Following the NIWA science fair, Alanna Santoso was awarded 2nd place in category 5 – technology for her project. It was great news after all the hard work she put in completing this project.
Learning how to program the heart rate sensor to do what she wanted it to do challenged her. Her aim was to make a device that would switch her light off as she fell asleep, reading her book in bed at night. Alanna programmed a device using an Arduino UNO board as a base. The heart rate sensor was programmed to detect a heartbeat and figure out how many BPMs there are. The UNO board was attached to a relay module, which acted as a switch, which was then connected to a flashlight. She added an if’ function which told the device to turn off the flashlight when her heartbeat goes below 55 BPM.
Alanna says, “I have learned so much about programming and technology through this project – and if I participate again next year, I’d like to aim for an overall prize.”
Cyprus Causer
