Episode 7 My Genius Idea

Hello and welcome. Today is the first semi-final of My Genius Idea,

the series that's looking for the biggest, best and brightest ideas from all of you.

In My Genius Idea, we're looking for the next generation of inventors.

We received ideas from all over the UK.

Genius Ideas ranged from how to look after your pets, robots to help around the home,

through to flying cars and eco-powered planes.

Only 18 ideas made it to the heats.

And we've spent the last six shows looking for our semi-finalists.

So far, our budding inventors have worked with experts to help their inventions come to life,

but now they have to take their genius ideas into the real world,

to see if they can actually work.

'In today's show, we get mega dance act Flawless to make electricity...

'We use a canal lock as a giant bath...'

It's harder than it looks, all right?

'..and road-test an invention that might save cyclists' lives.'

Cyclist approaching. Cyclist approaching.

All our semi-finalists will have to impress expert inventor

and judge Tom Laughton, and prove that their idea is worthy of a place in the grand final.

-'Tom has always had a passion for inventing.'

-I love it.

There are so many ideas all around us.

There's always a solution that needs to be solved

or a problem that hasn't been addressed yet.

Tom started inventing when he was ten, and by the time he was 21,

he developed his first product,

the world's first recordable alarm clock.

You always have ideas, and being an inventor

is about actually seeing those ideas through into something that's real.

He's gone on to build a successful career as an inventor, winning international awards for his work.

What must our semi-finalists do today to impress you

and go through to the all-important final?

They're going to have to show their passion and enthusiasm behind the idea,

and be forthcoming about some of the problems that they may have encountered

through the real world tests.

In these tests, they'll each be reunited with their experts,

to see if their invention can work out in the real world.

They'll have to report the results of their tests back to Tom.

He'll want to know how well the tests went and if the idea can be improved,

if they've any chance of winning a place in the final.

Tom, you can relax for now. I'm about to introduce

our first three semi-finalists. But first, here's how they got here.

Robyn fought off tough competition in heat three to win her place in the semi-finals,

with her idea of powering buildings by using electricity

made by people's movement.

When I found out I was going through, I was so happy and I got really excited.

I just couldn't stop smiling.

Stewart triumphed in heat six to win his place in the semi-finals.

His idea of a wireless communication device

to stop people overfilling their baths caught the eye of Tom.

I was really shocked.

So shocked, I didn't know it'd happened.

Tybalt beat off the competition in heat two

to secure himself a place in the semi-finals.

His invention is a bike bleeper to alert car drivers to cyclists.

It's Tybalt.

'When I was standing in front of Tom, I didn't expect to win at all.'

When I heard my name, I was speechless and really happy.

Now, our budding inventors have all been out in the field,

testing their ideas further, in a series of real world tests.

First up in our real-world tests road-trip is Robyn.

Robyn wants to harness energy created by people's footsteps

and turn it into electricity.

To do this, she's using a special material called piezoelectric.

When pressure is applied to the material, electricity is generated.

We're here at a renowned London dance studio,

where dance superstars, Flawless, are going to help Robyn test her invention...

by dancing on it.

# Tonight's the night Let's live it up

# I got my money... #

Flawless are one of the UK's leading street dance acts.

They've danced for some of the world's most famous artists -

Beyonce, Leona Lewis and Madonna.

Today, they're doing a one-off performance for Robyn,

to see if they can make her idea work.

But can their flawless dance moves help win her a place in the final?

Now, Robyn, who do you think will benefit from your idea?

Well, anywhere where there's a lot of movement created,

like dance studios, schools, hospitals,

-anywhere where they have big buildings which a lot of people use.

-Are you much of a dancer yourself?

Yeah, I've been dancing since I was three years old.

-Wow, that's a long time. Then you might have heard of a little-known dance troupe called Flawless?

-Yeah!

Well, they're going to help demonstrate the power of your idea,

-along with your expert. Are you up for that?

-Yep.

Come on, then, Robyn.

-Hello, guys. This is Robyn.

-FLAWLESS: Hi, Robyn.

And we've come here today to test out her invention, OK?

-What a set-up!

-OK, so what we've got...

'In Robyn's real-world test, she'll be able to see at first-hand whether it can work or not.

'Her expert, Professor Neil White, has built a mini prototype.'

-It's got some devices in the middle to generate the electricity.

-OK.

We'll see how much we can get when the guys dance on it.

And how will we know how much energy's coming through?

We can look on this device here and see how much electricity is being generated.

-Flawless, are you guys ready for a dance marathon?

-Yeah!

MUSIC: Billie Jean by Michael Jackson

As Flawless put all their energy into their dancing,

how much electricity can they make in 30 minutes?

That's the big question.

All they've got to do is keep dancing.

With the boys' help, Robyn will be able to find out

important information about her idea

that she'll have to put in a pitch to Tom later.

He'll want to know how the test went, if the idea can be improved

and what problems there might be.

-Even I chipped in with a few moves.

-MUSIC: "The Way You Make Me Feel" by Michael Jackson

And so did Robyn.

# Go on, girl! #

We're halfway through the test and Flawless give it their all for the last 15 minutes.

# The way you make me feel... #

It's a perfect performance, as they give the dance mat,

and the piezoelectric electric elements inside, a real workout.

But will all their energy actually make Robyn enough energy?

After half an hour of flawless moves, we're ready to get the results.

Surely we'd be able to power up a city by now

with all that energy in the room?

What read-out have we got here?

-OK, so here we've got less than one volt.

-What could that power up?

Just get a little glimmer off a very small light.

-That's about it, unfortunately.

-After half an hour of hard-core dancing.

One of the other factors to be considered

-is durability.

-Totally.

-Because what we've got here is the device - it's connected by wires,

and the solder connections have been pulled off.

That's happening because they're dancing straight on top of it, but when it's actually made,

it should be under the floorboards, so it shouldn't break as easily.

Well, Robyn, what a day. How did you find that?

-It was fantastic.

-And what was your favourite part of the day?

It was dancing with Flawless.

How did you think your invention stood up?

Well, I think it went really well. Apart from the wires breaking, I think we did create energy,

but maybe we could have a bigger surface area

-and then it would create more energy to be turned into electricity.

-So you're still feeling positive

-about your invention?

-Yep.

Flawless!

So, Robyn's genius idea does work but it's not producing much energy

and will need to be made stronger, so there's more to do.

But Robyn still remains confident

she could bag that spot in the final.

Next to put their idea to the test in the real world is Stewart.

His idea is the wireless bath communication device,

WBCD for short.

It's an alarm system to let people know

their bath is about to overflow.

It uses sensor technology in the bath to detect the water level,

and a wireless bleeper to alert users the bath is full.

If we wanted an easy life, we could have just tested out

Stewart's invention in a normal bath, but where's the fun in that?

No, we wanted a bigger bath, a humungous bath,

the size of the River Lee.

Stewart, tell us about how you came up with the idea?

My grandma has a friend who has Alzheimer's,

which makes him forget, and he's flooded the house twice.

Oh, no. So it's good for people with Alzheimer's,

but will it benefit anybody else?

Yeah, loads of other people, like people who have teenagers.

-I like it. Teenagers who forget that they've run a bath.

-Yes.

It's a really great idea.

-Are you ready to meet your expert?

-Yeah.

-Let's do it.

We've reunited Stewart with his expert, Kim Fisher,

who's setting up the wireless bath bleeper-test.

If this test works, it could win Stewart a place in the final showdown.

We've got the water sensor on the end of a bar here.

And that senses when water touches it.

And this transmitter then transmits wirelessly to this box here.

-ALERT: 'Oi, the bath's full!'

-Ah! Stewart, that's you.

-Yep.

I like it.

Kim, it's very impressive,

but you're pressing that button and that's cheating.

Well let's give it a try

with the water coming right up to the sensor here in the lock.

So, it's time to put the model to the test.

It's all down to these two wires on the end of the sensor.

They're not attached but when the water makes contact with them,

it completes an electrical circuit,

which, if it works, will trigger the alarm.

'Oi, the bath's full.'

-OK, Stewart, ready?

-Yeah!

'Time to put the plug in our ginormous bath by closing the lock gates.'

-Are you excited to see if it works?

-Yeah.

-Brilliant! Let's get going.

Come on, put your back into it. Come on! It's harder than it looks, all right?

Yes! OK, let's go to the other side.

A few final tweaks from Kim and we're ready to go.

Stewart, on your orders, I'm going to let the water in. Tell me when.

Later! Now!

Ever the joker.

'Next job, turning on the taps. I open the lock's paddles to let the water rush in.'

There we go, let's see what happens.

As the lock fills up and gets closer to the sensor, Stewart needs to watch what happens next,

as he'll have to report back in detail the results of his real-world test to Tom,

if he has any chance of winning a place in the final.

This is the moment of truth.

-Will the bleeper go off?

-Yes.

-You seem confident. Why are you so confident?

-I don't know.

-Just got a hunch?

With the water just millimetres away, will it work?

We've got one confident young genius here.

'Oi, the bath's full.'

-Yes! We have success!

-'Oi, the bath's full.'

Brilliant. So, in essence, Kim, now that we know it works, we've got to make it user-friendly?

Yes, and we've got to make it a lot smaller

so that it's very simple to carry on you,

instead of it being such a large box.

That seemed to have gone well.

How are you feeling?

-Great.

-Yeah? What's the next step?

-Making it so that it actually works

-in the bath and not in the lock.

-Right.

And also, as Kim said, the bleeper's smaller and more user-friendly.

So, are you feeling confident?

-Can you take this thing further?

-Yeah, I'm super cocky.

-Respect.

Stewart may think he's home and dry,

but there's still a long way to go in today's semi-final.

Next to road-test his idea is Tybalt.

Tybalt's invention is the bike bleeper

to warn car drivers of cyclists.

In his development session, he discovered he could use

existing car radio technology to get his early warning system to work.

The bleeper transmits a signal to car radios,

which then sound a warning.

We're here at Millbrook, one of the world's leading vehicle testing centres.

And we've got the test-track all to ourselves with no traffic on it.

It's the perfect place to test out Tybalt's bike bleeper.

So, Tybalt, talk to me about the inspiration behind your idea?

Well, I invented the bike bleeper

because a friend from school was knocked off his bike and killed.

So I thought if I invented this,

it might prevent the number of cyclist deaths.

So it was a personal experience

that inspired you to come up with the idea.

We're on the way to meet Tybalt's expert, Chris Stiles,

who's built a real-life version of his invention.

This looks like where all the action's happening, Tybalt.

Let's get out and have a look.

-So, this is the first ever prototype of the bike bleeper?

-Absolutely.

Tybalt, come and have a look at your invention in the flesh.

Right, OK, so, do you want to talk us through it, then?

Sure. For this experiment we've put it inside a weather-proof box.

It's got its own battery so it's mobile, and it's been compacted down a little bit.

How are we going to show that it works?

Well, the plan is to switch it on, and then have you guys approach the cyclist from behind, and hopefully,

the radio will stop what it's doing, and switch over

to our radio station and tell you that there's a cyclist coming.

-OK, so the first thing you need to do is switch the radio on.

-OK.

As the transmitter's on on the bike and we're picking up the signal,

-you can see it says "cyclist" so it's receiving the visual alert.

-I can see "cyclist" there.

-ALERT: 'Cyclist approaching. Cyclist approaching.'

-Right.

'Cyclist approaching.'

That's pretty cool, isn't it, Tybalt?

'Success straightaway. The car radio immediately picked up

'the signal from the bike bleeper and broadcast its warning.

'But that's just the start of the experiment. It must work

'when the car is moving, so...'

I think it's time to give it a road-test.

'Our volunteer cyclists set out on our traffic-free test track with a bleeper safely attached.

'What will happen when we test it for real?'

Hopefully, Tybalt, on our approach to the cyclists, before we even get to see the cyclists,

the bleeper should give us a signal and let us know that they're there,

so it gives us a chance to slow down.

-Are you nervous?

-Yeah.

I haven't actually come to testing it yet after all this time.

So I'm really nervous. And I'm going to find out how it works.

I think it's coming through.

'And we see the cyclists before anything happens.'

I can hear something faint, but it's not very loud, and the cyclists

-are right there.

-Yeah, it's not loud enough.

ALERT: 'Cyclist approaching.'

-You can hear it, but that was quite late, wasn't it, Tybalt?

-Yeah.

Oh, no.

'It's a frustrating result and a potential problem for Tybalt.

'Is it the end of the road for him in the competition?

'While the bleeper eventually went off, the bike transmitter's strength was too low

'to reach the car in time, but can this be fixed?'

Hi, guys, how did you get on?

Basically, it was too faint, the sound,

and we'd gone past the cyclists. No visual sign came up.

Oh, so on the display, when it should say "cyclist", that didn't appear?

-No. Oh, no.

-On the positive side, we definitely got a signal,

but it was too late. So what do you think went wrong?

I think this is do with signal strength.

Because it's so low, you don't get much volume through,

and the visual check that comes through is getting scrambled as well.

How easy is it to strengthen that signal?

Very easy. We need to work out how strong the signal needs to be for the system to work.

So the concept's good, but still some work to be done, I think.

In the end, it's good news for Tybalt. His bleeper can be improved.

He'll have to tell Tom this in his pitch if he's got any chance of

securing a place in the final.

How did you find your day?

It was really good apart from the part where it didn't work.

But I know we could fix that, maybe with a stronger signal.

So overall, a bit disappointed it didn't work as you wanted it to,

-but happy you might be able to make this idea come to reality?

-Yeah.

So even though Tybalt's still feeling confident about his idea,

there's a lot more work that needs to be done

to be on the road to success.

With the real-world tests completed,

they've each thrown up different problems for the young inventors to solve.

Robyn's found out that her invention needs to be much larger

if it's to generate enough electricity.

Stewart's seen his invention work, but has identified

it needs to be much smaller.

And Tybalt's seen first-hand the transmitter range

is key to making his idea work.

But who can impress Tom the most with their results

and win themselves a place in the final?

So, Tom, we've just seen our real-world tests there.

-Anything that jumped out at you?

-Robyn's looked like brilliant fun.

-Oh, it was!

-And I'm looking forward to learning whether she learnt

and discovered a lot along the day.

Anything there that surprised you?

A few things, but more so, I think, that surprised the young inventors, which is really important

because the real-world tests are all about

identifying problems, hurdles that you might need to face before you develop an idea too far forward.

So, really encouraging to see that they've been taking on board.

I'm going to let you make your final preparations.

Each young inventor is looking forward to coming in and chatting with you again about their idea.

Yeah, I'm looking forward to it.

-Right, guys, you know what time it is, don't you?

-Yep.

Tom is ready for you to go and see him.

-Who is going first?

-Me.

-Robyn? Are you ready?

-Yeah.

-A big smile on your face.

-It's your big moment. Do you feel prepared?

-Yeah.

You put a lot of work into this. Off you go.

We're rooting for you!

To impress Tom, Robyn will need to remember all the technology

behind her idea, as well as prove that it has the potential to work.

Will Tom be convinced that she should win a place in the final?

Hi, Robyn, welcome back. I understand you've been harnessing

-the energy from a dance troupe.

-Yeah.

-How did that go?

-Well, it went really well because I got to see my idea.

And I danced on top of it to see how much energy it would create.

Can you explain to me a little bit more about exactly what you did test?

We tried to test how much energy

the mat can harness when people are dancing on top of it.

Was it possible to harness energy?

My expert said that the energy that was being created was just enough to

-power a light bulb, and that was on a small surface.

-OK.

-What problems arose from the test?

-While they were dancing on the mat,

the wires were coming apart and the energy was going down.

-But if you were to design it through, you'd make it more robust?

-Yeah.

Were you surprised about the amount of energy that you could get?

Did you produce more energy than you thought or less energy?

I thought I'd produce more energy

because I didn't think that much energy would be produced

when I saw the size of the mat, because it was only quite small.

But if it was a bigger area, like the size of the actual floor,

then it would create more energy.

So I think we did quite well for just a small area.

So having completed your real-world tests

do you really think the idea can work?

Yes, because there is enough room under the floors for it to be built in,

and there shouldn't be any problem with it once it's built in.

If the durability issues could be overcome,

could you think of anywhere else that might not necessarily be

for capturing footfall energy, that this could work?

If it was possible to build it in speed bumps or under the ground, then I think you could be able to.

It'd just be the problem of the concrete or whatever material you're putting over the top of it,

because it might not be able to collect the energy.

Well, I'm impressed that you've taken it on so far,

and it's still a very, very feasible idea.

And I think you've done very well at answering my questions, so, thank you very much.

I'm happy with what I said to Tom today because he liked all the ideas,

and hopefully I might go through to the final.

Next up, it's Stewart. Has he done enough to move

his wireless bath communication device on,

and persuade Tom that he's worthy of a place in the final?

Hello, Stewart.

I understand you've been testing your idea in a very big bath.

-How did it go?

-It went brilliant.

We just used a bit like a bath, a lock.

-Yeah?

-We filled it up with water and tested just a simple design.

So you tested the raising water levels

and you had a mock-up of your device, and it seemed to do the job perfectly?

Most aspects of the design work. We still need to improve.

We haven't made a proper prototype.

OK. Did any problems arise during your tests?

-Not that we really know of.

-OK.

It did work.

We just didn't see any problem.

The element that goes onto the bath itself has obviously got to be powered, hasn't it?

Would that be battery or mains-powered?

It would have to be battery-powered,

just in case anything went wrong where it actually ended up,

maybe electrocuting somebody.

Yeah. And talk to me again more about the user

who's going to benefit from this?

Well, the user's going to benefit

because of all sorts of different reasons, like it saves money.

-Yep.

-It's environmentally friendly.

This is all to do with the fact that you're preventing the waste of water from an overspill?

-Yes. If you're using hot water, it saves fuel.

-I'd say, as well,

if you did overfill the bath, the damage that it could cause, as well,

-would be...

-Yeah, it would stop damage, so, again save more money.

You talked, last time in the pitches, about the potential to integrate it

with the actual tap and the water system of your bath, so that they

could actually shut it down. Have you expanded the idea any more there?

We're not sure on that part.

We haven't really been able to expand it that far because

-it's more chance of going wrong if there's a timer on the taps or anything like that.

-Yeah. Very good.

-Well, listen, well done and thanks for your presentation.

-OK.

I think it went brilliantly.

I'm very happy with what I said.

Finally, it's Tybalt's turn to pitch his bike bleeper.

Tom's judging all the young inventors on how well their ideas have progressed from the heats,

and on the results from their real-world tests.

-Hi, Tybalt. I understand you've been testing your device with real cyclists?

-Yeah.

-How did it go?

We did, sort of, a few tests just with the box near the car.

And we turned the radio on and it worked.

So what aspects did you feel worked really well?

I was pleased that it actually worked and that I know I can get it down smaller

so it can just go on the bike handlebars.

So because it's a prototype, it was a little larger than it would be.

And tell me, how's the idea improved?

I know I need a specific signal and I've changed the device from

30 metres to 50, so you get a good warning,

and if you're travelling at a fast speed, you've got time to slow down.

There's going to be a switch on the cyclist's device

that you can turn off and on, so you can turn the device off and on.

-And why would you need to do that?

-In case you are in a big place

like Oxford or Cambridge,

where there's lots of cyclists around and it might get quite irritating for car drivers.

-OK.

-So the cyclists could turn it off if they were on a cycle path.

How about powering your device?

Reliability's a very important issue with a safety device like this.

How would you ensure that the batteries worked as long as they could?

Maybe at the start, I think it's just

going to be rechargeable batteries, but maybe one day I could make it

so the power of the pedal and the wheels turning could power it.

OK. Well, you certainly seem to be evolving the idea forward,

-so well done and good luck.

-Thank you.

-Thanks, Tybalt.

I feel better because I've done my pitch, but I'm feeling

more nervous about the outcome.

Robyn, Stewart and Tybalt have tested their ideas in the real world

and have pitched their results to Tom, but only one of them can win

a place in the all-important final.

Will it be Robyn and her idea to power buildings

by making electricity from movement?

Stewart and his wireless bath communication device,

to stop you overfilling your bath?

Or Tybalt's bike bleeper, to alert car drivers to cyclists?

So, Tom, the first of our semi-finals today?

I've been really impressed. I mean, from the heats,

these guys have really taken on everything that their real-world tests were going to provide them.

-It must've been quite a difficult decision?

-This one has been particularly difficult.

So, Tom, have you made a decision as to who you're going to put through to the final?

I have. I'm confident I've made the right decision.

OK, if you'd like to take a seat.

It's time to welcome in our three semi-finalists.

It's crunch time.

They've all spent time testing their ideas and have pitched them to Tom.

But who has won that place in the final?

How are you feeling?

ALL: Nervous!

Listen, you've all done so well to get down to the last six of My Genius Idea.

But Tom has made a decision on who he's going to put through to the final. Tom,

-it's over to you.

-The three of you have done brilliantly

to get so far, but I have made my decision.

Robyn, you've had a fabulous idea that demonstrates

lateral thinking on how to generate energy sustainably, which is admirable.

But there's so much investment required in order to produce this on a scale that we'd find useful,

and I worry about the cost-benefit trade-off.

Stewart, you've had a great idea and you've proved that it does work.

But you still face significant challenges in making the design user-friendly.

Tybalt, you've got a wonderful idea.

It's been inspired by your own very personal experience.

But I'm still concerned that drivers might not adopt the technology.

But I have made my decision,

and the young inventor that I'm going to send through to the final is...

..Tybalt.

So, Tybalt wins a place in the final with his idea

of a bike bleeper to protect cyclists.

And he's still in with a chance of winning My Genius Idea.

Tybalt, it's been such a journey to get to this point and now you're through to the final,

-how are you feeling?

-Really good.

-You can't put it into words, can you? You're overwhelmed.

-Go on, enjoy your moment, say hello to Tom.

-Well done, young man.

-Well done.

-Thanks, Tom.

-So, we have our first My Genius Idea finalist and it was Tybalt.

Join us next time, when we'll be looking for one more idea

to join Tybalt in the My Genius Idea final.

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