"I got the idea for the home ECG, a small holter that measures the heartbeat and then evaluates it, thanks to a close relative who suffers from heart disease. He gave me the idea that it would be good to invent something simple like this so that he could measure and evaluate it himself at home," described Marek Hanus. "The device can measure a constant signal, then send it to a small computer for evaluation. It shows the user live what his signal looks like and he can then download it to his computer and see if there is any defect in the signal. And then they should consult with a doctor," Hanus said. He noted that he has been working on the project for over a year, and has been working on the device itself for about half a year. He has consulted with his relatives, as he comes from a technical family.
The project, which won silver, is also health-related. "I made a shoe insole that I hope will be used in the future to analyse the tread of runners. And it will be able to prevent injuries during training," said Jiří Račanský from the Gymnasium Brno - Řečkovice. He described that the insole is supposed to monitor the foot and store data in the internal memory during running. "After the run, the runner reads the insole and analyses the data. The software then alerts him, for example, to any orthopaedic defects or risky parts during the movement. This is a question for future work. For now, it is just a proof of concept and there is still a long way to go," said Račanský. He is working with the Brno University of Technology and the Czech Ergonomics Society to develop the insert. The third place went to David Něnička from the Gymnasium in Rožnov pod Radhoštěm with his work Antenna system for a ground satellite station for VHF and UHF bands. The jury also awarded the winner of the knowledge test, Ivan Turk from the Secondary School of Industry in Česká Lípa. "He successfully completed the test in an incredible 34 seconds," said Prof. Dušan Maga, the main organizer of the Electrotechnical Olympiad.
"The current edition was very interesting. In the finals, we had top-notch works focused on the sensitive topic of electronic health and life support, robotic applications, the Internet of Things and smart home," said Prof. Maga about the competition. "There was also the ever-present topic of nature conservation, this time through drone technology. The incredible thing about this event is that all these amazing ideas are brought to practical implementation," summed up Prof. Maga, who works at the Department of Telecommunication Technology at the Faculty of Electrical Engineering of CTU.
The aim of the Electrotechnical Olympiad is to promote awareness among young people of the importance of studying technical fields. The competition consists of two stages and a subsequent final. The introductory stage is oriented towards general knowledge of natural sciences, adequate for the age of the participants. In the final stage, students present their projects, either in the proposal or in progress stages, which are judged by a panel of experts. The author of the winning project will receive an award of CZK 10,000. All those who make it to the final round of the competition have the opportunity to enter FEE CTU without taking the entrance examination.
Photo: Petr Neugebauer
