Online classes, online coaching, online lectures. Children have become so “screen-centric”. What if we could give fun instead of burden, using technology? Enter IoTeddy. Using simple but powerful ideas from IoT and AI, we aim to make the next generation happier and have more fun with technology.

IoTeddy

Nowadays, the need of the hour for a working parent with a baby is something that would alert them, when the child is in need. We present IoTeddy, a soft toy that alerts you whenever the child is in a need. IoTeddy will send an update to your mobile phone, whenever the child cries with the help of its Cry Detector. When Learning Mode is enabled, IoTeddy can recognize objects and popular Texts with the help of webcams attached to its eyes and speak out the word via speakers attached near the mouth thereby helping the child learn about nearby objects easily and pronounce them.

Therefore, this product serves the two main purposes of Monitoring your child and education in a very playful manner. Being a cute Teddy, the child would naturally cling on to it or be around it mostly, thereby enabling the microphone to pick up crying noise signals with great accuracy. In this way, it acts as a Caretaker and Teacher at the same time.

IoTeddy

An IoT-based teddy that can serve as a great tool for e-learning of the children. To be very specific, the innovation lies at the intersection of Arduino and Machine Learning.

• Cloud Based
• Connects with the nearby devices

Hardware and Software needed for this device :

• Arduino Nano V3
• Cloud Firestore (For connecting with devices)
• Arduino Cloud IoT (For connecting across the modules)
• Sound Detection Sensor Module
• Camera module for detecting the image
• Aerial Mini Microphone for audio output.
• Arduino Based- Text to Speech Convertor (TTS Converter) / Also can be pre-programmed in Arduino Nano.
• Flutter SDK
• Jupyter notebooks (.ipynb file for writing the basic code for image to text convertor )

Python Packages Required

• OpenCV (For Object Detection)
• ImageJ for enriching accuracy
• Pyserial for connecting the Arduino code with .ipynb file
• NLTK/Tensorflow for text extraction and generation.
• Pytesseract for image to text conversion (supports OCR)
• pyttsx3 for text to audio conversion (optional - provides a backbone to TTS convertor)

Features

Feature 1: Object Detection

The Workflow

• Object Detection: The device has a small camera which captures the image of the object. The image is then sent to the Cloud. The device will be connected to the internet.
• Classifying Object: The image of the object will be passed through a pre trained neural network and the correct class will be obtained in the cloud. This data will be sent back to the device.
• Voice Output : The device will receive the class of the object and would give the output as voice. The output format will be ‘This is a (class of object)’.

For clear visualisation see Image_Detection.png.

Utilities

The biggest friend of a child is curiosity. The toys which are existing in the market are mostly manually controlled or pre-programmed leaving a limitation of learning and exploring components for the child. But this is not the case with this iOT, they are dynamic and develop new exciting components and learning features through AI with the passage of time. The learning never gets old and that’s the real deal.

Feature 2: The Sound Checker

The Workflow

The second feature which we have incorporated into this iOT device is the sound checker through decibel theory. - When a child cries, the sound level reaches about 110-120 dB. Our microcontroller will be specially designed having a cutoff value of 115dB (average). When a baby will cry, the microcontroller will be sending an alarm to the hold circuit via RMS detector which further moves to the output section and the message is carried away to the connected devices of the toy. - As soon as the cutoff value is breached it immediately sends notifications to the interconnected android devices . - The SNR(Signal to Noise Ratio) block prevents the amalgamation of noises from surroundings and thus enriches the accuracy. - If the alarm persists for a few minutes, the connected devices will start to snooze, indicating that the child is having a serious problem.

Here is the sound_checker.png for better understanding.

Utilities

Children are very young and need to be kept safe. However, due to a number of reasons, guardians cannot always keep an eye on the child. Keeping in mind the safety of the child, we have incorporated into the toy a decibel detector. In times of distress, the child may scream or cry which the microphone will pick up and alert the guardian of the imminent danger. The device will send a distress signal to the guardian’s phone, alerting them of the threat. This will enable quick action and will reduce the need for constant monitoring.

A phone would have served this purpose as well. But due to our aim to prioritise childhood above all, we have come up with this idea.This idea will enable the child to grow up without being too much dependent on smartphones. It will also be ideal for working parents to ensure the safety of their child.

Simulations done so far

This file must be opened on circuitmaker 2000 in order to run smoothly and successfully. Below is the link to the file circuit_diagram.ckt

Why are we Different ?

1. Learning in tandem with safety

Modern childhood has been taken over by smartphones. We aim to go against this trend by making a toy which would be attractive as well as teach the children something useful. Our device is aimed for young toddlers to enable them to learn from their natural surroundings.

For Graph See learning.png

The graph clearly highlights the benefits of active learning compared to traditional methods. Our device is trained well to implement active learning which will surely provide beneficial to toddlers.

The toddlers can point to any object and get instant feedback on what kind of object that is. This will enable them to learn from their surroundings. It takes time for young children to learn alphabets and numbers. This device can help in that aspect too. The children can point to any object and the voice feedback will help them hear and learn the pronunciation properly. This would enable a faster and more enjoyable learning for the toddlers.

The app that comes along with this product can be installed on any regular smartphone carried by the adults. Moreover the decibel monitor is useful in case something happens to the children.

2.Distress Management

Children are very young and need to be kept safe. However, due to a number of reasons, guardians cannot always keep an eye on the child. Keeping in mind the safety of the child, we have incorporated into the toy a microphone. In times of distress, the child can directly scream into the microphone which will alert the guardian of the imminent danger. The device will send a distress signal to the guardian’s phone, alerting them of the threat. This will enable quick action and will reduce the need for constant monitoring.

A phone would have served this purpose as well. But due to our aim to prioritise childhood above all, we have come up with this idea.This idea will enable the child to grow up without being too much dependent on smartphones. It will also be ideal for working parents to ensure the safety of their child.

3. Reduces Screen Time and Gadget Addiction

See screen_time.png for the graph. The Graph Clearly shows the domination of kid’s time on screens. This is very disturbing as long screen time damages their bodies severely. Exposure to these harmful blue light from such a young age causes a number of impediments in the long run.

Our product tries to reduce this effect by giving children a low radiation device that will provide them with interactive activities as well as reduce screen time. This toy can be used on both inside as well as outside objects so that children can be encouraged to spend more time outside.

4. Data Privacy

Often we have noticed in various news articles that data privacy has been breached. The data which is often fetched to the cloud can be delivered to anonymous devices. Below is the sample report Poor Data Protection And Unsecured Wireless Connections We came up with an innovative solution to this problem. The QR Code A unique QR code will be tagged with each product. While moving onto the app this particular QR code has to be scanned to authenticate devices.

5. Environment Friendly

All products used don’t leave any Ecological Footprint in the ecosystem along with being non carcinogenic. As far as the health of the child is concerned, the fragile parts will be packed in a very safe and secure way so that there is no worry of swallowing any part. Furthermore, the parts and electronic circuitry(apart from the cameras and microphone) will be inside a black box tightly sealed via screws surrounded with layers of stuffing of cotton ensuring these parts don’t come in contact with the child. The electrical circuit won’t release any type of radiation that can be even potentially harmful for the child.