'smart' priority seats for approved ezlink holders
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Three students who had seen online videos of commuters quarrelling over reserved seats set about creating a folding seat that would open only if someone in need, such as an elderly person, flashed an ez-link card at a sensor.
"We wanted to come up with a way to make sure the seats were used by only the people who really need it," said Ngee Ann Polytechnic student Chua Beng Hoe, 25. He and his teammates, Seah Xiang Long, 19, and Muhammad Aliff Siddiq Aziz, 21, also came up with ways for the system to be used by pregnant women, disabled or sick individuals.
The trio's invention was one of five unveiled to the media as part of the polytechnic's open house. Chua explained that the refurbished "priority seat" worked using a mechanism operated by magnets that kept it in an upward "locked" position.
Senior citizens can unlock it by tapping their cards against a reader. This allows the seat to be pulled down from its folding position. Then, when the commuter gets up, it automatically springs back upright and is locked again.
Chua added that pregnant women and those feeling ill could have their ez-link cards activated for a given period of time at a train station after producing a doctor's note. Their invention has a video feature that allows the train driver to monitor the reserved seats and release them if he spots people in need whose cards do not allow them access.
The students, who are taking a course on automation and mechatronic systems, said they had written to the transport authorities and were waiting to hear from them.
Source: The Straits Times / ANN
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Hmmm, good suggestion... I believe the idea came from the EZ-link scanner on the traffic lights...
Let's see some scenario then...
1) Train arrived at platform, super packed... the spot for the chair is occupied, very squeezy... How to move and unfold the seats?
2) The mechanism (or the trigger) that cause the chair to unfold when the person gets up. Let's presume it wont trigger by mistake. So elderly reach the stop, gets up. Chair begin to unfold... Can someone forcefully stop it from being unfold so that they can sit down?
3) Pregnant and sick people do not carry the same purple ez-link as elderly... How to differentiate?
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More preventive maintenance for the transport operator to perform. Use excuse for increase in running costs.
Let's assume each cabin has 2 of those, one set of 6 carriages has 12 already. Assuming 50 trains in their inventory, wah 600 of those chairs they have to maintain.
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gt existing thread on these folded seats. I believe it's the person up there gathering feedback tt time. who eng can go dig it out.
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Hmmm, I remember something like tat...
Alot of ppl here were kinda luffing at them... but at least there is progress...
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age abit dun match...
previous ts is 1995... which is 17 at last year...