The Revolutionary Air Filtration Stroller Cover

Sophmores at Shanghai American School Pudong, Isaac Xu and Linden Li, tell us about their innovative stroller cover that ensures a clean and safe environment for infants with developing lungs.

What makes the baby stroller cover so unique?

Our prototype not only provides the infant with clean air, but the 3-layer material is durable and waterproof. The cover is programmed with Arduino, a prototyping platform used to create interactive objects or environments. It measures the temperature and AQI inside the stroller, then automatically adjusts the wind speed of the ltration system to create a clean and comfortable environment inside.

What inspired you to create it?

Pollution is a serious problem. Having lived in Shanghai, we experienced days where we could not go outside, so we began with a simple idea: containment of fresh air in an isolated space.

How have you developed it so far?

We submitted our stroller cover prototype to the eCybermission Challenge, a web-based science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) competition for students in grades six through nine. Students are encouraged to work on solving real problems in their community, and further national STEM literacy, giving them a chance to win state, regional and national awards.

How did it go?

We presented in front of an expert panel of judges, and were also privately interviewed online by the US Army, who sponsored the challenge. We then applied for the STEM-in-Action Grant, which we won! We were invited to go to Washington DC to present and were awarded $5,000 to continue developing our project.

What are your future plans for the cover?

Throughout the creative design process, we were able to slowly develop this into a product to protect the next generation. Our initial cover has grown into a full stroller, and we are looking into ways to extend the product’s range to help others affected by pollution. The elderly are another sensitive group that need protection from environmental hazards, just as babies do.

Last Word

What was your biggest challenge?

Little-to-no coding experience – we had to learn from scratch.

What are your goals for this project?

Working with a design company to make a sellable product.

Why did you want to complete this project?

We want to help protect the next generation of children from polluted air.