Care & Conserve
Care & Conserve is a sustainable location-based bracelet system designed to reduce energy waste in care homes. The bracelet tracks resident location and automatically controls room lighting based on occupancy, helping lower electricity use while also supporting resident safety. Our team developed a functional prototype using Python and 3D-printed components, then delivered technical documentation, a product advertisement video, and a formal proposal pitch to university professors and startup founders.
Co-designer / Researcher / Product Developer · Shad York 2024: Anren Guo, Aria Law, Katie Li, Kevin Shim, Kymani George-Bailey, Miki Liu, Terrence Zhu, Zara MacDougall · Mechanical, Electrical, Software, Sustainability · 2024-07-01 – 2024-07-21
Context
Care homes consume large amounts of electricity, and lights are often left on when residents leave a room, especially when residents have cognitive impairments. This creates unnecessary energy waste, increases operating costs, and adds workload for staff who may need to manually manage lighting.
Approach
Our team engineered a smart bracelet system that maps resident location within a care home and automatically turns room lights on or off based on occupancy. We developed a functional prototype using Python, microcontroller logic, and 3D-printed bracelet components. We also researched care-home energy use, ethical concerns around resident tracking, competitor products, material costs, and business feasibility.
Outcome
The final deliverables included a working prototype concept, comprehensive technical documentation, an advertisement video, and a formal proposal pitch presented to university professors and startup founders. The proposed system aimed to reduce unnecessary electricity use, lower utility costs, reduce staff workload, and help caregivers locate residents in emergencies. The business plan estimated a production cost of about $9 per bracelet and a selling price of $30, making the product both sustainable and commercially feasible.