Last Look:

Our parking lot simulation is complete! Check it out below.

Final Design

A full view of our final, much neater and redesigned parking lot:

Here is where the breadboard and Raspberry Pi are stored:

-Servos Motor (inside the box), with the gate arm attached 

-Motion Sensor at the front of the lot

-LCD Screen suspended above the entrance:

Here's how the button was placed (Parking Space 4 is our reserved spot):

Our Sensors, Breadboard, and a First Look at Our Parking Lot

Button: 

Motion Sensor:

Servos Motor:

LCD pictured below as well:

So What's Next?

Though I really wanted to continue pursuing my original idea, working with my Photon proved to be frustrating and seemingly impossible. I even tried switching Photons with others in my class for testing purposes -- but still, no luck. The device would flash Cyan for a few seconds (signaling that it was at least looking for Internet), but each time I connected it to our school's WiFi (I cycled through trying three different networks), it would quickly go back to being "Disconnected."

A few of my peers had mentioned that they were, instead, using the Raspberry Pi 3 for their projects for this reason. Seeing my situation, I considered my options and then decided to make the switch.

In fact, I was actually able to partner up with my friend and peer, Ashley, to combine her idea and mine. The overall new idea was to create a parking lot simulation that would:

1. have a motion-activated entry/exit gate and

2. send a text to let us know if the car that has entered the lot has taken our parking spot

We achieved this by using the following tools:

- a Raspberry Pi with Raspian installed

- Arduino

- the PIR sensor I mentioned from a while before

- a Servos motor
- LCD screen

- the Internet of Things (IOT)

- the Nexmo platform

- a button sensor

- One breadboard

- a few wires

Photon-NOT-So-Fun...

Unfortunately, my original project idea did not quite work out. This was due to major connectivity issues between my computer and the Photon. When the connection was successful, I was able to create an If-This-Then-That applet to send a slack notification to my own personal Slack channel each time PIR motion sensor detected activity in our student lounge:

However, after a certain point, my Photon just stopped connecting to any WiFi for any period longer than 1 minute. Despite all of my efforts to troubleshoot with the help of the Particle documentation as well as the Particle community website, this, of course, was not long enough for me to fully get the Photon to do what I wanted it to do. 

Changing Locations

This is the particle code for the photon to sense motion. I am currently working to incorporate the HC-SR04 ultra-sonic sensor into the code/project overall.

The goal is to combine data from the motion sensor and data from the ultra-sonic sensor to detect when there is a large amount of people in the student lounge (rather than the line in the student center, as I had originally planned).


This can be accomplished using an applet I created with the If-This-Then-That recipe; right now, if my photon publishes that motion has been detected, then the a message is posted to my private slack channel.

Prototype

This is the projected prototype of my line activity monitor. 

Schematics (Breadboard Diagram)

Project Outline

What the Activity Monitor will do

• Monitor the level of motion (using Photon’s motion sensor)
• Monitor sound levels (using Photon’s ultrasonic sensor)
• Send information back and show results either through webpage or on display board in the CIS Lounge

Prototype Idea

Protective casing for the photon to be nested in is needed. This is as to not have the photon and its parts sitting out in the open, vulnerably. I plan to use a cardboard encasement for the upcoming prototype, but will needed to come up with a more durable design for the final product.

This design was found through the Particle projects website and is similar to how I expect my prototype to appear:

Particle projects website

Placement

The Activity Monitor will be stationed in a high corner or on the flat wall across from the Chic-Fila station in the MLK Student Center. It will need to either sit on a small shelf or somehow be suspended up within the corner. This is the ideal placement for it as its sensors should be able to capture the necessary information from there and people will not be able to tamper with it the object.

Term Project

  Area Activity Monitor

Concept & Idea Background

The project I will be working on is an area activity monitor. I chose this because here on our campus, a situation I and many other students, frequently face is that we may need to stop by the Administration building to handle some business regarding financial aid, or grab a quick bite to eat, within a very limited amount of time (in between classes, for instance). The issue that often occurs is the lines for these places may be too long to stand in, which there is no way of finding out until you have already used up your little bit of time to travel across campus to said location and see it in person.

Goal/Purpose

The goal of this project is for students to be able to know how busy the Administration building is ahead of time, so that they can make an informed decision on whether they have time to stop in or not. For many students, this can prevent tardiness to class and wasted time/energy.

Hardware Components Required

-Photon 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Breadboard (can be generic)

 

 

 

-Jumper wires:

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-Ultrasonic Sensor 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

-USB-A to Micro-USB Cable

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Software/Online Tools Required:

-Particle IDE
-Fritzing App (optional)

Using the Buddy System

For this project, the objective is to get my photon to communicate with a friend's photon. Though in this case, my friend and I were nearby each other, the photons can actually be very far away from each other and still communicate. Through this post, I will show you how this can be accomplished.

What is needed: 

• Breadboard 
• LED 
• Photoresistor
• 2 Resistors (red-red-brown, for both)
• A friend's Photon, Core, or Electron 

Set-Up of the Breadboard