From the left: Reza Aulia, Riantama, and Afif Purwandi won the Honorable Mention and Special Award from the Korean Invention Promotion Association at the Taiwan Innotech Expo

ITS Campus, ITS News – Student of Industrial Engineering Department of Institut Teknologi Sepuluh Nopember (ITS) again innovated, this time at the 2019 Taiwan Innotech Expo event. They are Reza Aulia, Riantama, and Afif Purwandi who succeeded in increasing innovation in the Machinist Fatigue Detector (MAFTEC). This innovation won two awards at once at the event which ended on Saturday (28/9).

2019 Taiwan Innotech Expo is an annual big event in Taiwan which is participated by companies, associations, and students from all over the world. The three-days event at TWTC Exhibition Hall 1, Taiwan carried out the theme of Sustainability Innovative Invention Future Technology. The theme then divided into several categories, one of the categories that participated by Reza and his teams was Electric Power, Measuring, Optics & Information Storage Based on Relative Movement Between Record Carrier, and Transducer. They chose the category because the innovation was focused on human factors, specifically fatigue and drowsiness of the machinist.

The equipment that won the silver medal last year at the Korea International Youth Olympiad Idea, Innovation, Invention, and Intellectual Property (KIYO 4I) has been improved its specifications. From previously detecting machinist drowsiness through eye movements, this time MAFTEC uses a new method, namely detecting drowsiness through heart rate. This innovation also comes with control in real-time fatigue levels of a machinist.

MAFTEC with the addition of new detection methods when exhibited at the Taiwan Innotech Expo 2019

The MAFTEC team leader, Reza, explained, how these equipment works are detecting the fatigue and drowsiness of the machinist then giving vibrations. “The tool can tell if someone is tired or sleepy through processing by a computer with a combination base between the eye blinks and heart rate,” said the 2016 batch student.

Reza continued, if the machinist was indicated to be sleepy, then this equipment will vibrate to wake up its users. Besides, this equipment can also detect fatigue and drowsiness in real-time online via the website. “So it is hoped that the control center can know the condition of the machinist directly,” he added.

With this new detection method innovation, MAFTEC won an honorable mention at the event. “Although this equipment can be considered common, the method we use is new, namely the detection of heart rate and eye blinks,” he said.

Another award obtained is the Special Award from the Korean Invention Promotion Association (KIPA), because according to KIPA, the invention has great potential to be implemented in the larger market. Not only applied in trains, but also other transportation sectors.

For the future, Reza hoped that this MAFTEC can be implemented in trains and can be useful for the community. At present, Reza and his team are still trying to obtain the patent for this equipment. “We also want to get the trust that this product has been tested and can be used for practicum in Ergonomics and Work System Design (EPSK) laboratory,” he concluded. (ion7/qin/gayatri)