In IVE Engineering, students are encouraged to be conscious of social issues and contribute to society by applying their professional knowledge. It is essential that they show initiative and effort to help people in the community, particularly the disadvantaged.
A range of factors are prevent elderly citizens and those who are visually impaired and disabled from fully integrating into their community. It is recognised that maintaining these citizens’ ability to travel around and maintain social relationships in the communities is essential for supporting their well-being. However, transportation problems faced by these citizens, such as a bus not stopping to pick them as they cannot signal the driver, have yet to be solved.
Recognising such passengers’ special needs, our students from the Engineering Discipline and the Childcare, Elderly and Community Services Discipline teamed up to visit the local community to identify the problems and concerns of elderly and disabled passengers about their access to public transport. As a result, our students developed the “Smart Bus Stop System.”
This Smart Bus Stop System provides real-time alerts to bus drivers about passengers waiting at bus stops through technologies like LoRa, the IoT, GPS and Cloud. Air-quality monitoring sensors are embedded in the system so that these data can be collected and shared with government units or bus companies. This system aims to improve the quality of life of the elderly and disabled by facilitating and enriching their public transportation experience, ensuring that they can travel around and interact with their community.
This illustrates how our interdisciplinary team engages with social issues through innovation to create a more inclusive, caring community. The system has received many awards due to its multidisciplinary innovation, thoughtful design and entrepreneurship. In recognition of the system’s potential, the team received seed funding to convert the prototype into a product, and they are hoping to make a commercial version of the system available in the near future.
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Competition |
Award |
HD Programme |
|
URA x IVE Innovative Design Competition 2021/22 |
• Gold Award • Most Creative Design Award |
• HD in Computer and Electronic Engineering, IVE(ST) • HD in Community Service Planning and Navigation, IVE(ST) |
|
Innovation Award & Seed Fund 2021/22 |
• Gold Award |
|
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Smart District Project 2021 |
• 1st Runner up |
