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Video: Arduino-powered hand-washing timer helps fight COVID-19

31 March 2020

According to health officials, one of the best ways to fight the spread of the coronavirus is hand washing for at least 20 seconds, about the length of a short lullaby.

In order to help consumers wash their hands for the appropriate amount of time, makers Gautam Bose and Lucas Ochoa have built a device powered by an Arduino Uno that can detect a person’s hands via an ultrasonic sensor, which triggers a dial timer from 0 to 20 seconds using a micro servo motor.

Called the Wash-a-Lot-Bot, the bot can be set up using only scissors and tape and can help makers, engineers and STEAM (science, technology, engineering, art and math) students learn about Arduino and programming while stuck indoors. The makers said that all ages and all skill levels can build the hand-washing timer.

In addition to an Arduino Uno, the build includes an HC-SR04 ultrasonic sensor, an SG-90 micro servo motor, three male/male jumper wires, four female/male jumper wires and a Post-it Note.

To learn how to build a hand-washing timer, visit the maker’s page at Hackster.io.

To contact the author of this article, email PBrown@globalspec.com


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