Smart wheelchair, mobile food ordering app among winners in PROJEX 15

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KOTA KINABALU: A smart wheelchair and mobile application for placing food orders were amongst the winning innovations during the Kota Kinabalu Polytechnic innovation competition, PROJEX 15.

Aimed at facilitating wheelchair-bound individuals to move about more independently and conveniently, group members, Nina Nathrah Nain, Dyg Nuriffa Hanina and Fenisia Kenai Johnny equipped a regular wheelchair with the Arduino Uno hardware, which can be controlled using a smartphone with Bluetooth or even a PlayStation 2 (PS2).

They explained that when the Arduino hardware is connected to a smartphone or PS2, it will receive a signal which then allows it to send commands to the relay and get the wheelchair moving.         The wheelchair also features a sensor which detects obstacles as a safety measure, they said.

“We came up with the idea of innovating a regular wheelchair because a smart wheelchair is not yet available in the market and electric wheelchairs can be costly. By installing the hardware to a regular wheelchair, it will enable anyone with a smartphone to make use of this technology,” they added.

Andri Shafyian and Jedidiah David Herman, on the other hand, sought to increase efficiency in taking and placing orders, especially for food trucks.

“With the changing landscape in the food and beverage industry, we thought it would be a good idea to introduce a more efficient way in which orders are placed,” Jedidiah explained.

“Customers can place their orders through the mobile application we designed, and they will receive a notification once their order is complete.”

The duo also said that their mobile app could cut down on the usage of paper, in line with the theme of the competition, ‘Green Technology – Environmentally Sustainable’ (‘Teknologi Hijau – Lestari Persekitaran’).

Deputy Chief Minister Datuk Seri Panglima Raymond Tan Shu Kiah, who is also Minister of Industrial Development, commended the efforts of all participants in coming up with the ideas of their innovations, adding that they have the potential to be mass-produced and marketed.

“When this product can be taken by the industry, it can be commercialized to generate income. Industry players have to come in and support all these products and it is good if they are promoted so that these industry players can help in terms of commercialization.

“All the ideas here are very good. In fact, I will revisit Polytechnic and see how, going forward, we can commercialize some of these products,” he said.

The bi-annual competition saw 250 students vying for the top spot with their respective inventions, divided into Engineering and Non-engineering categories.

A winning team was also selected in an unprecedented Poster Competition as part of PROJEX 15.

Winners are now in the running to compete in inter-polytechnic innovation competitions, where selected products will be registered under the Intellectual Property Corporation of Malaysia (MyIPO) and Patent Utility Innovation (IU).