Moodbidri: Good News for Moms - Student Invents Sound-activated Cradle
News and pics by Shekar Ajekar
Daijiworld Media Network - Moodbidri (RD/CN)
Moodbidri, Jan 30: For the woman of today, whether she is a stay-at-home mom or a mother who works outside the home, finding some time for herself is tough. This is especially true when there is an infant in the house.
Often, just rocking the baby to sleep in a cradle gets to be a Herculean task. Here’s some good news for all those who find themselves in this situation much too often - a sound-activated cradle!
This electronic cradle has a simple design and is very easy to operate. When the baby cries, the cradle rocks till the child stops crying! What’s more, you can programme incorporate traditional lullabies or your own songs into the cradle so the baby is comforted easily.
This unique cradle is the brainchild of Sumana, daughter of Vishnumurti and Shanta, and a second year electronics and mechanical student of SKF Industrial Training Centre (ITC).
“The operation of this cradle is very simple. Clap and the lamp turns on. Clap again and it turns off. You can adjust the cradle to respond to the sound of the baby’s cry,” She says.
The electric microphone picks up the sound of the claps and produces a small electrical signal which is amplified by the succeeding transistor stage. Two transistors cross connect as a bitable multi-vibrator changes state at each signal. One of these transistors drives a heavier transistor which controls a lamp.
“I built my prototype on a cardboard over an old notebook. I punched holes using dividers and placed the components down flat. It might look neater, if you draw the circuit diagram on the board before you begin. The components are from my junk box and I found that it works even if you omit the 4.7 mega OHM resistor. Your results may vary. The transistor types are not critical and any n-p-n silicon transistor should work,” says Sumana.
Utilizing this basic design, different types of swings and hammocks operated by music or sounds for children and adults, could be manufactured.
SKF Group of Companies chairman G Ramakrishna Achar, Kalikamba ITC principal T S Alva, electrical department instructor Shashikant and other instructors were present at the press meet.
A few years ago another bright student of SKF ITC landed a plum job with Honda Motors for his innovative model of wipers. SKF ITC is a boon to those students aspiring to pursue self-employment after their studies. It encourages students to explore their innovative ideas besides extending technical know-how to make it viable for commercial use.