SmartJacket

Inspiration

The SmartJacket is inspired by the ongoing Syrian refugee crisis. Refugees pack into lifeboats to sail through the Mediterranean to Europe, often filling boats far beyond their capacity. When these boats capsize, refugees are only have lifejackets (if they are lucky) and are left to the mercy of the sea. Some are never found.

What it does

Overview The product has two main features--the jacket itself, which collects relevant data to the person wearing it (position, temperature, heart rate) and a networking capability that enables each jacket to access the information of jacket(s) around it, and to transmit this data to potential rescuers.

Subsystem 1 Inside the jacket there will be a collection of sensors to help determine the vitals of the wearer. These sensors include a heart rate sensor as well as two temperature sensors, one to collect body temperature and one to collect the external temperature. In addition the device will have a way of obtaining its position (GPS / Internet).

Subsystem 2 The second component of the jacket involves its radio and network to communicate the sensor data (position and vitals). The idea behind this is a collection of jackets that can dynamically create an ad-hoc network in order to efficiently and reliably communicate data to the rescuers.

Going Further

Although the original intended purpose of the device is to be used at sea with lifejackets the jacket can easily be modified to suit the needs of mountain climbers, military personnel, etc.