AT&T Intern Designs Prototype to Prevent Accidental Deaths in Overheated Cars

Nancy Dominguez, a senior mechanical engineering major at the University of Texas at Dallas, has created a device that alerts parents when a car has reached dangerous levels of heat. The prototype, dubbed “Car Seat”, alerts drivers and emergency personnel with a text message if a child, or a pet, is left in a vehicle that is reaching dangerous temperatures.

According the non-profit Kids and Cars, 38 children die from heatstroke in a vehicle each year.

“People ask ‘What’s wrong with the parents? Why are they leaving their kids inside their cars? Are they crazy or what?’” Dominguez said. “But it can happen to anyone.”

In most situations, children are left by complete accident and it can happen to any responsible parent. A simple change of routine, lack of sleep, or increase in stress can trigger forgetfulness. This is why when Dominguez was asked to take on a person project this summer at her internship at AT&T she decided to focus on this fatal, preventable issue.

Amber Rollins of Kids and Cars stresses that this issue isn’t just for “bad parents”, it can truly happen to anyone. “When our brains are tired and stressed out, the habit program turns on and kicks our brain to autopilot,” Rollins explained.

The device created by Dominguez is a small box that can be easily attached to a window inside a car, and utilizes motion sensor technology to detect if someone is inside of the car. The gauges on the device track the vehicle’s internal temperature and will alert users with a text message when the temperatures are reaching a dangerous level. The device was originally going to be catered to strictly car seats, but with this idea it expands to the entirety of the vehicle.

“What the device does is that once it starts reaching those dangerous temperatures in the red zone, then it contacts emergency services so that they have enough time to come and save the kid,” Dominguez said.

While Dominguez’s internship is over, AT&T Foundry is continuing to develop the “Car Seat” prototype. The Foundry hopes to take this initial project and create a product that can be sold to parents to prevent accidental deaths due to heatstroke.