YellowBird ALERT Archives

IET Innovations Award – LX Group

IET, the London Institute of Engineering and Technology, has recognised LX Group’ pioneering design for the YellowBird ALERT (owned by Advance Alert Pty Ltd), by nominating it in two categories: Information Technology and Sustainability. The IET Innovation competition “…attracted entries from around the globe, demonstrating the innovation and imagination of engineers as they tackle their own local, economic and social challenges”

(http://conferences.theiet.org/innovation-awards/index.htm).

Innovation abounds at the IET Awards, and alongside YellowBird ALERT, innovative designs include smart metering, remote solar panel cleaning, ultra low power solar information transport and self healing electricity distribution networks.

YellowBird ALERT is an emergency alert system that warns of natural disasters. To date, YellowBird ALERT has won awards in the Future Electronics Awards and the National Resilience Award.

The competition has attracted entries from around the globe, from a gamut of organisations and corporation including Vodafone, British Telecommunications and Siemens Industrial, and universities including Birmingham, Manchester and Edinburgh. In the true spirit of technological innovation, LX Group is joined by many independent organisations from India through to America.
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LX Group, is an award winning Australian electronics design house with services that include software, firmware & hardware development, wireless and low power electronics designs. LX Group, offers clients a range of professional solutions designed to take a new product from concept to the product.
For more information about LX Group please visit www.lx-group.com.au or call 1800 810 124.

Published by LX Group for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

Electronics Design House wins ‘Digital Home’ Award at Electronics Future Awards 2010 with Yellowbird ALERT

For the second year running, LX Group has won a major award at the Electronics Future Awards 2010.

LX Group was awarded winner in the Digital Home category, Highly Commended in the Communications category and nominated in the Wellness and Environment categories with YellowBird ALERT.

YellowBird ALERT (Automatic Linking to Emergency Radio Transmissions) is an emergency alert system that warns of natural disasters, such as bush fires or floods, by utilizing AM and FM radio transmissions.

YellowBird logs onto a registered radio station and sits dormant until an alert is received.

In the event of an emergency, authorities may decide to send an alert by creating a message and alert tone package, which sends out an immediate radio broadcast. If contact it lost with the registered radio station, Yellow Bird will notify the user and scan for alternative stations.

Simon Blyth, director of LX Group said ”my team and I are thrilled and greatly encouraged to receive this award” and added that he was pleased to be able to support an event that recognized and promoted electronics innovation.In 2009, LX Group was awarded overall winner at the EDN Innovations Awards for Best Project with WMD3000, a device that monitors a user’s gym workout and provides feedback wirelessly. Also awarded to LX, was first place in Best Application of Test/Data Acquisition category and highly commended in the category of Best Application of RF Wireless Design.

The Electronics News Future Awards, continuing the tradition founded by the EDN Innovation Awards, recognizes excellence in Australian and New Zealand electronics (http://www.electronicsnews.com.au/awards.aspx).

About LX

LX Group is an award winning Australian electronics design house, specializing in the wireless and low power electronics designs. LX offers clients a range of professional solutions designed to take a new product idea from concept through to production.

LX Group services include full turnkey electronics design, electronics, firmware and software design, electronics engineer consultancy, rapid prototyping, electronics manufacturing and commercialization and technical support. LX’s team takes an innovative approach to developing each project to ensure it gets to market fast with the best possible features.

For more information about LX Group please visit www.lx-group.com.au or call 1800 810 124

Links:

http://www.prlog.org/10954702-lx-innovations-wins-electronics-future-award.html

Published by LX Group for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.

Canberra Emergency Warning Invention Wins National Resilience Award

A Canberra emergency warning invention, the YellowBird ALERT (Automatic Linking to Emergency Radio Transmissions) system, has won the prestigious Insurance Council of Australia’s Annual National Community Resilience Award.

Invented by Canberra obstetrician, Dr Stephen Robson, YellowBird is a simple modification to standard AM/ FM radio circuitry that allows a tone, broadcast during routine radio transmissions, to automatically switch on the radio to receive emergency warnings.

YellowBird was invented by A/Professor Stephen Robson after his own experiences in the catastrophic Canberra bushfires of 2003. During the fire threat, his family had no power and the only source of emergency warnings was a car radio.

“For the safety of my own and all other families, I felt there had to be a simple answer,” Dr Robson said. “YellowBird is a low cost option for the public, it is a reliable/ robust system designed to enhance the existing suite of emergency warning systems. When a radio is activated, a loud siren and flashing lights immediately precede the emergency warning message.”

Dr Robson welcomed the Insurance Council’s recognition which aims to increase community resilience in times of extreme natural and human caused catastrophic and emergency events.

“One of the most direct and immediate threats to Australian communities is through natural disasters,” Dr Robson said. “And perhaps the single greatest factor leading to loss of life in such situations is the inability of authorities to disseminate urgent warnings about impending threats.

“Experiences of the Indian Ocean tsunami, the hurricanes in the Gulf of Mexico and many other recent events such as heat waves, droughts, famine, wildfires, floods and mudflows, all point to significant inadequacies in existing early warning systems.”

Dr Robson said that State/ Territory emergency authorities, non-government organisations in the Pacific Island Region, as well as the Australian Broadcasting Corporation (ABC) all see value in having immediate trials of YellowBird which should compliment Federal Government commitment on emergency warnings as a result of the current Victorian Bushfires Royal Commission into the 2009 disaster.

“YellowBird has had strong support and ongoing advice from the former Director General of Emergency Management Australia, Mr David Templeman, who sees it as having national and international application in community prevention arrangements through the dissemination of consistent and reliable information,” Dr Robson said. “Being able to provide clear and timely communication to the public about emergency threats still is a significant gap in national emergency warning arrangements. YellowBird will greatly enhance and overcome some of the current shortfalls. It is a simple, easy solution, a bit like the Russian astronauts telling NASA to use pencils to write while in space, and not waste millions trying to invent a biro!”

YellowBird is unique in that it has little or no infrastructure cost since existing AM and FM radio stations provide adequate coverage to more than 98% of the Australian population, and more than 90% of the population in the Asia-Pacific region. The only additional overhead for emergency management authorities would be the cost of one telephone call to radio stations to activate the YellowBird tone.

Links:

http://www.prlog.org/10829947-canberra-emergency-warning-invention-wins-national-resilience-award.html

Published by LX Group for itself and the LX Group of companies, including LX Design House, LX Solutions and LX Consulting, LX Innovations.