Blue Guard Technologies
Setting New Standards of SafetyMay 2018 by Cheryl Stetter
Carbon Monoxide Prevention System and coCO
Last summer, we heard several disconcerting stories of police officers in Ford Explorers experiencing carbon monoxide poisoning. One company is working to change car safety and is opening our eyes to the technology and innovation that is possible today.
Carbon Monoxide (CO) and Cars
In the 1970’s the catalytic converter was introduced to cars to lessen the toxicity of emissions from the tailpipes of cars on the road. In part this was to tackle high levels of air pollution, and to promote safer roadways.
While deaths from carbon monoxide (CO) in cars decreased significantly, accidental death and injury due to CO buildup in cars is still sadly taking lives.
Blue Guard technologies is working to change this
coCO: Carbon Monoxide Car Off
Not only will the car engine be shut off, their technology has the potential to integrate with a smartphone, open garage doors, alert emergency contacts, and can be used in vehicle theft prevention.
Furthermore, the technology can be applied to any form of fuel fed combustion devices, not just car engines. Portable generators and home furnaces can also be fitted with the CO Poison Prevention System so that the device is shut down when high CO levels are detected.
The Patent
Reading the patent application for the CO Poison Prevention System, one wonders why this technology does not yet exist. The patent application provides technological descriptions for use within a car, generator, and home furnace, and how their technology can interface through a smart phone to provide alerts.
The CO Poison Prevention System starts with a Bluetooth or Wi-Fi enabled CO Sensor. In the car, the CO sensor communicates with a base unit and a fuel pump inhibit relay. When elevated levels of CO are present, the fuel pump inhibit relay is opened cutting off fuel to the car and, therefore depriving the engine of fuel and shutting it off.
The system for the generator is similar where the fuel line inhibit valve is opened to shut off the generator. The CO Poison Prevention System can be used in both gas or oil burning furnaces. A connection between a wifi enabled CO sensor and a Wi-Fi enabled smart switch will open the furnace emergency shutoff circuit, preventing further production of carbon monoxide.
Smarter Cars, Smarter Homes, & New Standards
Blue Guard Technologies is not just creating a safety feature they are developing a way for us to begin communicating with the products that we depend on. Many of us are controlling our thermostats from our phones, turning our lights on with our Alexa, or starting our cars through our cell phones. Blue Guard is taking the next step in Smart Car and Smart Home technology by introducing the element of safety!
Right now, I can control my Nest thermostat from my phone, but it cannot stop my furnace from developing a blockage that fills my home with CO. I may be able to remotely start my car from inside a restaurant on a cold winter evening; however, that app cannot protect me if the exhaust system in my car is damaged and CO builds up.
Blue Guard is addressing our safety and well being in a new and unique way and making our devices ever smarter. At the same time, they are opening the door for people to demand safety features as standard features in the technology we use every day.
Working for Change
Thanks for reporting on the Blue Guard patent, but CO-sensing controllers are not new.
They were first introduced in vehicles with electronic climate control (ECC) around 2000, where they control the opening and closing of fresh air vents in response to the level of CO detected outside, next to the vent opening. (Some also sense NO, which is higher in diesel exhaust). It is a commodity part in the global auto industry, with over 35 million purchased annually at a cost of less than $5 each.
All that is needed to prevent the CO poisoning of people by vehicles left running inside garages is to revise the car’s computer code so that it automatically shuts down the engine if the CO level detected by this sensor keeps rising while the vehicle is not moving, regardless of whether the transmission is in park, neutral, drive or reverse.
A petition I filed with US NHTSA in 2001 to require such an automatic CO shutoff in all vehicles was rejected in 2005 after 4 years of review (see http://www.mcsrr.org/pressreleases/prnhtsa01.html ).
A similar petition filed by PEER in 2016 and again in 2017 was rejected in January 2018 after just 4 months of review. (see https://www.peer.org/news/news-releases/averting-thousands-of-vehicle-exhaust-deaths.html )
In response to CO deaths associated with the use of keyless fobs, Ford, GM and some other automakers have started programming an auto-shutoff into some of their vehicles with keyless fobs. But this shutoff is based only on the idle time, not the CO level. And because the idle time they allow in the range of 30 to 120 minutes, they won’t actually prevent any CO poisoning.
Until all vehicles are built with CO shutoffs, I recommend people carry a portable professional CO detector with them that displays from 1ppm. Just don’t leave it in the car. You are more commonly exposed to CO in your home if you use any gas appliances or fireplaces.
Thanks for your comment Albert! This is definitely a complex issue! What is great about the technology is people read stories about new developments! This is a great product for raising CO awareness because it peaks peoples’ interest. Blue Guard knows the car companies can make cars with CO shutoffs in an instant, but people (or laws) need to demand such safety features. I wonder what will come first, CO sensors built into cars or even key fobs, or everyone switches to electric cars!
Thanks,
Cheryl