Hi Kaden, 

As a P Plater I love this idea! I am constantly looking through cars for plates or having to take plates off one to drive another. I also love the point about the wastage; since I am the youngest my L plates went to landfill. We didn't know anyone that would use them. One thing I thought of was a projector that could be mounted onto the dash that projects the plate onto the windscreen. This could be sold separately or just installed into every car. It could possibly connect into a cigarette lighter, aux cord spot or have a battery, although the first two would be more environmentally friendly. 

Let me know what you think!

Rylee 

Hi Kaden,

As a P plater myself I think this'd be a great idea, and like Rylee I'm the youngest so my L plates went to landfill as well. I think the principal of having a switchable L/P1/P2 plate would have a strong place in the market and be very useful. I have a couple of ideas that may help you with this. Have you considered using a transparent OLED display that mounts on the inside of windscreens? Due to OLED displays' nature, they do not require a backlight meaning that you wouldn't need many layers as opposed to traditional LCD screens which need opaque backing, backlighting and other layers. This would make it very thin and light, and bonus, when not in use, it'd be nearly transparent and when in use, you may still get some visibility from inside the cabin, and they’re quite efficient. You could consider mounting this device in any of the usual ways, with suction cups or a light adhesive; I know at least in Queensland Supercheap Auto sell statically adhering semi-transparent green P plates. This could be sold as a wire-in kit, or with a 12V plug on it, and you could consider a range of different switching methods, with all the electronics and buttons externally mounted, or on the back of the plate.

Hey Kaden, 

I am also a P plater and love this idea! Recently, my car had to go in for a service, so I had to drive my sister's car around. Since I am on my green Ps and she is on her Ls, we both found it very frustrating having to constantly replace our plates, since current double-sided plates only include the L and red P or red and green P combinations. It would have been so much more convenient if there was a way to instantly change between these. We also found that because my P plate had been sitting on my car in the sun for so long, the plastic actually shattered when I tried to change it. On this note, I think it would be really beneficial to come up with a solution that uses a more durable material, possibly one that can be recycled too. By using a recycled material, this would also reduce the number of plates that end up in landfill. 

I would definitely recommend getting into contact with relevant stakeholders to develop this idea further! Some of these stakeholders could include L and P-Platers, those who supervise learner drivers and possibly some manufacturers and companies who currently make and sell these products. I look forward to seeing how far your project will go! Keep up the great work :)

Hi Kaden,

The idea of having a single product for all types of plates is an excellent idea and no doubt anyone who's used L/P plates would agree with this! However, there are several things that would need to be considered when designing the product. Firstly, using any electronics would result in an increase in cost for both manufacturers and for people buying, which would be taking away from one of the positives to the existing plates, being their cheap cost.

Another thing to consider is the scope of the product. At the moment, you've not only talked about a product that can allow the user to change their driver status, but also about preventing the plates from falling off/being stolen. There is a big difference between these design criteria and it'll need to be considered whether or not both are achievable for one product, while still satisfying other factors such as cost.

Overall, the idea has a lot of potential! However, there are a few things that will require careful consideration to ensure that the product is successful.

Hope this helps!

Alexander

Good morning UpRising. Congratulations on the development of your project. As one of this year's UpRising students, you have been invited to

UpRising @ Stone&Chalk - Program X - Tickets are open now.

Click here to get your ticket. https://events.humanitix.com/uprising-stone-and-chalk

Our big event for this year, UpRising@Stone&Chalk, July 14th Friday 10am to 2pm, and you get first dibs. This will be in the second week of the school holidays. It doesn't mess up your school time and makes it as easy as possible for you to get there. In a cool building, in an amazing place, in the heart of innovation in NSW.

There is a limit of 50 attendees, with the first invitations going to you, the UpRising students of 2023. If there are any spaces left by the end of this week, we will create a second round of invitations that you can pass onto a classmate from your design class. Please complete this survey if you haven't already to help us know exactly what you want to get from this opportunity. Teachers are most welcome to the event as well.

Congratulations Kaden on your fantastic efforts with your MDP, it has been great to be part of your design journey this year.

Good luck with the submission of your project and adding any finishing touches this week, I am sure you will do great. We would love to see a final image of your design if you get a chance to update your post. We hope that you have learned a lot from being part of this year's UpRising and are excited to take your creativity and design thinking into the next steps in life, (which is exactly what business and industry are looking for). Teachers, thank you for helping your students make the leap across the gap, from classroom to industry.

Business leaders, likewise it has been fantastic to connect with you, thank you for all of the support you have given to these young designers and helping to grow the innovation ecosystem in NSW. Breaking down the silos, together.