Students solve cinema seat problem
They have come up with a system to help filmgoers easily tell if a seat is in use, and which even means your seat won’t be taken if you nip out for extra popcorn.
The Cinema Seat Availability idea has earned sixth-class pupils Andrew Doran, Roisin Connolly, Kate Dowling and Abbie Byrne from Scoil Naomh Iosaf in Baltinglass the top prize at this year’s Junior Inventor Awards.
When a seat is not in use and upright, a light on the chair shows green to indicate that it is free. But if the seat is occupied and the user leaves temporarily, a red light will be visible for 10 minutes and change to green again if the seat is not retaken.
More than 2,500 ideas from 234 primary schools were received by judges for the competition run by the Patents Office. The top prizes were presented to winning pupils by Research and Innovation Minister Sean Sherlock at an awards ceremony in Kilkenny yesterday.
Eimhin O’Neill from St Anne’s National School in Straffan, Co Kildare, earned top prize in the category for first to third class pupils, with a Phone Smoke Alarm invention.
Given that most house fires happen at night when people are asleep and that many people keep their mobile phones on at night as alarm clocks, the idea is to build a smoke alarm into mobile phones.
The problem of people parking in disabled parking spaces could be eliminated through an invention by Aaron Farrell for a sensor built into disabled parking signs in car parks. If a car goes into the space but does not have a disabled parking sticker with a corresponding chip, under the idea from the pupil at Fermoyle National School in Lanesboro, Co Longford, an alarm will sound to warn the person they are parking in a disabled space.
The competition is in its fourth year and is aimed at encouraging primary pupils to be innovative and creative in finding solutions to everyday problems.
* Overall Winners: Andrew Doran, Roisin Connolly, Kate Dowling, Abbie Byrne — Scoil Naomh Iosaf, Baltinglass. Cinema Seat Availability
* 1st to 3rd Class:
1st: Eimhin O’Neill, St Anne’s NS, Straffan, Co Kildare. The Phone Smoke Alarm.
2nd: Andrew Shields, Primrose Hill NS, Celbridge, Co Kildare. Musical Toothbrush: A toothbrush that will play your chosen music for three minutes, the recommended time that a child should brush for. Music can be uploaded from a computer.
3rd: Francesca Scott, Bray School Project, Co Wicklow. The Sink Stopper: A computer built into a sink or bath that allows you to regulate the taps so only a set amount of water will fill the sink or bath.
* 4th to 6th Class:
1st: Aaron Farrell, Fermoyle NS, Lanesboro, Co Longford. Disabled Parking Sensor.
2nd: Jennifer Murray, Scoil Íosagáin, Blarney, Co Cork. Car Park Pick-up: A system for multi-storey car parks where the car registration is scanned upon entry and as a driver moves to each level of the car park. When you return, a system allows you to key in your registration and you will be told what level you are parked on.
3rd: James Gavigan, Fermoyle NS, Lanesboro, Co Longford. The Slurry Sensor: When agitating slurry, the gas that is released can be poisonous and kill. The invention is a gas sensor that can be placed on the agitator or on any other places that the gas can escape from.
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