Mysuru :

Though many orphanages have cradles for ‘unwanted babies,’ there is no guarantee that the babies will be safe if they are not picked up within a short time.

To overcome this, students of Industrial Automation & Robotics at the Department of Mechanical Engineering of the National Institute of Engineering (NIE) have developed a ‘Smart Cradle.’

The cradle was donated to Bapuji Children’s Home at Gokulam here on Saturday.

When a newborn is placed in this cradle, the system senses the presence of the baby and sends alarms through wireless technology. It also sends an SMS to the authorities concerned to take immediate action.

The completely automated system has a smart baby bed designed to detect the presence of a baby on it. It has a spring supported moving platform, which goes down when a baby is placed and comes up when the baby is taken back. Below the platform is a switch system and battery- powered electronic hardware.

The hardware is housed inside an ingress protected box making it weather proof. The alarm system placed in the orphanage office, which can be at the distance of around 50-60 metres from the cradle, gets an alarm through wireless technology. The alarm goes on until action is taken. An SMS module is placed which sends an SMS to the authorities within a few minutes.

Ajit N N, Rakesh K M and Keshava Prakash V who have developed the cradle under the supervision of K S Lakshmikanth and Dr K R Prakash, said there is always a risk of even stray dogs eating the baby.

This smart baby bed is designed to protect the infant from the environment and animals. This indigenously designed product can be placed in front of government hospitals and privately run orphanages to help save infants from any probable harm from animals, insects and the weather.

source: http://www.newindianexpress.com / The New Indian Express / Home> States> Karnataka / by Express News Service / June 27th, 2016