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Peter Matika – [email protected]

A BULAWAYO Polytechnic student has designed a power saving mobile application, which uses Bluetooth connectivity to switch on and off home appliances.

The application Home Automation System was designed by 23-year-old Takudzwa Mucheriwa, a National Diploma student in the electrical department majoring in Instrumentation and control systems.

Mucheriwa told Chronicle in an interview that the target market for the application was mostly people with disabilities.

Bulawayo Polytechnic College

“This was aptly designed for people with disabilities and the elderly. For the people with disabilities some have challenges in reaching for light switches or knobs for various household appliances. So, the application was developed to assist them,” he said.

Mucheriwa said he was inspired to create the application to encourage households to save power.

“Most houses in the country are connected to the national power grid and some consume electricity unnecessarily by leaving appliances on. With just the flick of your finger on your mobile phone you can power on and off appliances with your phone,” said Mucheriwa.

He said the application works by way of connecting appliances to a device linked to the phone. “All household appliances can be connected to the application and devices. You can even control your stove, gate and a whole lot more. The device however only works while in range of the device that connects to the household appliances,” said Mucheriwa.

He said he hopes to improve the application to save power to lessen the strain on the national power grid.

“The motivation behind this project stems from an innovative idea in trying to solve the problems being faced by many households in trying to save power.

“Most people forget to switch off their indoor lights, fans and television sets when they go to bed. These thus consume power unnecessarily. Some might be lazy, old or disabled people, who find it hard to switch off some appliances and then leave them on,” said Mucheriwa.

He said the application will soon be launched and will be available to all Zimbabweans.

“Once all logistics are in play, in the sense of the devices that connect the appliances to Bluetooth, the application will be launched and be available to all Zimbabweans. The design will also be affordable to all households,” said Mucheriwa.
Several students from across Higher and Tertiary institutions have come up with captivating innovations that could assist the country in attaining Vision 2030, under NDS1 drivers.