Team Status Report for April 27, 2024

Max is still working on improving the battery life performance of the sensor so that it performs closer to our requirement of a week-long battery life. He continued testing this week without LM7805 linear voltage regulator, and the the results resembled the previous battery life of a little less than 3 days. We plan to test this again with different software so that the period between HTTP requests is longer to match the sensor behavior in the gym.

No changes have occurred, but Max is still looking to see if a voltage regulator is necessary in the sensor circuit.

Sid is currently working on improving the accuracy of both models being used for prediction. This week, he continued testing standard models to compare their accuracies, and experimented with using a variety of input variables to find correlations. We plan to use a larger amount of data, which would include points collected over the last month via the sensors.

We are looking to finalize our deliverables for this week, and are preparing for the final demo. The sensor case has already been made, and everything will be soldered and assembled at the start of this week.

 

Team Status Report for April 20, 2024

A risk we are currently working on mitigating is the battery of the bench sensors dying to early. To extend the battery life, several strategies were employed. The first strategy consisted of changing the software on the bench sensor module to only connect to WiFi when sending requests because WiFi is very power hungry. Additionally, an extra battery pack was added to the sensor module to increase the life as well.

Another risk was with how our occupancy data was being stored. There were many occasions where occupancy was being logged 2-3 times per hour instead of just one. These entries were merely duplicate entries. To solve this problem, I am currently working on a Python script that will clean all of our data.

As previously stated, more batteries were required for the sensor module.  No extra cost was incurred because we already had bought extra batteries. Additionally, we plan on adding a feature that predicts the probability of bench occupancy at a given time. No other changes were made to the existing design.

 

 

Team Status Report for April 6, 2024

– What are the most significant risks that could jeopardize the success of the
project? How are these risks being managed? What contingency plans are ready?

Right now, our biggest risk is the battery life of the bench sensor module. We have concluded that some data has been missing because it dies prematurely. The NodeMCU is the cause of the batteries being drained, so Max is currently looking for ways to conserve power consumption.

– Were any changes made to the existing design of the system (requirements,
block diagram, system spec, etc)? Why was this change necessary, what costs
does the change incur, and how will these costs be mitigated going forward?

No immediate changes have been made, but one might have to be made this week. Our investigation will determine if it is necessary or not to make any significant changes.

• Provide an updated schedule if changes have occurred.

We updated our schedule for the interim demo this

Status Report 8 Answer:

We have already been able to validate our system with each subsystem that is set up in the UC gym being able to communicate with our server. To validate more rigorously, we plan on replicating several scenarios with both the people counter and bench sensor on our own, and ensure that results are both real-time (as we defined) and accurate as we defined.

Team Status Report for March 30, 2024

There are no immediate risks that could jeopardize the success of our project. We have been monitoring the output of both the people counter and bench sensor systems, and they seem to be working well. We look to make a new poster and notify gym administrators to not move any equipment and also to not stand in front of the people counter as that can have an effect on the occupancy count of the gym.

No changes have been made to the existing design of the system. We have the bench sensor and the people counter as mentioned before running in the UC gym.

There has also been no updates to the schedule.

The two components set up in the gym^, people counter on the disk and the bench sensor is at the window sill.

Team Status Report for March 23, 2024

There are no big risks right now that could jeopardize the success of the project. Any risk was mitigated this week through our testing of components and prototypes of our subsystems. The components also interact with the E2C instance with the backend API. We will be testing in the gym tomorrow and then setting up Monday.

The only change that occurred was the IR sensor being used with the people counter. We decided to use the longer-range sensors in practice because the actual range worked better with our tests.

We are slightly behind in setting up the system in the gym, but we will be doing this early the week of 3/23.

This is our people counter prototype^

Team Status Report for March 16, 2024

There are no significant risks, the IR sensors have been our bigger concern and so far they seem to be working well. The supply voltage was a little funky, but adding a voltage regulator should help. We are looking to set up both the people counter and a bench sensor module in the UC gym this week.

No changes have occurred this week, and our schedule remains the same.

Team Status Report for March 9, 2024

As of now, there are no significant risks in the project. We look to build our people counter and a bench sensor module this and next week, and have everything set up in the gym so that we can begin collecting data for our predictive model.

There were no big changes to the system as a whole. We have decided to focus more on the model using the people counter component along with a bench sensor set up in the gym. We look to set these up this week.

There was a slight change to our schedule with setting up the components and testing certain pieces.

 

Part A was written by Max Adams

While times have returned to normalcy, our product design applies to the importance of social distancing and crowd control. Our product solution addresses the need for social distancing by providing users with a mobile window and predictions on the crowding of the UC gym. While our product is specific to the UC Gym, it is scalable to other gyms. With real-time data, governing bodies can ensure that gyms are abiding by occupancy limits to ensure public health and safety are protected.

Part B was written by Sid Sapra

Our app offers a comprehensive solution to address the increasing need for efficient gym utilization, aligning with cultural values of time optimization and health consciousness prevalent in many societies today. By providing real-time tracking of gym occupancy and predictive analytics on crowdedness and machine availability, our product empowers users to plan their workouts effectively, optimizing their time spent at the gym. In cultures where time is a precious commodity and adherence to fitness routines is highly valued, our app becomes a valuable tool for individuals striving to maintain their health and fitness goals amidst busy schedules. Additionally, by fostering a sense of community and consideration for others’ workout experiences, our solution promotes a culture of shared responsibility and respect within gym environments, enhancing the overall experience for all users.

Part C was written by Derek Kim

Our system addresses excess carbon emissions by giving gym goers and gym owners a medium of tracking crowding and the real-time occupancy of a gym. At times when there is very low crowding, gym owners can save resources by reducing electricity use to lower their carbon footprint, helping the environment and saving money. Also, gym users who drive only need to travel to the gym at times best for them if there is low crowding. If a gym is very crowded users can opt for other activities or at-home workouts, thus reducing their carbon emissions.

Team Status Report for February 24, 2024

Right now, our biggest risk that could jeopardize our project is not getting approval for our people counting module being set up in the U.C. gym. We are managing this risk by staying in contact with UC gym administrators, and in the case we have it rejected we have data that UC gym employees have given us access to that can be used to train a rough model. We also plan on relying on surveying people on the time they use the gym in the worst-case scenario.

 

After meeting with gym administrators this week, we have eliminated the camera system from our project. Our proposal for the system up for our people counting model was rejected.  We are currently waiting for approval from gym administrators with a new approach using two proximity sensors to count people entering the gym.  As of now, no costs have been incurred from this change.

 

Our schedule change is pending the approval of the two-sensor people counter from gym administrators. 

Team Status Report for February 17, 2024

After meeting with gym administrators this week, we have eliminated the camera system from our project. Our proposal for the system up for our people counting model was rejected.  We are currently waiting for approval from gym administrators with a new approach using two proximity sensors to count people entering the gym.  As of now, no costs have been incurred from this change. Our schedule change is pending the approval of the two-sensor people counter from gym administrators. 

Right now, our biggest risk that could jeopardize our project is not getting approval for our people counting module being set up in the U.C. gym. We are managing this risk by staying in contact with UC gym administrators, and in the case we have it rejected we have data that UC gym employees have given us access to that can be used to train a rough model. We also plan on relying on surveying people on the time they use the gym in the worst-case scenario.

 

Part A was written by Max Adams

Considering public health, our product solution addresses the problems of overcrowding in the gym and the effects it has on aspiring and current gym goers. Current gym goers will be able to pick better times to exercise, improving their physical fitness. Our solution also applies to those who may be reluctant to go to the gym because they are anxious about it being crowded, providing a medium where they can see how crowded it is and pick times when they may feel less anxious when it is not crowded. This will help them both physiologically and psychologically, enabling them to exercise while providing the comfort of knowledge in the crowding state of the gym space. 

 

Part B was written by Sid Sapra

Our gym tracking app meets the need for real-time insights into gym occupancy and equipment usage which allows it to have a large social impact on individuals focusing on fitness. By predicting crowd levels and machine availability, it enables users to plan their workouts efficiently, fostering a sense of community by promoting collaborative sharing of equipment. This not only streamlines the workout experience but also addresses social factors such as varying cultural attitudes towards exercise and socioeconomic backgrounds, contributing to a more inclusive and connected fitness community.

 

Part C was written by Derek Kim

Our solution addresses the need for efficient gym space management by displaying real-time gym occupancy data to users. By integrating sensors into gym benches and leveraging machine learning algorithms to analyze occupancy patterns, our solution optimizes the use of gym facilities and enhances the overall experience for gym-goers. However, in our specific case, this would be a service that we would be providing to CMU students which means that it is not a product that we are selling. 

However, this solution can be scaled to fit the needs of commercial gyms since commercial gyms often have occupancy issues. In this case, our solution offers several economic benefits. Making real-time gym data available to consumers can help combat congestion in the gym space which will allow for an increase in gym capacity each day. Additionally, this service would be very helpful for people who are busy and need to plan their gym sessions during the day; this service would attract many more customers who often find it hard to make time to go to the gym, especially during high occupancy hours. Finally, our product would give access to historical data on gym usage which allows gym management to make more data-driven decisions to further improve their efficiency. Overall, our solution provides economic benefits by optimizing resource utilization and improving consumer experience.

Team Status Report for February 10, 2024

As of now, our most significant risk is not being able to set up our camera in the UC gym. We plan on meeting with gym administration this upcoming week to settle this. In our meeting, we plan to introduce our project and our intentions with using a camera. In the case that they reject the camera, we have a few alternative solutions for the role that it fills. (Collecting data for predictive models)