Social Distancing Device

The SARS-CoV-2 pandemic has brought to the fore new norms that demand diligent adherence in order to curb the spread of the deadly virus that has crippled social institutions and overwhelmed public health infrastructure. The new norms in the form of wearing masks and social distancing, as studied by experts all over the world, go a long way toward containing the contagion, thereby "flattening the curve"—thereby giving much-needed time for those on the frontlines to replenish and augment their capacity.

The act of maintaining—or, enforcing—social distancing isn’t as simple as that of wearing a mask: while the latter doesn’t lack options, as witnessed by the countless retailers popping up in both the online and offline spheres offering a wide range of selections, the former has been relegated to perfunctory warnings and directions for "formality's sake" in hoardings, gazettes, and public service announcements. It is also understandable that one cannot go around with a tape to access and penalize non-compliance with social distancing norms—it would be an absurdity of the highest order.

So, in this regard, I built myself something more novel and practical: a social distancing device using an Arduino Nano microcontroller.

By employing a cheap ultrasonic sensor and a microcontroller, it gauges the distance between the wearer and the person in front of it, and upon confirmation that the distance violates the notified social distancing norm, it will alert the wearer and the people around him via an integrated chip module of LEDs and a buzzer.

• 5V Passive Buzzer-1.
• Arduino Nano-1.
• Playing Card Case-1.
• HC-SR04 Ultrasonic Module Distance Measuring Transducer Sensor-1.
• 9 Volt Alkaline Battery-1.
• 5mm LEDs (Green and Red)-2.
• General Purpose Printed Circuit Board-1
• Slide/Push/Rocker Switch-1.

Connect the trigger and the echo pins of the ultrasonic sensor to digital pins 8 and 10, respectively, of the Arduino Nano.

Connect the buzzer to pin 3, the red LED to pin 11, and finally, the green LED to pin 12.

The code gets the readings from the ultrasonic sensor and runs a routine to check and scale the severity of the breach to a corresponding response from the buzzer+LEDs component.