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Engineer Develops Sonar Alarm System To Monitor Kids In the Pool (newatlas.com)

Posted by BeauHD on from the child-in-the-pool dept.

British electrical engineer John Barstead created a sonar alarm system that will warn parents or nearby sunbathers if a small child has accidentally fallen into a pool. The Dolphin Alarm, as it is called, is currently raising production funds on Kickstarter. New Atlas explains how it works: When small children who have no business going into the pool on their own are out playing near it, they wear a special wristband. If they should fall in, the wristband will generate a three-tone sonar signal as soon as it's immersed in the water. That signal will be detected by a hydrophone contained within a receiver unit that floats in the pool. When that happens, the unit will emit a 131-decibel alarm. It will also transmit an alert to an indoor remote unit located up to 150 m away (170 ft), which will likewise sound an alarm of its own. While there are other child-in-the-pool alarms, most of them are wave-activated and have to be shut off when other people are using the pool.

10 of 230 comments (clear)

  1. Awesome! by Hans+Lehmann · · Score: 4, Funny

    Now we no longer need to pay any attention to our kids when they're near a swimming pool. We have technology to do it for us!

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    1. Re:Awesome! by ShanghaiBill · · Score: 5, Funny

      I won't have to think about my kid ever again.

      You still have to wait till they are old enough to microwave their own food.

      Here is a great life hack to avoid killing your kid in a hot car: When you buckle the kid into the car seat, toss your cell phone and wallet onto the floor in front of the seat. When you reach your destination and reach into your pocket to check your Facebook status ... the phone isn't there. Then you remember the kid is asleep in the backseat!

    2. Re:Awesome! by arth1 · · Score: 5, Insightful

      When I first read the summary the first thing that went through my mind is the Super Freakenomics book mentions children are more likely to die from falling in a swimming pool than accidental gun death at home.

      How about the sum of accidental and deliberate gun death?

      A lot of kids fall into pools or drown swimming in the USA and something like this (perhaps the new generation of this tool) could be helpful.

      Or teach them to swim before letting them out of sight near a pool or lake?

  2. What if they aren't wearing the wristband? by mveloso · · Score: 5, Interesting

    The wristband is the flaw. A kid who isn't supposed to go into the pool isn't going to wear their special wristband, especially if it isn't their pool.

  3. Yeah - genius who's NEVER worked with kids... by frank_adrian314159 · · Score: 5, Insightful

    If it depends on the kid wearing a "water activated" wristband of some sort, it's a bit of a non-starter. The kid learns first that if he drags his arm through the water, big excitement ensues. Next he learns that if he takes the wristband off and throws it in the pool, even greater amusement ensues. Finally, the parents get rid of the thing out of irritation.

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    That is all.
    1. Re:Yeah - genius who's NEVER worked with kids... by arth1 · · Score: 5, Funny

      Yes, because if there's anything that toddlers absolutely love it's a sudden 131-decibel alarm tone.

      Yes, they do appear to love the sound of their own voice.

  4. Cheaper Solution by bobstreo · · Score: 4, Interesting

    Shock Collars and invisible fencing should protect your children quite nicely. And provide a handy guide for your robotic mower, which totally would never kill people instead of cutting grass. /s

  5. They have it backwards. by trogdor_linux · · Score: 5, Insightful

    A much better idea would be a to have adults wear the sonar device to act as an inhibit for a wave based alarm sensor.

  6. Foolproof! by viperidaenz · · Score: 5, Informative

    Unless the wrist band falls off
    or It's battery goes flat
    or it gets damaged
    or someone forgets to put it on
    or it gets dirty and the ultrasonic transducer doesn't make a sound
    or it gets dirty and the water detector doesn't trigger
    or the detection microphone is fouled
    or the floating detectors battery goes flat

    There is already a solution for this problem. You can buy a system that detects disturbances in the water. They automatically arm themselves when the water is calm, you temporarily disarm it when you use the pool and it rearms automatically then you stop disturbing the water.
    When something disturbs the water, like a child falling in, an alarm is triggered.

    They're designed by real engineers to solve this specific problem as an alternative for pool fencing where it's legal or in addition to it as extra protection.
    They're designed to protect all kids, not just the ones you remembered to attach a wristband to.

    I fail to see a market for this and I hope no one gets lulled into a false sense of security by it.

  7. I recommend swimming lessons. by Qbertino · · Score: 4, Insightful

    And bathing together with them until they can swim.

    Sometimes tech solves problems that don't exist. At least not for people with common sense.

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    We suffer more in our imagination than in reality. - Seneca