Fire Safe Microwave Reid Allen - Red B

The Idea and Motivation  Microwaves caused ~7,400 fires in injuries and $18 million property damage.  Prevent fires caused by sparks and flame inside the microwave  Reduce Fire Department false alarms associated with microwave oven use

Customer, Market and Benchmarking  Customer: Original Equipment Manufacturer Major microwave producers  GE and Sharp have >40% market share  End-User: households 13.5 million microwaves sold last year in US $3.8 billion sales  SafeT Sensor – Patent Pending

Customer Contract Customer NeedProduct Attribute(s) Alarm when detect sparkVisual/Auditory Signal Able to sense spark in whole microwave space Detection Area PriceLow Cost Reliable spark detectionNeeds to be consistent Not affect conventional microwave functions Minimally intrusive MEAN11.4% ($34.23 on $300) Standard Deviation13.7% ($41.14 on $300)

Mock-Up Goals  Power off microwave if sparks or flames occur  Find a permanent location for our sensor Faraday Cage test Microwave tear down, research  Understand physics of microwave sparks and flames Ignition testing Effect of microwaves on flame  Identify situations causing false positives

Future Work  Reduce manufacturing costs  Eliminate false positives  Develop user interface Auditory, visual warning Reset switch

Thank you