FOG Carpet
Location
United States
Full Invention Name:
Fiber Optic Guiding Carpet
Team Name:
Top Brick
Team Number:
1140
Team Description:
Team Top Brick believes in having fun! Our team has four 6th graders and two 5th graders from West Windsor and Plainsboro, NJ. This is our 2nd FLL season. Our team has 3 girls and 3 boys. We have a whole range of talents, from sports to singing to dancing to putting on shows. We started working with Legos and robotics as a team over the summer. We are proud of our T-shirt that we designed together.
For the Senior Solutions challenge, our team wanted to create a way for seniors to be more independent in their homes at night. Our invention, the Fiber Optic Guiding Carpet won First prize in the Project category at Steinert Slam Tournament, NJ, in a tough field of 23 teams. Our system helps seniors avoid obstacles, and navigate around their home in the dark.
We had a wonderful time and learnt a lot from watching other teams. We hope you like our project. We learned a lot about seniors, the challenges they face. Most of all - we love Legos.
Category:
Independent
Brief Submission Description:
Seniors have difficulty navigating around their homes in the dark. At night they may wake up feeling fatigued and disoriented and need help to get their bearings. The FOG system is a voice activated carpet that has fiber optics cables embedded in it. Pressure sensors and voice controls work to activate light through the optic fiber cables to guide the senior to their destination and to light a halo of light around their feet. Light sensors turn the system off during the day. The system is intelligent, energy efficient, cost effective, and can be used in a variety of situations to improve safety and make seniors more independent. The system requires installation of a custom carpet, sensors, and a controller in a home. It must be configured and programmed with information about the home, its layout, locations, and the positions of furniture. The system needs to be trained to recognize the voices of the residents and can call 911 in case of an emergency. (Patent Pending)
