By Saiful Bahri Kamaruddin
Pix by Shahiddan Saidi
BANGI, 13 June 2012 – Face-detecting LCD screens, remote-controlled electronic sign boards, solar panels that always face the sun and even free energy from the earth; these may be cutting edge technology, but they are also being developed by undergraduates of the Faculty of Engineering and Built Environment of The National University of Malaysia (UKM).
A class activity of the faculty’s Department of Electrical, Electronics and Systems Energy became a one-day exhibition at the beginning of the month showcasing the students’ talents in creative problem-solving for every day consumer use – and they have attracted some commercial interest.
The class activity was organised by Senior Lecturer Hilmi Sanusi, who said the students’ gadgets so impressed some of his colleagues that they asked for the prototypes to be installed in offices of the faculty for trial runs.
All of the cool gadgets held a common theme of green technology and power conservation through the use of smart systems.
Among them was an application to turn off power-hungry screens on laptop and desk-top monitors, smartphones and other devices using LCD when not in use. As long as there is a camera on the device, it detects just about any human face. When you look away from the screen, it turns off the display, only to be activated again when someone looks at it.
The beauty of the innovation is it does not need any other hardware apart from the camera. Only an application software needed to be installed. The team that developed the face-detection system hopes to sell the idea to a major electronics manufacturer.
Another useful but more complex innovation is a Smart Electricity system that uses ventilation to move air around between the roof and building without the need to open doors. Exhaust fans are used to channel the air flow to places that need more ventilation. It can also control air-conditioning by comparing the temperatures inside and outside a building and the space between the roof and ceiling. The team that developed it says it can help reduce air-conditioning cost while removing stale and polluted air. They believe it would be ideal for large buildings like factories.
Free energy might sound unrealistic, but another team of students think they are close to finding it. Naming the devise ”Kapagen”, it is a generator that produces electricity from electrons in the earth. The earth acts like a huge capacitor that absorbs electrons from lightning strikes.
It does save energy but there need to be at least a supply of 400 volts of electricity on the generator to produce 4,000 volts. The hardware for “Kapagen” consists mostly of common electrical household appliances and other electrical equipment such as step-up transformers, microwave oven transformers, electrical capacitors, winding coils, light bulbs and earthing rods. However, the consumer must have a constant supply of electricity that is higher than the normal outlet of 220 volts.
The theme of free energy is also seen in another exhibit, but with a twist or rather with a turn. Some very enterprising third-year students devised a dual-axis solar tracker that will help optimise the conventional solar-powered generator by moving the flat panels to face the sun directly over the course of the day.
A DC motor that turns the panel on two axis is attached to a light-dependent Cadmium Sulphate resistor that positions automatically at right angles to direct light. This item is already available commercially priced at only RM149 per set. The students who invented the product have cut a deal with a manufacturer in Sungai Petani, Kedah.
When a person wants some privacy in his office but yet willing to meet a visitor on a very urgent matter, then this innovation may help. The Wireless Electronic Signboad uses an RF transmitter to post messages on an LCD display in a room from the outside without the inconvenience of cables. It uses solar power.
A visitor can type in messages from as far as 100 metres away which the person can then decide whether or not to meet the visitor. The four students who came up with the innovation were driven by their experience in the campus. When they knocked on doors of their lecturers they did not know whether the rooms were occupied and kept on knocking. The devise also allows messages to be posted to inform visitors whether the occupant is in or not.
A group of students, calling themselves “Panda” believe they are the first to produce an economical battery charger that harvests electrical energy from wasted rotational energy. The generated electrical energy is used to charge any electronic device such as mobile phones, MP3 players or tablet PCs.
It is a small rotating device, about half the size of a can that can be fixed to the axis and hub of a wheel or anything big enough that rotates. DC generators are used in the demonstration. The team intends to use more efficient brushless and smaller 3 phased generators like those used on remote-controlled model aeroplanes.
Four of the 13 teams have signed contracts with lecturers to use their devices in the faculty. If the innovations catches on, commercialisation is the next step. The students are also preparing to protect their ideas through Intellectual Property Rights and are consulting the Law Faculty.