Saving lives and property using the Cambodian ‘smart’ fire alarm
TECHNOLOGY firm ArrowDot have a nnounced t heir latest dev ice FireDot is now ava i lable to t he public, a ler t ing home owners a nd t hose who in cha rge of bui ld ings a nd factor ies to possible fire damage v ia a fire a la r m-linked app.
The dev ice, pr iced at $45, has been produced by young Cambodian developers Kao Panha a nd Sieng Oubol.
Li ke a sta ndard fire a la r m, it a ler t s t hose nea rby of a fire v ia a siren, but unusua l ly it a lso sends out a n SMS from its cel lu la r SIM ca rd a nd automatica l ly ca l ls t he users’ cel lphone.
FireDot was developed to prevent fata l it ies a nd catast rophic damage to propert y as a consequence of fires in t he Kingdom.
According to a repor t f rom t he Fire a nd Rescue Police Department, fire incidents i n t he first ha l f of t his yea r t hroughout Cambodia have caused damage to 418 homes a nd bui ld ings, k i l ling 10 people.
Lim Sa ng va, a co-founder of ArrowDot, told The Post : “Fi reDot is a dev ice t hat wil l help to solve t he problem we a re ex per iencing in our societ y of fire disasters, which we have seen happening a lmost ever y day recent ly i n homes a nd markets.”
It has t wo main f unct ions upon detect ing a fire ; to expel a n a la r m a nd to send a n SMS a nd ca l l to t he users’ phone automatica l ly in order to inform t hem of a possible fire so t hat t hey a re able to address t he problem prompt ly.
“It is a sensor dev ice t hat detects smoke a nd flames. It sends t he infor mation to a ler t a home owner, as wel l as people in cha rge of bui ldings or markets, v ia a phone ca l l a nd message to let t hem k now about a potent ia l fire before it burns ever y t hing,” sa id Sa ng va.
Local tech innovation
ArrowDot is a loca l tech innovation company t hat specia l ises i n t hree main a reas : prepa r ing users for i ndust r ia l automation systems and t he Inter net of Things (IoT), hardware a nd sof t ware product development, a nd r unning a n elect ronics specia l ised t ra i ning cent re.
Sa ng va, 35, a for mer st udent of Elect r ica l, Elect ronics, Automation and Telecommunication at t he Inst itut de Technolog ie du Cambodge, told The Post : “So fa r, we have seen in t he domestic market a demandfor t hese t hree main solut ions, mainly coming f rom factor ies work ing i n ga rments, plast ics, pipes a nd meta l, as wel l as NGOs.
“Due to t his demand, my co-founder a nd I sta r ted t he company in 2012.
“In 2017, we won a n award for best resea rch a nd development company i n t he field of technolog y f rom t he Minist r y of Posts a nd Telecommunications a f ter we displayed our adva nced robot ics technolog y i n t heir competit ion,” sa id Sa ng va, who believes his firm wil l have no issue rol l i ng out t heir latest product.
“Due to our ex per ience in hardware a nd sof t ware design, our tea m members a re ver y ex per ienced a nd capable in doing resea rch to manufacture FireDot. So wit h enough tools a nd machiner y, we won’t have a ny cha l lenges i n developing t he product.”
FireDot’s developers say t hey ca n supply bet ween 20 to 30 dev ices per week to meet current demand.
“ArrowDot’s developers, Kao Panha a nd Sieng Oubol, spent si x months resea rching a nd developing t he dev ice. FireDot ca n run on a batter y for when flames cause a power cut,” sa id Sa ng va.
“FireDot can show t he locat ion of t he fire v ia GPS to a ler t t he owners a nd t he fire br igade. If linked wit h water systems in t he bui ldi ng, it releases water to put out t he init ia l flame.”
Oubol, one of t he developers, ex pla i ned t he benefits of t he dev ice to The Post : “Sometimes t he bui lding is a lready ha lf-burned before a neig hbour ca l ls t he fire brigade about t he t ragedy. If we i nsta l l t his dev ice, we ca n put t he fire out before it even sta r ts dest roy ing t he bui ld i ng.”
FireDot, which is set to be upgraded to become a USB recha rgeable dev ice i n t he f uture, is white wit h a flame logo in t he middle.
Panha, the device’s other developer, said: “I want users to know that it will look and perform better in the future. When connecting with GPS and Wi-Fi, it takes a code number to access the Internet so we know the location of the fire.”
Though FireDot is suitable for a l l t y pes of bui ld i ngs – including homes, of fices a nd factor ies – bot h t he t hi rdyea r universit y st udent developers highly recommend its use in markets.
“The first essent ia l use is in markets t hat have many sta l ls loaded up wit h tonnes of products. If a fire sta r ts on one sta l l a nd FireDot is a ler ted, t hen t he flame ca n be put out i n t i me,” sa id Oubol.
“It is only pr iced at $45 and it could save mil lions of dol la rs of products f rom burning in markets.”
Industry 4.0
In order to boost t he Kingdom’s prepa rat ion for Indust r y 4.0 – a key goa l current ly of t he Cambodian government – ArrowDot is a lso work ing wit h par t ners to develop technolog y as a whole in Cambodia.
“So fa r, we have par t ner ed wit h foreig n tech companies a nd ot her development par t ners, such as USAID’s Development Innovations Cambodia programme, i n promoting k nowledge of elect ronics, robot ics, a nd product development among Cambodian yout h.
“This is so t hey ca n develop t heir sk i l ls in preparat ion for t he Fourt h Indust r ia l Revolut ion [Indust r y 4.0 ],” sa id Sa ng va.
He sa id t hat besides FireDot, ArrowDot has ot her IoT dev ices current ly i n product ion.
This includes a smart fa rm dev ice ca l led Smart Fa rm Assista nce, which wil l cont rol water systems i n ag r icult ura l fields, lessen i ng t he burden for t he Kingdom’s fa r mers.
Sa ng va a lso hinted at t he company’s next dev ice – a product t hat ca n measure a ir qua lit y for use in homes, bui ld i ngs, factor ies and public a reas.
For more information you ca n v isit ArrowDot’s website (w w w.a r rowdot.io) or Facebook (@ArrowdotTech).