High-tech signboards can give real-time crime alerts
Published on Jun 11, 2014 7:08 AM
With an electronic signboard, changes to its display can be done off-site using an Android phone with a customised app. The user can input details like the date, time and type of incident. -- ST PHOTO: DESMOND FOO
By Lim Yan Liang
Crime alert signboards are going high-tech if a prototype designed by a team of Ngee Ann Polytechnic (NP) students takes off.
Their version of the signboard, based on the one used by the police to alert the public to crimes in their neighbourhood, can be updated remotely using a secure smartphone application.
The project, unveiled yesterday, comprised off-the-shelf parts like an LCD display, a cellular module, a microcomputer and a power supply with a custom-made case to let it receive messages from the app and update the board in real time.
This means police officers no longer need to visit every location to modify each sign manually, said Dr Li Yan, 35, a lecturer with NP's electronic and computer engineering division.