A while ago me and my brother participated in a ProRail competition. Since we didn’t have much time but really wanted to compete, we decided to come up with something as quick as possible. We spend a total of six hours on this project. Weeks later, it turned out these six hours put us in sixth place (out of 75 participants).

We designed a heated seat which is shaped like a cube (yep, that’s why we named it HotCube). During winter time, this heated seat will be installed at train stations. Passengers use these HotCubes to warm themselves while waiting for a train.

The cubes will be LED-lighted. Using sensors, a popular HotCube will be lighted more intensely compared to a not so popular one. This results in many different colors and color intensities, which looks fun. Also, it offers ProRail data on where HotCubes are most needed. After all, when a HotCube isn’t intensely colored, it’s not very popular thus should be moved to another area of the train station.

On a side note, if six hours results in a sixth place… what would’ve happened if we spend just five hours on the project? Or four…?