Team Status Report 2/12

Our team prepared and practiced for our proposal presentation. Our design plans did not drastically change, it only became a bit more specific to save cost + accuracy. We decided to use as few ioT devices in the field as possible rather than our initial 1:1 model where an Arduino might be running in each spot. We also decided to use a time-series database as those are custom-made for periodic data. We are looking into the specific types of wireless technologies that would best fit the requirements of our system. We found that ultrasonic sensors are the best type of sensors for this project application, and PIR sensors should be used as an additional “verification” tool. Whether or not the final implementation includes both sensors will be determined after testing our system on the field and the data from cost + accuracy tradeoff. We are looking into using the Digi XBee 3 Zigbee 3 RF Module to communicate from the sensor to the larger database. Once we test how this works, we will be able to start making the physical sensor set up. Our biggest risk currently is being able to detect an available curbside parking spot with accuracy, even in inclement weather. We will continue to research and adjust requirements if needed in the future. Overall, no big changes have been made to the existing system design or schedule this week.