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It's been hot and humid around here, but life goes on. We had our BBQ on Sunday, and all went well. I got to cook over a wood fire, which is what I like to do when I'm camping, which we haven't done yet this summer. Today will be an outdoor day for mowing, and I need to get to it before it gets too hot.
But I was reading email over coffee and breakfast, and I came across this article in pet news. Not only is the theme of the article important--don't leave a pet in a hot car, but this story is about a 13-year-old who is actually doing something worthwhile with his time this summer. I managed to make a few bucks when I was that age, but I have to give this guy credit; he's doing more at that age than I did. Here's the article...
Hanna teen detects need for pet alarm
Science star knows hot cars and animals don't mix; NAIT helps with project
Clara Ho, The Edmonton Journal
Published: 1:03 am
Brian Larson hopes to see a decrease in the number of pets perishing as a result of being left in overheated vehicles.
"I think most pet owners know that vehicles can get very hot, but they just don't realize how fast it happens," Larson said.
That's why the 13-year-old science whiz from Hanna, about 300 kilometres southeast of Edmonton, is spending his summer collecting data to develop an alarm system that will alert pet owners when temperatures get too hot for their furry friends.
With the help of NAIT's electronics engineering technology department, Larson said he wants to develop a prototype that he can eventually bring to market.
He described the alarm system as a little box that would be installed in the vehicle to record temperature and humidity. When it reaches levels deemed dangerous for a pet, the system would send a frequency to a device similar to a keychain fob and set off an alarm.
"My device would give (pet owners) time to get back to the car before their pet suffered from heatstroke."
Larson came up with the idea two years ago after his aunt and uncle's two Chihuahuas died after being left in an RV for an hour. At the time, the outside temperature was 20 degrees C.
"When they came back, one was dead and on the way to the vet, the other died from heatstroke," Larson said. "The windows were cracked and the upper vents were cracked as well, but it still wasn't enough to save the pets."
Larson, who has six dogs of his own, began gathering research, consulting with veterinarians across Canada, surveying animal shelters and pet owners, and conducting tests on his family's cars.
After his preliminary model of an alarm system won him first place at the Alberta Central East Science Fair this spring, Larson approached Mark Archibald, chair of the electronics engineering technology department at NAIT, to help him move forward with the project.
"I thought, 'Wow, this is pretty ambitious and this is a very intelligent young man to be pursuing something like this,'" Archibald said.
To help Larson collect accurate data, NAIT customized two data loggers that will record temperature and humidity levels every 15 seconds, information that can later be uploaded into a computer and graphed.
For five days a week until the end of August, Larson will sample a variety of vehicles in different colours and sizes at a Hanna GM dealership. He will also test vehicles with the windows rolled down two inches.
At the end of the summer, Larson will take his data to NAIT to develop a prototype, which Archibald estimated will take about two months to complete.
Larson said he is confident about his project and thinks it will have global appeal. "I think I can save the police and humane societies a lot of time and I also think pet owners will want to know that their pet is safe."
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Laurie
