturbed Neha Shukla, a 15-year old Indian-origin girl, and encouraged her to try and find a solution. Six Feet Apart is a result of the efforts of today’s young and eager minds to change the world!
What’s about the Six Feet Apart Cap?
Neha has a keen interest in engineering and technology. She began working on a device that would help keep people separated by six feet. The teenager picked a cap so as to make it convenient for people to use. The cap beeps and vibrates when someone breaches the six feet limit. Her cap uses a microprocessor-based embedded device. Neha explains while describing her device that whenever somebody crosses that six feet range, the sensor activates and sends alerts to the program and the microprocessor. She also coded the program herself.
“I wanted to do something about it and I set out to create a social distancing device that utilises ultrasonic sensors and microprocessors to detect when a person crosses that six-feet detection range and alert the user through vibrating and beeping,”.
Neha Shukla to Hindustan Times
Working:
Furthermore, she fitted an ultrasonic sensor, a microprocessor, a buzzer, and a 9 Volt battery inside the cap. Her program causes the ultrasonic sensors to send out the pulses of ultrasonic waves. When these waves collide with a person within the detection range of six-feet, the system calculates and converts the raw data into a distance reading of 6 feet or less. This causes the system to alert the program & microprocessor. And then, the microprocessor sends the signal to the buzzer. As a result, the buzzer starts to vibrate and beep and alerts the user that s/he is not within the safe social distancing range from the person around.
Further Development of Six Feet Apart:
Neha is excited about the further development of the device. She wants to make it smaller by trying different casings to fit it in other wearable articles such as jewelry or lanyards and also badges. She is also working on a Bluetooth app that will be able to send the notifications to the user’s mobile device so that you can keep a track of the history. Furthermore, Neha also plans to use infrared imaging and a heat-map to detect a person in the vicinity of 6 feet. She claims that using infrared technology will almost guarantee the device to be safe for all the users who will be using it.
Furthermore, Girls With Impact, a tech entrepreneurship organization for girls, has recognized Neha’s innovative work & offered her mentorship. Besides, she also earned her a profile in the New York Times and was also featured on Nasdaq’s digital display. We congratulate and thank Neha for this noble cause. This is the only practical solution until the vaccine is made available to prevent the spread of Covid-19. According to Neha, this cap would be very beneficial for the elders and frontline health workers in fighting this deadly disease.
All Images & Source – Courtesy: Hindustan Times, Girls With Impact
Watch Neha explain the working of Six Feet Apart Cap here:
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