Every year about 7000 people die by car accidents - only in Germany. Research from University Würzburg shows that almost 10% of those people could be still alive if emergency services had been notified immediately. But often minutes or even hours pass before an ambulance is beeing notfied.
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In the year 2000 three friends and me started to develop the "GSM-Schutzengel", a "mobile guardian angel" for motorists. The GSM-Schutzengel constists of a sensor implemented into a mobile phone battery. This sensor is able to recognize acceleration power and noise. In combination with a micro controller - also implemented into the mobile phone's battery - car accidents can be identified automaticly. As soon as an accident takes place the "GSM-Schutzengel" notifies the ambulance. False alarms for example if someone drops down his mobile phone do not accure due to sophisticated algorithms.
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In detail the GSM-Schutzengel does not only consist of the sensor and microcontroller (and the algorithms to recognize the accident) but of an software for the ambulance too. This software is able to show the accident' position on a map. The exact location of he accident respectively of the mobile phone is determined via the cellular mobile phone network GSM. And - if wanted - the GSM-Schutzengel transmit data regarding health related issues such as blood group, allergies or other diseases. With these information the ambulance is able to help the injured as fast as possible and to save more lifes than before.
Crashtest with the new Golf V |
While the project was started as a "hobby" it soon become more serious. After we took part in "Jugend forscht" - a German nationwide research contest for youth - and reached the second place, newspapers and television drew attention to the GSM-Schutzengel. Due to nationwide reports about the GSM-Schutzengel we got in contact with other companies offering support to us. Some of them are the AOK, a German health insurance, Infineon Technology, a doughter company of Siemens specialised in microchips and the German Automobile Association ADAC. However, the GSM-Schutzengel became a full time project for my friends and me. After 3 and a half years of development and planing the start up the GSM-Schutzengel was finished in the beginning of 2004 and has been sold to a company in the United States.
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