O Jungio with his newly built social distancing warning device.
Morung Express News
Kohima | August 19
O Jungio, who earlier built an automatic hand wash dispenser in July, has come up with another innovation- a social distancing warning device. “Given the need for maintaining effective social distancing norms, especially during quarantine, I have put together a device that aids you in doing the same with much more reliability and ease,” he told The Morung Express.
Having returned from Delhi recently, Jungio is currently under quarantine in one of the quarantine centres in Wokha and will finish his institutional quarantine on Sunday. Talking about the device, he explained that it uses a microcontroller (Arduino nano), an ultrasonic sensor, a battery-switch unit, LEDS and some resistors and a buzzer.
“All of it is enclosed inside a plastic playing cards case, which was easier said than done,” he articulated. Stating that the 'trigger distance' is coded into the microcontroller which upon breach, as sensed by the ultrasonic sensor, switches on the corresponding 'LED + buzzer routine', Jungio further explained that the pitch of the buzzer along with the frequency of the led blinking varies with the breached distance, a slow pulsating blinking along with a alarm-esque buzzer tone for distances within a certain range; and a high pitched buzzer tone along with more frequent LED blinking for distances too close for comfort or safety.
“This is my third iteration of the idea. The first two failed to work properly owing to silly wiring faux pas,” he revealed. The device, he expressed is for his personal use, “especially given the ardent need for maintaining utmost precautions, which includes social distancing, when under quarantine, this thing is more of a necessity rather than an accessory innovation.”
The social distancing warning device, which took him close to a month to accomplish, has generated a lot of positive response on social media. Mention may be made here that Jungio is a graduate of National Institute of Engineering (NIE), Mysore, one of India’s top engineering colleges and is the author of a poetry collection titled “Kalopsia”.
