Building security device/system

Thread Starter

tlllastar

Joined May 31, 2010
9
Hi,

I have actually posted a thread in The project forum but I found this forum which I think is more relevant to my major. If it's inappropriate to post 2 similar threads, the moderator is welcomed to delete this one =P

I will soon be a final year student(this July) of Electrical and Electronic engineering, majoring in Embedded System and Microcontrollers. I need to have a fyp title before my semester starts, and I need some help and opinion. I only have a vision/goal of what I would like to achieve, but I'm not sure how or what to do achieve that.

I would like to build a system or a device for women security. I have made some research and all that we have in the market nowadays are just pepper sprays, stun guns or some other similar device.

The problem about these devices are that, if it's readily available, it can become dangerous in the wrong hands, especially the stun gun. It's even illegal in some states/countries though I'm not sure about my owns'. While pepper spray don't do permanent damage, it's not easy to sprays them straight into the attacker's eyes under the circumstances, isn't it?

So I've been thinking, is it possible to create something more efficient for women safety? Another device that cause severe harm would be a no-no since it would again be dangerous in the wrong hands.

Maybe a system that we could collaborate with the police. Some defend layer women could wear which at the same time alert the police force on her location and something that would enable the law to track down the guilty. It might not 100% prevent the incident but at least, if every offender is tracked and thrown to jail, eventually, case will reduce, right?

I need opinions, is it realistic? or is it too far fetched and complicated? Can I have some advice on how to start this project? Else, is there any better fyp title i should do, and just put this idea behind?
 

beenthere

Joined Apr 20, 2004
15,819
We'll leave this one open, as you indicate this forum more accurately indicates your interests or skill set.

You might get better feedback if you can advance some possible implementations of your defensive system. Something that might do more than call the cops might fit the definition of "defensive" better.
 

coldpenguin

Joined Apr 18, 2010
165
I think that a weapon type device is possibly too much for you to consider (i.e. a tazer/stun gun).

However, I would think that something like a smart water dispenser, and an automated call-home/call-police GPS device that the woman could discrete once activated might be suitable to help clean up those that do attack.
This would be reasonably doable I think, there appear to be many GPS modules available, you would need a low power unit which could be charged once a week? (or maybe even splash-power?) and then some sort of GSM device. This last bit might have to be theoretical.
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
The real question is do you want to protect women (from what?) or just make the clean-up quicker? In what country are you? In the US, any signaling device will likely just draw an audience, as disgusting as that may be. A notification device will only ensure the woman is still warm when she is taken to the hospital.

If you want a device to ward off an attack, you will have to disable the attacker. That is a prospect you seem to have eliminated from your design criteria. So, what are your thoughts, realistically?

John
 

loosewire

Joined Apr 25, 2008
1,686
Yell fire has been one of the better attention getters.
Some people won't get Involved If they think they could be
hurt or be a witness( don't want to take time to go to court)
yell fire and they will call 911. Another method Is carry
small change purse with dollar coins and may be a few
$10.00 bills and a lot $1.00 bills knoted up to roll. The
attention may go to the money when you throw It.
Having the bills In ball shape will make them go In a
direction away from you and yell fire. It will buy you time
for a better aim with pepper spray or aim for the eye's
for real.If they don't go for the money you will know there
Intention,your life could be on the line. Fight for your life
there,make dna. A hardoned person will show you no mercy,
respond according.
 
Last edited:

davebee

Joined Oct 22, 2008
540
What if you made a camera that would transmit its image to a remote location realtime, like a remote television camera?

If someone knew that his full-face picture was currently being recorded somewhere then he might have second thoughts about doing anything bad.
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
How about a bunch of barbed GPS-type location devices? You could spray the attacker with them. The device that sprays the attacker could also "on-star" type call the police and the service could start tracking the attacker.

It may be expensive. I think teaching women self defense techniques may be easier.
 

Thread Starter

tlllastar

Joined May 31, 2010
9
beenthere,
thanks. but I guess that's my prob. I just have a vision, but i don't have much idea on how to realising it >.<

coldpenguin,
smart water dispenser? can water be effective? yea, i thought of doing something similar to what you said, the auto alert so that help can arrive fast, but if gps is involved, will it become too costly?

jpanhalt,
i would very much prefer to protect the women than the need to do the clean up. However, things like stun gun/taser is illegal here. I'm from Malaysia. Did some research yesterday on the law on those devices. So if I can come up with anything that has potential to ward off attacker, it might just have the same fact as those stun guns. *sigh*

another thought is that, is it possible/realistic to install biometric tech on stun guns? So that it can be activated by one user only? At least now we don't have to worry about the attacker using it against the victim instead.

loosewire,
yea, your idea seems better than any high tech solution, but it's not helping my fyp >.< =P

davebee,
will it be too high tech and too complicated to do?

retched,
good idea on the gps, but refer to above, will it be too hard to do? But the auto dial of 911, i could think about that. =D

plus, no offence, but I do not agree on the usefulness of self defense skills unless you're really good. I'm a lady and was a national champion in Taekwon-do. I know for a fact that these skills don't help much in real situations. It's just different. That's why the idea of trying to invent something to help women had been toying in my head. =P
 

Thread Starter

tlllastar

Joined May 31, 2010
9
I will take all your advises into account, recollect my thoughts, do a lil more research(google) and come up with a more solid picture of what I want to do later today. Will appreciate it if you all can continue to give me opinions.

Thanks alot :)
 

jpanhalt

Joined Jan 18, 2008
11,087
Chemical deterrants can be pretty effective. A taser helps subdue, but the woman only wants to deter long enough to get away. How to work elctronics into that problem is another issue. Maybe your biometric trigger idea has merit.

Among chemical deterrents (just a few popular ones among many):

1) Wasp spray -- shoots 20 feet, stings in the eyes to obscure sight, instills fear, legal almost everywhere, some claim it is as effective as pepper spray;
2) Pepper spray (capsaicin) -- easily made from hot peppers and concentrated (if you can't buy it); and
3) alpha-bromoacetophenone (aka, phenacyl bromide) -- easy to make (if you can't find it), used to be in mace but has been replaced with capsaicin (pepper spray), may not be legal in all areas.

John__
 

nsaspook

Joined Aug 27, 2009
13,086
plus, no offence, but I do not agree on the usefulness of self defense skills unless you're really good. I'm a lady and was a national champion in Taekwon-do. I know for a fact that these skills don't help much in real situations. It's just different. That's why the idea of trying to invent something to help women had been toying in my head. =P
I totally disagree, all the studies show aggressive action when attacked reduces rape. The vast majority of these women had little or no formal training but prevented rape up to 70 percent.

http://www.trccmwar.ca/fight-back.html#more-studies

Back the original topic. A air powered attention getter might help, something like a loud horn the size of a cell phone with a trigger on a ring finger.
http://www.defensedevices.com/air-horn-small.html
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
If the attacker had a pacemaker, you could use a Electro Magnetic Pulse. ;)

You would have to know your attacker pretty well, and in advance.

I like the horn idea. My grandmother, ..., used to carry a keychain device that had a "pin" that when pulled, set off a 150+db squealer. If you pointed this toward the attacker, it made them cover their ears.. If they didn't they would feel pain and "could" experience vomiting and rushing of the bowel.

I dont know about you, but rushing of the bowel isn't so pleasant. ;)

I think a device that contained a laser pointer, a bright light, and a loud noise and/or a "GPS LOCATION HAS BEEN REPORTED, POLICE IN ROUTE" as well as ACTUALLY notifying police, would be quite good.

Even a flash bulb in the eyes can disorient people pretty darn good. ESPECIALLY at night or when adrenaline has dilated the pupils to a nice large aperture.

That could be a good route to go.

BUT, if you have to rummage around through your purse while being attacked to get the device, its NO GOOD.

Thats why self-defense would be my preferred option...Having a device you believe in could lead to a sense of security that could keep you from avoiding areas and situations that could lead to being attacked.

Its a double-edged sword.


HEY, how about a double-edged sword? ;)
 

coldpenguin

Joined Apr 18, 2010
165
Hi,
Smart water is a special substance that includes a marker. It cannot be washed off easily, but can be used for positive identification at a later date. It is used a lot in high end properties with antiques etc. If you have the water on you, you were either there, or know the person who was. It would be very difficult to argue that it wasn't you.
The difficulty is that this has to be known by the attacker, it isn't much of a deterrent. For that, you would need an audio-visual alarm, and I think the GPS to get the cops there quickly. It might give the victim the chance to keep the attacker at bay for a long enough period for the police to get there and avoid an attack, however unless they are prepared to defend themselves, it would be probable that this might not be enough. Hopefully the attack would at least be interrupted, but the damage has already been done by that point I would think (I believe we are talking more psycological than physical really).
Being a male, it is possible that I cannot truly grasp what causes the most pain.


GPS devices, boards are available at $33, GSM at $23, smart water vials are around $20 I believe, you would need one per unit
It depends whether this is a commercial product, or a one-off.

If it is a one-off, then the above prices are expensive. The total unit is going to cost around $100, but how much are rape alarms or tazers?
If this is a commercial product, then the demo boards above are used for prototyping. Once the design has been semi-confirmed, you would approach the chip manufacturers and start negotiating direct deals with distributors and PCB fabs, the cost should drop considerably I think (you could buy a mobile with everything you need, GPS, GSM etc. for ~$30).
 

retched

Joined Dec 5, 2009
5,207
I think the lower frequency strobing light, like a strobe light ;) , or a bright camera flash would draw attention to the area and the act, also, a high pitched squealer, and the blinding light pointed at the attacker could give time for escape.

Most attackers are turned-off by ANY form of resistance. Usually their thought process is to scare and over-power mentally. If you show any form of resistance, they will feel they should go find another victim, OR other victims may also be 'armed'. So it could deter other violent crimes.

I think you could take a standard MAG light case, and replace the bulb with a xenon strobe and a high frequency-ear piercing squealer. a few 555 or a 556 to produce the oscilliations for the bulb and one for the squealer.

If you really wanted to get neat, that smart water idea would be cool.

You should also put an LED or two that illuminated the smart water so the attacker can SEE he has been marked.
 

coldpenguin

Joined Apr 18, 2010
165
I like the idea of the bright strobe actually, if you could stop yourself being blinded by it, it could be used as a non-lethal/dangerous 'weapon' (as well as attacting attention)
 

Thread Starter

tlllastar

Joined May 31, 2010
9
Thank you very much for all your replies. Now that I have a better picture of my options to achieve the goal, I will further discuss it with my fyp lecturer.

I really appreciate all the opinions and advises. Thanks again :D
 
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