In Seattle, it’s not a question of if, it’s the question of when the next big earthquake will hit.
Perhaps this little system will be in place before then. Grillo, developed in Mexico City to better detect earthquakes, is an advance warning system that its creators are hoping will save lives and reduce damages around the world — and at a much lower cost than more complicated advance-warning systems like the one in Japan.
Grillo, which means “cricket,” is an in-home alarm system that gives people up to two minutes of warning before an earthquake hits and costs about $50. The technology combines linking data from existing sensors and distributing it through the cloud.
Grillo’s small in-home sensor includes a precision accelerometer, controller, Wi-Fi and GPS. The team works with seismologists, programming the sensors with detection algorithms. Using cloud servers, they can then send alerts when the system detects a quake to third-party carriers, like phone carriers and app developers.
The system also collects data, which Grillo can use and send to other scientists to study earthquakes in more detail. Right now, the team is developing the system to cover Mexico, but wants to go global. Who knows? In the future, a simple, low-cost sensor like Grillo could give people enough advance warning to save more lives, especially in places like Nepal.
Watch the video on how it works below:
