MIT Solve

Solution Overview

Solution Name

Carseat circuit

One-line solution summary.

This is a prototype of a cost effective alarm system that prevents children and pets from overheating in cars.

Elevator pitch

What is your solution?

My solution was to make a cost effective alarm system for vehicles. It uses an alarm to alert people that someone or something is in the car. The project is made out of really cheap materials to prove that the price of saving a life should never be expensive. With some improvements this project could be implemented into future vehicles and make the amount of children that overheat in cars decrease. This small project has the power to save lives at such a small price.

What specific problem are you trying to solve?

The problem im trying to solve is children dying from overheating in cars. I personally feel like this problem doesn't get as much attention as it should be getting. This problem causes family's to break apart over a loss of a child. This problem happens so quickly and easily and its about time there was a cost effective solution. An average of 38 children die each year due to Vehicular heat stroke .A whopping total 882 children have died in hot cars since 1998. Those are 882 families that are mourning the death of a child that could have been prevented. It’s very easy for a child to overheat in a car. On a day where it is 73°F outside, it only takes 25 minutes for temperatures inside a vehicle to exceed 100°F. There are 4 main reasons why children die from Pediatric Vehicular Heatstroke. Over 50% of children die of PVH because the caregiver forgot. 25.6% are because the child gained access independently. 19.7% occur because the child was intentionally forgotten and the last 1.7% are unknown. This research proved that something needed to be done to prevent this from happening.

Who does your solution serve? In what ways will the solution impact their lives?

The target population would be low income families with small children. That's the main reason I chose to make this project as cheap as possible. There are cameras that are put inside vehicles that serve the same purpose as my project. The difference is that those cameras cost hundreds of dollars, while mine cost about $10.

What steps have you taken to understand the needs of the population you want to serve?

Ive lived in low income communities and I have two younger siblings who are 4 and 5 years old. I've been in the shoes of the population I wish to serve. I know this is a project that would have been beneficial to low income families like the ones in my own family.

Which aspects of the Challenge does your solution most closely address?

Other: Addressing an unmet social, environmental, or economic need not covered in the four dimensions above

What is the unmet need that your solution tried to address? Why is it important?

The solution can save lives of children and pets. This project prevents death and in the future can save the lives of thousands of children and pets.

Our solution's stage of development:

Prototype: A venture or organization building and testing its product, service, or business model

Explain why you selected this stage of development for your solution—in other words, what have you accomplished to date?

This project is not in its final stage. It still needs to be implemented into a vehicle. But now I have a model or blueprint of what the final product will be.

Where our solution team is headquartered or located:

San Antonio, TX, USA

Team Lead:

Malorie Martinez