April 24, 2015

Downingtown High West students develop flood tracking instrument

The device Tweets a photo and the water level to a public Twitter account

By John Kopp
PhillyVoice Staff

Google Street View/for PhillyVoice

Downingtown officials are using are going to use a device developed by Downingtown High School West students to track water levels throughout the borough.

A trio of students at Downingtown High School West have invented an instrument that enables people to track water levels via Twitter.

The devices, dubbed Aqua Tweeters, will be set up in flood prone areas of Downingtown, allowing public officials to monitor water levels in public areas, according to Philly.com.

The students — Kristina Griste, Andrew Kim and Kate Pelcin — developed the device as part an Introduction to Engineering Design class.

The device, connected to WiFi or a cellular network, includes a sensor to measure the water level and a camera to capture an image. The picture and information are then tweeted to a public Twitter account.