JOHOR BAHRU, 19 January 2014 – Universiti Teknologi Malaysia (UTM) has successfully invented a life saving flood warning device that alerts people through Short Message System (SMS) once the water level nearby starts to rise.
The device, called Automated Photonics Flood Warning System (Flood-SMS) helps save lives and minimizes the millions of Ringgit worth of property damage particularly during flash floods.
Speaking with the inventors of this system, Prof. Dr. Abu Bakar Muhammad from the Faculty of Electrical Engineering said that this device has been designed to measure three levels of flood warning namely, flood occurrence, flood alert and finally flood at dangerous level.
At the ‘alert’ level the residents will receive SMS warning messages indicating the current flood level situation. As the ‘dangerous’ level, residents will receive SMS messages advising them to take appropriate safety action in order to save their lives and minimize damage to property.
”All these warning signals are sent as Short Message System (SMS) through a Global System for Mobile (GSM) modem to subscribers, programmed into the modem.
“The system consumes low power and can be operated using batteries and is free from any electrical shock arising from short circuits due to water,” he said.
The product utilizes photonics sensors coupled with a micro-controller and a GSM modem. The sensor was designed to detect all the three levels mentioned above and triggers the micro-controller to relay the appropriate SMS signal through the GSM modem.
“The product proposed here uses optical fiber to detect water level rise. It is a known fact that fiber optic system is immune from any electrical shocks especially those arising from short circuit due to water.
“The optical fiber or photonics sensor is arranged in a plastic tube chamber, which will be placed at flood prone areas with the fibers connected to the electronic circuitry,” he said.
The fiber used here enables the signal to travel as far as 2-km allowing the electronic circuitry to be placed high above the floodwater. The above circuitry comprises of a micro-controller and a GSM modem.
“These flood conditions are sent to subscribers via SMS. The use of a GSM modem enables the system to cater for unlimited users making it suitable for use at flood prone residential areas,” he said.