A group of junior high students from Park City invented a device that will fix a common problem for senior citizens: falling.
Composed of seven pre-teens and dubbed RoboThunder, the First LEGO League team invented a fanny pack that deploys an airbag when it detects that the wearer is falling. By doing so, the airbag breaks the fall and then summons 9-11.
Paul Cox, Max Davidson, Jake Gregory, Zina Horman, Zach Lund, Kip McClellan and Garret McClellan took home first place in the state competition for the fanny pack and won an award for best research in the national competition. While still in the conceptual stages, the team was able to test exactly when the airbag would deploy by using a gyroscope and accelerometer on “GrannyBot,” their test dummy for the project.
“The first thing, once they came up with the idea, [was] how do we test it? And from pushing each other over, and trying to measure that. So they built a Segway robot. It’s so much more efficient, it’s controllable and it’s reproducible,” said Scott McClellan, one of the team’s coaches.
The pack features a few simple gadgets that are also found in standard smartphones, such as an accelerometer, a gyroscope and a GPS. After the airbag is deployed, the pack automatically contacts 9-11 and sends out a GPS signal to direct emergency medical services.
“We think that the fanny pack would cost around $50 to buy,” said team member Nicholas Gardner.
The team has been contacted by companies interested in pursuing their idea on a commercial level.
However, the team is already on to its next project — finding a way to help relieve the effects of natural disasters. Members say the biggest challenge to them and other teams is not necessarily the event itself, but finding mentors and coaches to help them.
“It’s just so fun to help out. I’m trying to set up a student-based group. Last year I recruited seven students around the school — engineering majors — and this year I’m doing it again,” said Derek Jewell, the team’s mentor and a junior in biomedical engineering.