The automatic body thermometer and antiseptic hand-washing machine made by students of Ly Tu Trong College HCMC - the product that won the first prize in the Startup Kite 2020 Startup Contest - has been exported to the US.
Beating more than 1,000 creative ideas from many cities and provinces across the country, the group of third-year students from Electrical - Electronic Faculty, Ly Tu Trong College HCMC (including Vo Minh Trung, Do Minh Hoang, Thai Ho Nhan , Nguyen Nhat Hung Thinh and Nguyen Hoang Son) have just won the first prize in the contest "Start-up ideas of VET pupils and students - Startup Kite" in 2020 with the product of automatic body thermometer and antiseptic hand-washing machine.

The contest was organized by the General Directorate of Vocational Education and Training, Ministry of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs to promote entrepreneurship and self-employment of pupils and students in VET institutions; stimulate creativity, dynamic thinking, business inspiration; promote the application of knowledge and skills equipped in schools to life; at the same time, connect highly feasible projects with investors.

Mr. Le Tan Dung (in the far right) - Deputy Minister of Labor, Invalids and Social Affairs awarded the first prize in the contest "Startup Kite" contest to a group of students at Ly Tu Trong College, HCMC. (Photo: Nam Thai)

Representative of the group, Vo Minh Trung said, under the guidance of Mr. Tran Nguyen Bao Tran - Head of Mechatronic Department - Automation, Ly Tu Trong College Ho Chi Minh City, the group has completed the project “the automatic body thermometer and antiseptic hand-washing machine” for one and a half months.

Up to now, the group has designed 5 different versions of the machines with upgraded features to meet the needs of customers and to achieve the best quality, most convenience and accuracy.

Minh Trung said that in this project, his deepest memory is the adjustment of the ambient temperature when Trung has to spend many consecutive days in the hot sun and many days in a 18-degree-room to take parameters to correct the accuracy of the machine. Other members of the group are in charge of design, mechanical processing, electronic circuits, programming, etc.

A group of students from Ly Tu Trong College, Ho Chi Minh City presented the product to the jury of Startup Kite 2020 contest. (Photo: lttc.edu.vn)

Up to now, in the latest version, in addition to automatic temperature measurement and hand washing, the machine can also serve other jobs such as measuring height, weight, heart rate, checking attendance, working day, etc., so that when the epidemic is over, units at school can still use the machine without wasting it.

A special feature in this latest version is that the machine can be monitored and controlled remotely via an application on a smartphone. All measured data are stored on the server for tracking and medical reporting. In addition, the machine can also connect to other devices such as automatic lawn irrigation system, automatic roof opening and closing when the ambient temperature changes.

Sharing about upcoming intentions, Vo Minh Trung said the group will continue to develop other functions for the device.

Talking to us, Mr. Tran Nguyen Bao Tran, Head of Mechatronics - Automation of Ly Tu Trong College Ho Chi Minh City, Head of the Electrical and Electronic Student Club, said that the Board of Management is very interested in scientific research activities of teachers and students.

The school has created favorable conditions for the team to develop the idea, test the machine and provide funding (26 million VND) for the group after completing the first two versions of the thermometer and automatic hand washing machine. These machines are still in use today.

Mr. Bao Tran said that the device has been used in many secondary schools and kindergartens in Tan Binh district, HCMC. In addition, 90 units with shortened version (only with body temperature function) have been exported to the US.

The body thermometer machine of the student group from Ly Tu Trong Ho Chi Minh City has a feature that it can measure the temperature at a distance, from 30-50cm (while other devices in the market are only 2-10 cm).

n particular, the measurement time is only 1 second, helping to reduce the number of persons performing manual temperature measurements and spray antiseptic liquid, helping to reduce congestion at the doors of schools, companies, supermarkets, etc.

Currently, when the Covid-19 epidemic reappears in Ho Chi Minh City, Ly Tu Trong College Ho Chi Minh City puts 3 main machines and 2 backup ones to measure the temperature for about 10,000 students daily.

Mr. Tran Nguyen Bao Tran - Head of Mechatronics - Automation, Ly Tu Trong College Ho Chi Minh City, has guided the group of students to manufacture thermometer and automatic hand-washing machines.

Glad that students' products were honored at the startup idea contest, Mr. Bao Tran said, to create favorable conditions for students to practice skills, Ly Tu Trong College Ho Chi Minh City has connected with many businesses to provide students with on-the-job apprenticeship.

Accordingly, students can study at the factory, engineers of the factory directly teach students several practical subjects, where they have access to modern machine systems.

In addition, the school also mobilizes businesses to sponsor many scholarships for students. Students who has good results will be paid tuition by the enterprise and will be able to study at the factory 1 day per week. If they are feasible, the ideas and research products of students will buy and develop to commercial products.

Every year, the Electrical - Electronic Student Club periodically organizes creative competitions (such as robotics, electronic circuit assembly, electrical cabinet assembly, etc.) to select good students who has research abilities; facilitate them to train further and to join other skills contests organized by the General Directorate of Vocational Education and Training.

Nguyen Chi