Every month, Inventors Digest features new inventions from independent inventors in our Radar section. To have your new invention in the magazine, email [email protected]. Put “Radar” in the subject line.

Don’t Fall

It may have a clumsy acronym, but the RIPPS helps the elderly from falling. RIPPS or Repeated Incremental Predictable Perturbations in Standing, increases the efficiency and accuracy to determine fall risk without the need for extensive testing with expensive equipment.

Visit www.rippsmethod.com

 

Fetch It

Need somebody to run an errand for you? There’s an app for that.

AirRun is an iPhone app that is perfect for folks who are either lazy, unemployed or super-time constrained. If you want anything, you hop on your iPhone and place a request via AirRun.

By matching up Seekers with unemployed Runners, the founders thought they could kill two birds with one stone.

Visit www.airrun.com

 

 

 

Leaning Left Alert

BMW has developed the left hand drive assistant to curb accidents caused during left-hand turns – statistically the leading cause of accidents.

When a driver in a 5 Series test vehicle turns left, three laser scanners in the front end of the car map the area 328 feet ahead for oncoming traffic. Should the system detect oncoming vehicles a warning sounds, a warning is displayed and the brakes are activated to avert an accident. The brakes only activate if the BMW is travelling under 6.2 mph.

Visit www.bmw.com

 

Copy That

Maria A. Pallante this summer became the 12th Register of Copyrights and director of the United States Copyright Office.

Pallante previously served as the Acting Register, following the retirement of Marybeth Peters on December 31, 2010.

She was tapped for the post following an extensive search process that began last year. Pallante is said to have a deep understanding of the role that the Copyright Office plays within the mission of the Library of Congress.

Pallante has had wide-ranging experience in copyright transactions, policy and litigation, in both the government and private sectors. In addition to Acting Register, she has held several key positions within the Copyright Office: Associate Register for Policy and International Affairs (2008-2010), Deputy General Counsel (2007-2008), and Policy Advisor (1996-1997).

A graduate of the George Washington University Law School, she spent much of her career in New York, working there from 1999-2007 as intellectual property counsel and director of the licensing group for the worldwide Guggenheim Museums, where she advised on programmatic and business initiatives related to publishing, product development and branding.

And the Winner Is

The $1,000 Grand Prize winner at this year’s Minnesota Inventors Congress was Loyd Van Buskirk of Brownsdale, Minn., for his Row Basket, a device that improves seed germination and plant growth.

The F. Robert Starr or 2nd Place went to Tom Juranek of Harrisburg, S.D., for his Power Coping Saw, which allows for one-step precision coping.

For a full list of all the winners, visit
www.minnesotainventorscongress.org