Teenager created a Fall Alert device to help his great-aunt who suffers from dementia

14-year-old Freddie has been creating devices to help his great-aunt Pat, who suffers from dementia. Freddie developed an interest in engeneering at an early age, as he explains “So, I joined a code club in my primary school, in year for or five, and I learnt coding through there and I’ve loved coding ever since”.

One of the problems that most concerned Freddie about his great-aunt was the frequent falling. “We’d realized the my great-aunt Pat would fall but then forget to press her button so she’d be found several hours later by her carers.” So, he created a system that is able to detect when she falls

The first component is the Fall Alert, a wearable sensor that detects when the person falls and sends an alert to the family. The system them activates a small robot – Fallbot - that goes around the house to look for the fallen person. Fallbot can detect and avoid obstacles and can be remotely controlled through a videofeed. It also has a camera so family members can see whether the person is okay or is in need of assistance.

Freddie entered his Fall Alert system into the 2020 UK’s Big Bang competition and won the prize for Junior Engineer of the Year.

Adapted from: https://youtu.be/oegm1OlIi3M