If a driver is preoccupied, or if there’s a disruption to their routine, they can forget and leave their baby in their car – if that car then gets too hot, the result can be lethal. The Infalurt Child Safety System is designed to keep such scenarios from unfolding.
Manufactured by Australian startup Infalurt, the setup consists of three parts: a capacitive sensor which is placed beneath a third-party infant car seat, a control unit located on the center console (or somewhere else that’s accessible to the driver), and a key fob.
Should the driver reach a minimum distance of 10 m (33 ft) from the control unit while carrying the fob, the system will check in with the seat sensor to see if the baby is still on board. If the child still is seated, the control unit will proceed to send an ISM-band radio signal to the fob, causing it to alert the driver by vibrating.
Needless to say, as long as the driver is carrying the baby with them as they leave the car, the seat sensor will indicate as much, so no alert will be issued.
The whole thing is battery-powered, utilizing two AA’s in both the seat sensor and the control unit, along with a CR123 coin cell battery in the fob. If any of those batteries are running low, an LED on the respective unit will alert the user by flashing red and beeping.
And potential buyers with more than one baby should take note, up to four seat sensors (each one assigned to its own infant seat) can be paired to a single control unit.
The Infalurt Child Safety System is available now via the company website, priced at AUD$369 (about US$273).
Interested parties might also want to check out the SaferChild system, which utilizes the buyer’s choice of either a weight-sensitive seat sensor pad or an electronic seatbelt clip on the infant seat. Scientists at Canada’s University of Waterloo are additionally working on a system that detects forgotten babies in cars via radar signals emitted within the cabin.
Infalurt warns drivers of babies forgotten in cars [New Atlas]