Millington teen and robotics teammates address pedestrian safety – New Jersey Hills

LONG HILL TWP. If you feel safer crossing the street some years into the future, Armaan Lerner and his robotics teammates might be responsible.

Lerner, a Millington resident and Watchung Hills Regional High School rising sophomore, competes with the Exit 65A robotics team based in Livingston. The squad received a 2021 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT)-Lemelson InvenTeams Grant for a pedestrian safety module.

That invention is named MaPSS, which stands for Micromobility and Pedestrian Safety System. The Exit 65A team presented it on June 15 at MITs EurekaFest.

Lerner first became interested in robotics in the third grade while attending Millington Elementary School. After attending a clinic introducing young students to robotics and the involved coding, he began competing in the VEX IQ robotics league. The VEX competitions, which are held year-round at the regional, state and national levels, culminate in a world championship each April.

At these competitions, Lerner met other league competitors from Livingston, whom he competed against often through the years. Eventually, the Livingston VEX team decided to join the First Lego League for high schoolers, and recruited Lerner to join although he was only a seventh grader.

The teams first year together focused on a challenge called City Shaper, which required teams to form ideas that would improve city life. With his new teammates, Lerner helped devise the idea of an improved pedestrian safety system that would alert drivers of nearby pedestrians.

With this idea, the Exit 65A team won the New Jersey Robotics State Championship in 2020. The team was invited to present its invention at the Robotics World Festival in Detroit, but the event was canceled due to Covid.

In spring 2021, the team decided to apply for the MIT-Lemelson InvenTeams Grant, which would allow it to further develop its pedestrian safety module.

In August 2021, the team was notified that it was one of 30 finalists, out of which eight would receive the grant. Two months later, it was formally announced the Exit 65A team would receive the grant for its invention.

The MaPSS would replace the pedestrian crossing systems currently in use. Utilizing internal components such as a radio and radar, the module detects pedestrians and shines lights to alert drivers.

Prior to the recent EurekaFest, the team wanted professional input on its invention and turned to Livingston officials and police officers. We found that the officials were very receptive to our idea and thought it a viable solution to pedestrian safety, commented Lerner.

At the festival, the team presented a MaPSS prototype to MIT staff and other grant recipients. A small-scale road was constructed with blind turns and hills to show how the teams solution impacts current driving habits.

My favorite part of the process has been working with my team and collaborating with them to solve any problems that may arise, added Lerner. We do sometimes encounter issues, but they allow us to come together and problem-solve as a team.

Next steps include obtaining a provisional patent, which is already under way. Then, the team wishes to road test MaPSS, which was limited due to the grants guidelines on human testing.

I am very honored to have received this grant, and further motivated to keep this process going after attending the Eureka Festival, concluded Lerner. I am excited to keep working on this project to see where we can take it.

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Millington teen and robotics teammates address pedestrian safety - New Jersey Hills