During the summer months, media sources worldwide report tragic cases of toddlers suffocating from having been accidentally left in cars. In an effort to prevent further such loss of life, Boys Town Jerusalem student Issahar Edri devised a system to alert the driver that a child is still in the car, before it’s too late. Issahar developed this all-important device as his project in BTJ’s College of Applied Engineering.

The system uses push-buttons at the base of a baby/child’s car seat to indicate whether the child is present in the car. The weight of the child presses the four buttons, completing a circuit and signaling this data to the microcontroller. A cut-off switch conveys data that the car’s motor has been turned off. Edri has programmed the microcontroller to monitor this data and instantly trigger alerts once there are indications that a child may be left in the car. The instrument first sounds a loud warning: “Don’t leave your child in the car!” If there is no change in data within minutes, the system sets off a powerful alarm. At the same time, it automatically opens a window.

For 20-year-old Issahar, the choice of this project was highly influenced by the death of a child in his own community after having been left in a car. “I’m glad to have had the opportunity to apply the technological skills I’ve learned at Boys Town to saving lives,” he smiled. Following his graduation from the two-year College of Applied Engineering, Issahar will enlist in the Israeli Air Force where he will become an electronics specialist. “Afterwards I look forward to continuing my studies for a degree in electrical engineering. I’m hoping to be blessed to make contributions at every step of my life,” he said.