Cop innovates cheaper infrared thermometer

Chennai

With the number of COVID cases on the steady rise in the State, checking people’s temperatures even to let them inside a shop has become the new norm. While temperature guns, which measure the body temperature of individuals with infrared, are preferred for safety reasons, they cost about Rs 4,000 each.

However, the device constable P Bharath (29) of Kancheepuram district has managed to set up costs only Rs 1,700 and the highlight of the device is that it can be placed in public places for people to use it to check their temperature. P Bharath is attached to the eighth battalion of Tamil Nadu Special Police (TSP) and posted in Delhi.

“If the temperature is beyond a particular degree, the display will turn red and an alarm will ring continuously,” he said. To make the device touch-free, a photoresistor (LDR) has been attached and all one has to do is flash light at the resistor. “The torchlight of a phone is also enough or it can be replaced with a switch,” said Bharath.

Bharath, who joined TN police as youth brigade in 2014 and enrolled as a constable in 2016, said he wanted to develop something useful during the crisis and his interest in mobile phone technology helped him come up with this equipment, which he calls ‘automatic body temperature device’. A video of him staging a demo on how to use the device has been posted on Tamil Nadu police’s Facebook page.

When contacted, Bharath said he recorded the video as ordered by his senior officials and added that the department will decide how the device could be used. Bharath is a Diploma Holder in Computer Technology (DCT) and has already made news for coming up with devices to prevent ATM burglaries and to contact 108 ambulances without delay.