LINTON - Lawrence DeMarco and his wife Soratiya were at the Riverside Coffee Shop one day when they stumbled onto an idea.“We were sitting in Downtown Clinton at the coffee shop, and I’m watching some ladies push their strollers up the hill,” he said. “We said to ourselves, we can do something about it, and we were thinking about it and thinking about it.”All that thinking and observing has led the DeMarcos on a path of invention. The couple is working on what they are calling the Smart Stroller, which is designed to help people pushing a stroller up and down hills, and uses a small motor and sensors to make the job easier.“My wife and I designed it with the premise that when women have to push a heavy stroller, a mother or a caregiver, this will make it easier,” said DeMarco. “The stroller will have a sensory camera mounted on it, and it will sense the impending angle of the incline and the total weight of the stroller. Those two parameters are calculated, and an algorithm will send the proper amount of voltage to a small electric motor and it will push/propel the carriage to go up the hill.”When going uphill, the sensor activates a small, soundless, electric motor that helps push the back wheels forward for the rest of the climb. The same holds true for declines. Instantaneous calculations are made and an eased brake slows the wheels. In addition, the person pushing the stroller can set a level of assistance for themselves. A simple 1-5 level-of-difficulty dial setting on the handle bars makes manual control very simple.The DeMarcos have called Clinton their home since 2006, and while they have a young daughter who will be 5, the couple only began work on their invention in early 2013. Right now, the stroller is in the concept stage, and the DeMarcos are in the process of presenting the concept to companies in the baby products industry.“We’ve only touched on the fringes of the mechanics and electronics, but when we put it together, there is going to be extensive software development that has to go into it,” said DeMarco.With some help from Invents Company, the couple hopes to find someone to help finance the project. The company is assisting with marketing the stroller to the industry, and with getting the appropriate patents.“The company specializes in compiling the idea, getting the appropriate patents with a patent attorney, we have a provisional patent as of March 5, and after I get licensing in place, we’re going to go for a provisional utility patent,” said DeMarco.DeMarco, whose wife works at the Clinton House, hopes that his invention will hit it big, and make the lives easier for mothers everywhere.“We had to design a stroller to help these poor moms push their strollers,” he said. “And take moms with multiple kids, they have to push two or three kids up a hill, with the associated gear, the bottles and stuff.”