You can start your car with a fingerprint – A technology by 9 students of Makerere University (Uganda)

                   
                HOW IT WORKs?
                           
                               The innovation is named
Kuwanza Gari (Swahili for “to
start the car”).
On installation, the owner has
to place his or her print in the
system, and it is then stored
on the fingerprints module.
The module has two buttons:
one for adding prints and the
other for erasing prints, in
case the owner is selling the
car or perhaps wants to
remove one of the authorised
prints.
“If a guy breaks up with his
girlfriend, he can erase her
print from the system,” Ojakol
jokes, adding: “The owner
has to verify that he or she is
adding or resetting prints, but
the system can take up to
five fingerprints, meaning that
the owner can choose four
other people who can drive
the car.”
Musinguzi says the
fingerprint ignition system
also has an LCD (liquid
crystal display) screen that
gives you feedback of the
options: deleting, adding,
starting the car or errors if a
fingerprints is not in the
system.
Ainebyona says the device
has a GSM (Global System
for Mobile) module that
sends a message to the
owner’s mobile phone (as
programmed) if the wrong
person tries to start the car.                            
                        Plans
                       Tusubira says though the
fingerprint ignition is but a
prototype, they hope to make
and sell them to car
companies and organisations
that have fleets of cars.
There are plans to introduce
the additional protection of
fingerprint entry (when
opening the car).
“We want to implement an
alternative biometric system
for ignition because some
people lose their prints.”
For now, the system is
powered by a laptop, which
does not provide enough
power, but the team plans to
a create a connection to the
car battery’s power.
The team needs $500 to
make one, money which they
hope they can raise by
themselves.
Dr. Julianne Sansa-Otim, the
acting head of the
Department of Networks at
the School of Computing and
Informatics Technology, says
the innovation was part of the
team’s final project.
The project is a requirement
for the completion of the
Software Engineering
programme. All students are
supposed to investigate a
problem and solve it using
technology. The team will
graduate in January 2016.

        Patents and fundingfunding


Dr Sansa-Otim explains that
the university will help the
students to acquire
intellectual property rights
through the intellectual
property unit.
The university can also help
to recommend the students
to funders who can take their
proposals forward.
“Previously, we had a
software incubation centre
that had funding and would
even give students business
mentorship.
“We will have the centre
running again next year. It
was a donor-funded project
(by Ford Foundation) that
ended,” she says.
One of th

           One of the students displays
the multi-meter used in the
system they created