Team Café
Wafer Tag
“The Wafer tag is an NFC tag, which has a microchip that
allows you to store small payloads of data on it. This data can be accessed by
any NFC-enabled device, when it is within range,” is how inventor Nagarjun
Kinaré would describe his creation.
Bluetooth has become a key feature in phones over time. NFC
(Near Field Communication) is a newer short-range wireless technology and is
supported by most of the non-budget range phones. The Wafer Tag, designed by
Nagarjun Kinaré, is designed to make people’s lives easier. It merely needs to
be touched by an NFC enabled device to change settings, save contacts or share
some data.
Tech giants like Samsung and Sony have their own NFC tags
but the Wafer Tag is roughly half the price, has more features and is highly
customisable. Data is written to the tag and when a phone is brought close
enough to the tag, it automatically reads it and interprets the message. Say,
the tag has data to call a certain number, or contains contact information.
That number would be copied onto the dialler for you to call or the contact
imported to your phone. All this by just tapping your phone against the tag!
Inventor: Nagarjun Kinaré
College: Padre Conceicao College of Engineering, Verna
Plugzee
“Imagine filling your living room with music, streaming your
favourite music from your mobile phone or laptop to your home stereo system.
How about answering calls, or giving Siri a shout-out while driving? Don’t have
a Bluetooth enabled stereo system? No problem, Plugzee has you covered!” These
are the words of an enthusiastic Aaron de Miranda Colaço, one of Plugzee’s
inventors.
For those who are in the dark about Plugzee, it is a tiny
device that turns any audio speaker into a Bluetooth speaker without
compromising on its audio quality. As such, one can easily pair their smart
phone, tablet or any other Bluetooth-enabled device with Plugzee and stream
music wirelessly. With a range of 50 feet and an inbuilt battery that lasts up
to 18 hours (of continuous playback), the device promises to provide
long-lasting experiences and is a concept that promises crystal clear sound
delivery and no loss in quality, so you can hear every note. Plugzee is
currently being crowdfunded on Indiegogo, and has surpassed any and all
expectations of its inventors thus far.
Inventors: Aaron de Miranda Colaço, Valindo Godinho,
Nagarjun Kinaré, Krishna Devate and Kirit Ayya
College: Padre Conceicao College of Engineering, Verna
Smart Helmet
A brainstorming session for the 200 marks-worth annual
project, amongst final year students of an Electrical and Electronics
Engineering course, led to creation of a Smart Helmet. Taking into
consideration the alarming rates of road accidents, the group designed an
innovative helmet that does not let the rider start his two-wheeler without the
helmet being worn. The second failsafe of the helmet is that if one is under
the influence, the bike won’t start. Their project was selected to be displayed
at the Bharatiya Vigyan Sammelan and Expo 2015.
Once mass-produced, the helmets and their connections for
the bikes will be priced in the economically viable range of Rs 3,500-4,000.
Inventors: Sayish Sancolcar, Mandar Komarpant, Shaunak
Kudchadker and Rahul Harmalkar
College: Goa Engineering College, Farmagudi
Androidocar RC Car Controller System
A group of five students of Bachelor of Computer
Applications have invented the Androidocar RC Car Controller System, which is
basically a car which can be controlled using an android app. The Androidocar
RC Car Controller System application is a one-of-a-kind application that is
designed to work with specific Bluetooth enabled hardware boards, making it
move through Bluetooth communication. This application is designed for people
who own an RC car but have no controller to run it. The application allows them
to run their RC car without a controller.
The app requires a basic android phone Supporting Bluetooth
v2.0 or above, RAM of 512MB with 20MB of available storage space and a set-up
of an Arduino Uno Board with a HC-04 or above Bluetooth module or similar. The
operating software used can be Android 4.2 (Jelly Bean) or higher.
Speaking on additions to the concept, Akib Ali, one of the
inventors, says, “We have tried innovating further, with the installation of
sensors as well as the addition of a camera to monitor overhead movement.”
Inventors: Akib Ali, Hudson Peters, Julius D’Souza, Jason De
Souza and Akshay Govekar
College: St Xavier’s College, Mapusa
