Device alert: Coronavirus positive person approaching

The future is here

The device (inset) can detect a Covid-19 patient. Those with a higher temperature are tracked, and the alarm starts buzzing when he/she gets within a range of six feet.

Fancy a smart social-distancing device that alerts you whenever a Covid-19 patient gets too close to you? This is precisely what a young US-based team of Indian researchers and a collaborating partner in Delhi has come up with to combat the pandemic spread.

Mixing machine learning, Artificial Intelligence, and practicality, the team conceptualised a device smart enough to detect a Covid-19 patient roaming freely in outdoor environments. Those with higher temperatures are tracked, and the alarm starts buzzing when he/she gets within a range of six feet.

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Developed by Rahul Reddy Nadikattu, University of Cumberlands; Sikender Mohsienuddin Mohammed, Wilmington University; and Dr. Pawan Whig from the Vivekananda Institute of Professional Studies, the device concept details have been published in the International Journal of Electrical Engineering and Technology (IJEET).

The wearable device combines a Passive Infra-Red (PIR) sensor, a micro-controller, and a mobile display with alerts to the user. The sensor detects the distance between the wearer and other individuals.

The micro-controller is programmed to verify the desired length and trigger the alarm as well as give the mobile alert to the user.

The PIR sensor is designed to detect human movement when it comes to a particular range. On receiving infrared radiation from the human body, the sensor triggers an alarm. By calibrating the IR radiation with the thermal conductivity, the body temperature is calculated.

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This way, says the IJEET text, the device measures both social-distancing and heat of the person in the defined range. Using a machine learning algorithm, the device also detects whether the person displays Covid-19 symptoms or not. The device has a belt-like wearable that allows tracking from an angle of up to 240 degrees.

The device accuracy could be boosted by improving the sensor design.

“The device can be handy in monitoring Covid patients in targeted areas and communities as a primary tool to segregate healthy individuals from infected patients. The patient detected through the device can easily be isolated from the surroundings, preventing secondary infection rate and contacts,” explains Nadikattu.

The researcher says the device use could be optimised to control the pandemic, in a scenario where many asymptomatic patients roam freely, transmitting the infection.

Combining the device with artificial intelligence, future pandemic outbreaks could also be tracked in a particular surrounding, he adds.

The team is now in the process of filing the patent for the device. Sponsorship and funding will dictate commercialisation.