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  Prototyping the Sign

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  testing the LoRa

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  Arduino Code

eStop

LoRaWAN E-Ink Bus Stop Signs

Inspiration

The eStop Team is devoted to high-quality networks and data for citizens to benefit from. During the Hardware Hackathon at NJIT, our goal was to apply our passions to smart city infrastructure. We all commonly use public transport and are displeased that there is no way to tell how far away the bus is at each bus stop without the use of the New Jersey Transit app. It would be preferable to look at the bus sign and be able to know the live eta of the next bus. So we want to provide a way for bus stops to get information about the busses' eta efficiently and sustainably.

What It Does

eStop is a LoRaWAN network of LoRa transceivers on buses and bus stops providing live updates for the whole network. Each bus stop has an E-Ink Display with solar panels providing low-power live updates.

A person waiting at the bus stop would be informed immediately on the E-Ink sign whether their bus is on time, late, or cancelled.

In the case of an emergency, such as a power outage, the eStop LoRa network would remain functional. Each node would be able to notify the rest of the nodes, leading to a chain that would leave announcements and alerts across the entire system. With Wifi and Bluetooth support, eStop provides citizens quick contacts with emergency services.

How We Built It

We went in to this hackathon with the following parts:

We spent the first couple hours brainstorming and pcking parts to use. We then got to work programming our modules attempting to build a LoRa Network, and print on e-Paper. We ran into many roadblocks with the LoRa Modules we were using, and only the Heltec Wireless Stick was able to recieve, transmit, and connect to a LoRaWAN network. Our current product is a proof of concept for our idea of having live updates on a bus stop sign. The product we present today has the following parts:

In the future we are going to implement a much more powerful bus stop node with LoRa and e-Paper. The final product should have the following cost breakdown:

If we were to get a grant from New Jersey to research and implement this solution at the 20,000 Bus Stops in New Jersey, we could drive down our costs for all parts as we scale.

Challenges We Ran Into

We ran into mighty challenges setting up the LoRa Network. We were able to make the Heltec Wireless Stick a LoRaWAN transceiver and register it on The Things Network, but we only had one stick and could not demo the network. What is possible is for the public to transmit messages to the receiver on the New Jersey Transit sign.

Accomplishments That We're Proud Of

Although our ambitions were greater than what we were capable of in 24 hours, we are extremely proud of our final product. The technology that we used and learned how to use in this hackathon will greatly benefit us in the future. We truly care about decentralised networks that provide value to humans.

What We Learned

G - I have a background in Math and Data, so hardware is new to me. It was my first time using Arduinos, Arduino IDE, and C which was fun and a lot to learn quickly. I learned so much about Networks, Screens, and how all these different electronic modules come together.

Seb - I learned so many new things about radio and technologies that I've never used before. It was a great refresher on hardware because it has been sometime since I've been able to mess around with this technology.

Anthony - I learned a lot about LoRa, I learned that NJIT has an awesome MakerSpace, and I learned how to have a good time working on projects with friends!

What's Next For eStop

We will keep building the LoRaWAN network and make it more robust for more applications. We will incorporate with the New Jersey Transit API and begin installing signs in Hoboken as a proof of concept. We had a great time at the MakeNJIT Hardware Hackathon, and look forward to future engagements!

Built With

• arduino
• c
• e-ink
• ino
• lora