One young Maker had the chance to show off her Arduino-powered Wildfire Warning System to Jimmy Fallon.
An Arduino Uno was the unexpected guest on The Tonight Show last Friday. That’s because 14-year-old Maker Sahar Khashayar had the once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to show off her latest project, the Wildfire Warning System, as part of Jimmy Fallon’s “GE Fallenventions” segment.
As its name would suggest, the ninth grade student recently devised an inexpensive device capable of detecting wildfires (and house fires, too) and sending a text alert to emergency personnel before flames rage out of control. In search of a solution, Khashayar wanted to build something that was not only cheaper than most systems, but could detect multiple types of fires and inform authorities should a situation arise.
With that in mind, the young Maker configured her $50 device with monitoring heat, smoke and infrared detection. To do so, she employed a gas/smoke sensor for carbon monoxide and other gases, a temperature sensor for heat and an infrared sensor for light waves. These sensors were then connected to an Arduino Uno (ATmega328).
Beyond that, the Maker used a pair of circuit boards — one for the sensor trio, the other for a Bluetooth module. With a little programming, she created an algorithm that sends a text message via Bluetooth to a smartphone when a possible fire is discovered. Khashayar even designed her DIY system with flexibility in mind, meaning owners can manually change the thresholds that trigger a warning notification to better suit their environment.
With a working prototype in hand, the Maker isn’t stopping there. In the near future, she hopes to include GSM communication to allow for messages to be sent across longer distances, and perhaps even communicate with one another through the woods, fields or neighborhoods.
So, do you think funny-man Fallon knew what an Arduino was? Well… sort of. “I know what the Arduino Uno is… (shrugs)… Arduino Dos, Quattro, Tres… all of them… I love Arduinos.” Watch the entire demonstration below!
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