Utsunomiya CampusFaculty of Science and Engineering Student Wins Society President's Award at Invention and Innovation Contest

On Friday, March 1, 2024, at the 18th University Student Invention and Ingenuity Contest hosted by the Japan Society for Industrial Technology Education, the team of Teikyo University's Faculty of Science and Engineering, including Tomomi Takano (3rd year, Department of Information and Electronic Engineering), Yuka Negishi (3rd year, Department of Information and Electronic Engineering), and Mana Kanai (3rd year, Department of Department of Information and Electronic Engineering), won the President's Award, the highest award in the invention and ingenuity category. This is the eighth time in nine years that the Hasuda Laboratory has won the President's Award in the invention and ingenuity category, following last year's award.

The winning entry, "Did you forget your things on the shelf?", is a system to prevent users from forgetting things in restroom stalls, warning users to reduce the number of items left behind. Because cameras cannot be used in restrooms due to privacy concerns, infrared-based anti-lost items systems are used in restrooms at service areas and public facilities, but these systems have difficulty detecting smartphones and cards, which make up the majority of items left behind these days. Takano and his team therefore applied a weight sensor that can detect items in 0.01 gram increments, making it possible to detect thin items such as cards that cannot be detected by infrared-based systems. In addition, the system can be easily installed in existing restrooms in public and commercial facilities, and by expanding the detection range of the weight sensor, it can also be used in powder rooms and other places.
In response to words of praise from his supervisor, Professor Yuichi Hasuda, Takano expressed his joy by saying, "I'm grateful for this opportunity. I want to continue to work on manufacturing using mechatronics." Currently, with a view to putting the system to practical use in public and commercial facilities, a demonstration experiment is being conducted to confirm the effectiveness of the system when installed. We look forward to seeing even more success from the students in the future.

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