NEW DELHI: Nine students of Government Boys Senior Secondary School, No. 3, Sector 5, Ambedkar
Nagar, has invented a low-cost alarm system that will prevent gas leakages and ensuing blasts. The alarm has been developed with seed funding from the state’s Business Blasters programme.
After the Business Blasters programme was implemented on a pilot basis, the Delhi government launched the programme in all government schools in September for Classes 11 and 12, and increased the seed allocation from Rs 1,000 to Rs 2,000 to encourage students about starting their own businesses.
The alarm, which comes with the motto ‘Safe Kitchens Catch no Flame’, will be launched commercially, and the students already sold a few as part of the project. Each piece costs Rs 700; Rs 450 being production costs. According to mentor teacher Chandan Jha, “There are many great start-up ideas proposed by students that are currently being worked upon.
The idea of an ‘alarm’ was found to be unique because these alarms can be a cheaper alternative in preventing major untoward incidents that could prove fatal. Currently, such products costs between Rs 5,000 and Rs 1,800. In contrast, our students sell their products in the Rs 650-700 range, which is more affordable.”
The nine students who are working to make the alarm more advanced are Om, Aman, Nishant, Karan, Yash, Tushar, Dushar, Laxman and Rohit. On the application of the alarm, Om said, “We created the alarm with assistance from our teachers, using an Integrated Circuit (IC), sensor, buzzer and bell, and other vital items to make this alarm. One has to just plug the alarm set in an adaptor a few meters away from the gas cylinder and if there is gas leakage, the alarm will start buzzing and indicate to the members there is a leakage in their kitchen.”
The alarm has been designed to go off within 20 seconds of a gas leakage. The students are developing an advanced version that will link the device to smartphones. They are also working to reduce the timing from 20 to 5-10 seconds. “Currently, students are working on pricing and packaging and are also in talks with investors to take the project to a bigger level. Interestingly, students are already getting orders for the product,” said the mentor-teacher.