Connected car tech saves kids, pups & grandmas from heat + adds Wi-Fi & remote

attdeviceAT&T at the Innovation Showcase in New York is showing new connected car technology as well as promoting AT&T developer services and APIs. In Palo Alto, AT&T is hosting a hackathon to promote new apps. New connected car tech includes connected car seat sensors and notifications of car engine sounds.

Chair that Cares for Stars in Cars

At AT&T Foundry, a team is working on the AT&T Connected Car Seat that takes information from sensors in cars and uploads it to AT&T’s secure cloud where alerts and functions can be initiated.

The idea for the Connected Car seat started as way to monitor a baby in the back seat. Intern, Nancy Dominguez configured heat, motion and CO2 sensors that faced the child car seat in the back seat. When the car would get too hot, the sensors were programmed to detect a child in seat and send a text message to the parents. The idea has been expanded to include a mobile Wi-Fi hotspot and remote car functions. Potential plans for Car Seat’s development include adding sensors for more car entertainment options. AT&T Foundry, lead developer Michael Albrecht reports that the sensors could be used to detect if a child, elderly person or baby is int he car and turn on the air conditioning when it is too hot. The Connected Car seat is a prototype and may come to market in the next few years.

“It connects your car to the rest of your digitize life,” said, Albrecht.

The seat was developed at AT&T Foundry in Plano, Texas. AT&T Foundry services are available to all Innovators who join the AT&T Developer Program and then register with the Foundry. The AT&T hackathon in Palo Alto is today and tomorrow, spots are still left to attend.

Another project is Sound Safari from AT&T’s lab in Palo Alto. The Internet-based service notifies users of sounds. Examples of notifications are when the water is running, dog is barking or the sound of an approaching car when you are listening to music. Another use case for Sound Safari for it to sense an engine tick in your car before it fails in car and notify the owner of the needed repair.

AT&T is also promoting Project OnRamp, a set of tools and APIs that allow developers to take advantage of a key component in AT&T Drive, the Automotive Service Delivery Platform (ASDP) in a few minutes from anywhere.

OnRamp APIs supports vehicle remote control, user account details, VIN number, model information, vehicle transmission type, vehicle weight and color