Regulated Smart Device for Children
A parent-controlled smart device design using ARM TrustZone, informed by a parent survey
Most parental controls are software that children can work around. This directed research project proposed a child-specific smart device where parental controls live in hardware, using the ARM TrustZone secure world of an STM32L552ZET6 so that screen-time limits and app restrictions cannot be changed from the normal operating system.
- Parent survey: we surveyed 46 parents of children under 18 about their background and their children’s daily screen time, and analysed it in Python (Mann–Whitney U, Kruskal–Wallis, correlation). Parents’ occupational status (r = −0.42) and education (r = −0.35) were negatively associated with children’s screen time, while parental age showed almost no relationship.
- Hardware design: a 160 × 75 × 9 mm device modelled in Onshape around the TrustZone-enabled microcontroller, with secure boot and protected key storage.
- Limitations: the chip and enclosure have not yet been simulated or tested with users.
Technical drawing of the proposed device (Onshape).
Directed research (CSE 498R), North South University, Summer 2024 · Shahariar Ifti, Tasin Tayeba Khan · Supervised by Muhammad Shafayat Oshman