Secondary school students make life buoys for flooded cars.

Nowadays, climate change is happening complicatedly, floods often appear suddenly causing a lot of damage to people and property. In cities, many cars are flooded on the road or in parking lots when the flood comes. It is these shortcomings that have ignited in Trang and Do the determination to carry out the idea of ​​rescuing cars when flooded.

Nguyen Thi Thuy Trang and Nguyen Duc Do, 9th grade students at Dien Hai Secondary School, Dien Chau District, next to a model of a rescue buoy for flooded cars. Photo: Quang An

Two major storms and a historic flood last October directly affected Nghe An. In Vinh City, many cars were flooded and stalled, which prompted Trang and Do to quickly start making car rescue buoys in case of flooding.

Before making the model, the students researched knowledge on the internet, on television, and consulted teachers at school about the feasibility of the model and received high consensus from everyone.

The structure of this model includes many parts such as: car model, mini air pump, life buoy, propeller, air buoy release valve, positioning bar, buoy holder... These items are purchased at a cost of about 2 million VND.

The car's wheels are equipped with propellers so that it can move on water. Photo: Quang An

After 2 months of manufacturing, the model was completed. Trang said: The operating principle of the model is quite simple, the car owner will install a system of inflatable floats for the car, spread evenly and neatly arranged under the car. The float is attached to a mini air pump that uses 12V electricity, taking power directly from the car battery to inflate the float, when there is a flood, it will inflate to float the car and the people inside. On the car's loading wheels, each wheel is equipped with 4 propeller blades so that when the car floats, these propeller blades help the car to run on water.

Floats are stretched under the car to help the car float on the water when inflated. Photo: Quang An

When the car has passed through the flooded road, the driver can release all the air in the float, arrange the float and propeller, and the car will continue to move on the road normally. In case of sudden flooding, the car owner can also turn on the air pump in the float to float the car, then both the person and the car will be safe.

After completion, Trang and Do tested the model in rivers and lakes and achieved positive results. This model will help people in cars stay safe during floods, and will also prevent damage to cars when they are flooded because cars are valuable vehicles.

The model has high practical applicability at low cost, especially in current erratic weather conditions. Photo: Quang An

This unique model won the third prize in the "Provincial Science and Technology Competition for High School Students 2017 - 2018". Through discussion, Mr. Ngo Quang Long - Head of the Department of Education and Training of Dien Chau district said: "This is a new model and has high practical applicability, especially in the current erratic rain and flood conditions. We always encourage students to explore and be creative to have good inventions to serve life.

Clip of car rescue buoy model operating on water