In the aftermath of the gruesome incident that took place in Coimbatore where two children were kidnapped and murdered by a van driver, apprehension is in the air on the security of school students, and parents seem to be in a state of shock.

This gruesome incident has prompted a Madurai youth, Jesudas Seksan, to come up with a device that could most possibly prevent school students from getting kidnapped. The device designed by him includes a Micro controller-based Auto Dialling Device (MCAD) that consists of a GSM-based mobile controller and voice identification unit.

The MCAD needs to be installed by the school authorities and shall carry all the information about each student, their residential address and approximate time it takes for each student to reach the school from their respective homes.

A bar-coded identity card and a wrist-belt or a waist belt should be given to the children — this belt carries a micro-level interruption sensing system and a Global Positioning System modem. In addition, at home, all one need is a mobile phone or a landline and an alarm device.

How it functions

Once the authorities install the automatic dialling device, all that the parents need to do is make sure that their children take the waist belt / wrist belt and ID card without fail. Moreover, once they leave the house and board the van or autorickshaw, the parent/guardian must dial the landline number of the school and enter the registration number of the child.

The number is recorded in the MCAD, the timer starts to run and when the children enter the school and swipe their ID cards, the timer stops working. If they do not reach the school within the scheduled time, the parents will receive a call on their landline or mobile stating that their child has not reached school.

The parents can use the Internet to locate where their children are through the GPS facility, fitted into the belt. The belt also consists a leaf sensor and if anyone tries to remove it, it will raise an alarm in the respective child's home where an alarm device is fixed.

Mr. Seksan said that the device could be customised to store an infinite number of entries and multiple phone numbers for each child so that even the telephone numbers of neighbours could be given.

Seksan, who hails from a working class background, did his diploma in electronics from a community college, and has also devised a laser hand to help differently abled people and a security system to protect fishermen.

He said that if the government helps him or any donors fund him, he could come out with a much-improvised version. He dedicated this device to the two Coimbatore children, Muskan and Rithik.

http://www.thehindu.com/news/cities/Madurai/article894069.ece