Abstract
The current study reports the development of an intelligent baby cradle that can detect the baby movement, bed-wet condition and body surface temperature. There is a need to develop such kind of devices, especially for Indian scenario. The developed device monitors the movement of the body using a pyroelectric infrared (PIR) sensor. Once the movement is detected, it activates the motor which swings the cradle for five minutes. In addition to the movement detection of the baby, the cradle is able to monitor the bed-wet condition and body surface temperature. In case of either bed wet condition, hyperthermia or both, a global system for mobile communications (GSM) communication portal is activated to send a status report to the parent's mobile. It is expected that the above device will help not only the parents at home but also the nurses in the hospital condition.
TopIntroduction
In the last decade, there has been a tremendous increase in the work pressure of the people(Melchior et al., 2007). This has made the people very busy in their professional life. Because of this reason, the working parents find it difficult to spend sufficient time for baby care (Bianchi, 2000; Fabusoro, Afolabi, & Adenekan, 2004; Waldfogel, 1998). Additionally, the hiring of a helping personnel (nanny) is expensive (Goyal & Kumar, 2013; Pisani & Yoskowitz, 2002). Even though both the parents are working (mostly), they find it difficult to meet the expenditure for hiring a nanny for round the clock. This can be associated with the increase in the cost of living in the present day world. Hence, the workload on the mother is very high as she has to look after the baby after returning from the office (Rout, Cooper, & Kerslake, 1997). Due to this reason, many scientists are working towards the development of the devices which may provide sufficient help so as to reduce the workload of the mother to a certain extent (Armbruster, Canna, Kane, & Sonner, 2003; H. R. Barrett & Browne, 1994; Hu & Gui, 2009). One of such devices is the automated cradle, which will swing in case of need (Kadu et al., 2014; McMahan & McMahan, 1998). The swing of the cradle continues till the baby falls asleep or soothes down. Such kind of devices is not only helpful in homes but also in hospital environments. There is a shortage of the nursing staff across the globe (Saeed, 2010). Such kind of automated devices will help reducing the burden of the nurses. The baby, quite often, makes the bed wet. If the bed is not cleaned quickly, then there are chances of getting cold. Apart from this, the personal hygiene is also compromised. To take care of this problem, many scientists have reported the development of a bed-wet monitoring device, which will alarm the parents in case of bed wet condition (Abita, Mostwin, & Carkhuff, 2001; DePonte, 1994, 1995; Hoekx, Wyndaele, & Vermandel, 1998; Norton, 1992; Smith, 2001).
The continuous monitoring of the temperature of the babies during fever or sickness is desirable. This allows the healthcare professionals or parents to keep a continuous track of the body temperature of the baby. In the event of any untoward rise in the body temperature, a body surface temperature monitoring system generates an alarm. This allows the medical professional or parents to attend the baby in case of an emergent situation.
Keeping a note of the above-mentioned discussion, in this study we have tried to develop an automated cradle swing system, which will allow soothing of the baby (Figure 1). Additionally, bed-wet and temperature monitoring devices were integrated with the cradle. The bed-wet and the body surface temperature monitoring systems activated a GSM module to inform the parents by short message service (SMS) (Li, Wen, Fan, Zhang, & Wu, 2015).
Figure 1. Working flow chart of an intelligent cradle
Key Terms in this Chapter
Resistance Temperature Detector: A resistance temperature detector is a temperature sensor made from highly conductive metals (e.g. Platinum, Nickel and Copper etc.). Its resistance varies linearly with temperature.
Arduino: Arduino is an open-source electronics platform comprising of a simple microcontroller board and an integrated development environment to develop standalone interactive objects.
Thermistor: A thermistor is a non-linear resistor made from a polymer or ceramic material and is used to measure temperature. It exhibits higher sensitivity than RTD usually in the temperature range of -90 °C to 130 °C.
Motor Shield: A motor shield is a double full-connect driver, which is used to drive two dc engines with the Arduino board.
GPRS Shield: A GPRS shield is a device that is used in combination with the Arduino board to communicate with the GSM cellphone systems via short message service (SMS), audio and GPRS services.
Cradle: It is a bed designed especially for babies up to four months old. It may be manual or automated.
PIR Sensor: Pyroelectric infrared (PIR) sensor is an electronic sensor that senses infrared radiation emitted from the objects present in its field of view. It is mainly used in PIR-based movement detectors.
Hyperthermia: It refers to the overheating of the body due to the failure of thermoregulation. It takes place when the body absorbs more heat than it dissipates.