MIFOLD

Jon Sumroy, Carfoldio, Ltd., Ra’anana, Israel

“The award is a true accolade from design and engineering professionals. This means that, as well as solving a serious problem with a convenient, practical, and affordable solution, we have solved the problem in a well designed and engineered way. The credibility of the contest, and the respect and professionalism of the organizers and judges, will enhance our ability to market the Grab-and-Go Booster Seat worldwide. This will help us keep more children safer in more journeys, more of the time.”

The mifold Grab-and-Go booster seat for children aged 4-12 is more than ten times smaller than a regular booster seat and just as safe. A regular booster seat works by lifting a child up to the position of an adult. mifold does the opposite, securing the seatbelt in the correct position on the hips and shoulder by holding the seatbelt down at three points.

There are belt guides on either side of the child’s hips to hold the lap belt correctly against the bones and off the soft stomach. These belt guides are adjustable to three sizes. The mifold shoulder belt positioning strap and clip is attached to the back of the mifold seat, and goes behind the child’s back. The clip is attached to the adult seatbelt chest strap, and the length of the belt positioning strap and clip is adjusted to pull the adult strap into the correct position on the child’s clavicle (collar bone).

Because mifold doesn’t need to lift the child, it doesn’t need to be big and bulky. It is flat and can be folded to create a compact, portable package measuring 10 x 5 x 2 inches. The product is built with 6061 aircraft- grade aluminum and Dupont™ Delrin® 100ST, a super-tough plastic polymer with excellent impact resistance. The entire seat weighs 1.6 pounds.

In a collision, the child is protected in the same way as they would be with a conventional booster seat. mifold meets or exceeds the requirements of FMVSS 213 in the USA, RSSR in Canada, and ECE R44.04 in the EU.

For more information, visit http://contest.techbriefs.com/consumer_winner2016 

HONORABLE MENTIONS

X-Drive: Powered Wheelchair Conversion

Alexander Shortt, Lukas Perez, and Badri Srinivasan, McMaster University, Ontario, Canada

X-Drive provides a way to convert conventional wheelchairs into powered wheelchairs on a permanent or temporary basis. The conversion kit includes a universal adapter bar; a hub-mounted, direct-drive DC motor used on an all-terrain tire; a battery; and an Arduino microcontroller. The system is controlled by a smartphone using joystick technology.

For more information, visit http://contest.techbriefs.com/xdrive 

Non-Contact Tire Pressure Reader

Jingxi Zhang, SigLamp, Foster City, CA

This non-contact tire pressure reader is operated using a smartphone. A 3 x 3- mm combined pressure sensor and MCU is embedded in a special tire cap with a tiny LED in the top. The pressure information is coded in the LED’s blinking light emission, which is then captured by the smartphone’s video camera and interpreted by the decoder of a phone application.

For more information, visit http://contest.techbriefs.com/tire 

Xogo: Empowering People with Disabilities to Access Technology

Noam Eisen, Dalton Banks, and Ray Abel, Bansen Labs, Pittsburgh, PA

The Xogo universal platform helps disabled people access all their consumer technology in one place via the accessible controls they already use, such as joysticks and wheelchair controls. Specialized hardware facilitates physical connectivity with users’ accessible devices, and the proprietary software allows users to customize Xogo to their needs.

For more information, visit http://contest.techbriefs.com/xogo 

Advanced 3D Volumetric Display

Diji jayakaran, Prajna-Vaishnavi-Shakti Research, Ernakulam, Kerala, India

The 3D Volumetric Display delivers a clearer and more realistic 3D picture using individual picture cells called sphexels (spherical picture cells). The sphexels control the direction of light to be emitted, and provide occlusion and opacity without losing perspective or parallax. Target applications include R&D and medical imaging.

For more information, visit http://contest.techbriefs.com/display