Smart Child in Car Reminder Alarm

Overview

Many babies die from heatstroke after being accidentally left in hot cars. A lot of existing alarm systems use only one sensor—like a pressure mat or a Bluetooth tag—which often cause false alarms or misinterpretations of dangerous situations. Our project goal was to design a smarter child-in-car reminder alarm that uses two sensors: a pressure sensor to detect if a child is sitting in the car seat, and signal strength from the phone to measure how far the caregiver is from the car. We built a prototype using Arduino, programmed a phone app using tkinter and Arduino IDE, and tested different distances and signal strengths to find the best settings. The system activates alarms in three steps: a short buzz on the phone, a continuous buzz if ignored, and finally a loud buzzer on the car seat to alert nearby people. Our results showed that the alarms were only activated when both sensors yielded similar results, reducing false alarms. It also gave caregivers enough time to respond before others were alerted. Throughout this project, we learned how to solder, build Arduino circuits, use Bluetooth, and how engineering can solve real-life problems. Our project proves that smarter, fail-safe technology can help save lives and keep young children safe.

Competition history

• CSEF 2026 Electronics & Electromagnetics (Junior Division) · Entry J-10-18

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