Three students who had seen online videos of commuters
quarrelling over reserved seats set about creating a folding seat
that would open only if someone in need, such as an elderly person,
flashed an ez-link card at a sensor.
"We wanted to come up with a way to make sure the seats were
used by only the people who really need it," said Ngee Ann
Polytechnic student Chua Beng Hoe, 25. He and his teammates, Seah
Xiang Long, 19, and Muhammad Aliff Siddiq Aziz, 21, also came up
with ways for the system to be used by pregnant women, disabled or
sick individuals.
The trio's invention was one of five unveiled to the media as
part of the polytechnic's open house. Chua explained that the
refurbished "priority seat" worked using a mechanism operated by
magnets that kept it in an upward "locked" position.
Senior citizens can unlock it by tapping their cards against a
reader. This allows the seat to be pulled down from its folding
position. Then, when the commuter gets up, it automatically springs
back upright and is locked again.
Chua added that pregnant women and those feeling ill could have
their ez-link cards activated for a given period of time at a train
station after producing a doctor's note. Their invention has a
video feature that allows the train driver to monitor the reserved
seats and release them if he spots people in need whose cards do
not allow them access.
The students, who are taking a course on automation and
mechatronic systems, said they had written to the transport
authorities and were waiting to hear from them.
Source: The Straits Times / ANN
