PEC students develop automatic car belt fastener

CHANDIGARH, Nov 2: A unique automatic car belt fastening mechanism has been developed by some students of Punjab Engineering College. The car belts fasten themselves the very moment the driver enters the car.

According to Ashutosh Sharma, who led the team which completed the project, the seat belt fastening mechanism can be controlled either by opening and closing the door or by using the ignition key. As soon as the person enters the vehicle and shuts the door, the belt is fastened on to him automatically. Alternatively, when the ignition key is turned on or off, the mechanism can be automatically activated. The belt will be unfastened when the key is turned off or the door is opened. A similar mechanism can be provided for all seats.

Sharma claims that the only prior example of a belt fastening mechanism has been one which could fasten the shoulder belt only. However in this case, the lap belt remains untied, which has to be fastened manually. This innovation ensures that both the lap and shoulder belt get fastened. He is still working on improving the design of the mechanism. quot;When put into production, the system will cost less than Rs 1,000 per passenger,quot; he says.

The team of students of Mechanical Engineering consisted of Ashutosh Sharma, Atul Gupta, Atul Khanna, Navdeep S Jassal, Sunil Kumar, Tarun Goyal, Tarun Kant, and Shekhar Gupta.