Carbon

Novel platform organizing personalized driving data for users, educating them on their carbon footprint

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Inspiration

Greenhouse gasses emitted from motor vehicles are one of the most prevalent environmental issue that our world faces today. Over 20% of all emissions in the US come from vehicles alone, with 19.4 pounds per gallon coming straight from a single car's exhaust pipe. In addition, 150 million Americans live in areas that don't meet federal air quality standards, and particulate matter from vehicular emissions account for a multitude of health and respiratory issues, contributing to over 30,000 deaths every year. Despite all of this, there is a lack of awareness and urgency among the general population in regards to the environmental effects of automotive pollution.

What it does

The system consists of a CO2 sensor, a bluetooth car plugin, and a phone application that tracks the users driving habits. The application also uses incentives to increase interest in lower the carbon footprint that is caused by driving. This will help create awareness by connecting the data collected with accessible technology along with creating a network to attract different types of users.

Importance

There is an incredible need today for an innovation such as this. In fact, carbon emissions is one of the most prevalent issues in the world, detrimentally impacting both the environment and public health. While some companies have become aware of the situation and are working to clean pollution created from primary pollutants, there are no existing initiatives working to tackle the dangers of secondary pollutants at their "core". The public is unaware of the impact their own car is contributing to the environment because of its invisible nature, and the fact that it seems a car is too small a piece to have such a large effect. Our app is the only innovation of its kind to effectively reduce carbon emissions and transportation's carbon footprint across a large population while educating the general public.

How we built it

The scale model of the exhaust tip was designed in solidworks and 3D printed. The actual exhaust tips would be made with machined aluminum alloy and would be larger. The CO2 sensor will be placed flush on the inside of the exhaust tip so that the readings will be most accurate with little to no interference of outside gases. The companion application is built to be aesthetically pleasing, while accurately informing the user about their driving habits using data collected by the sensors. Incentive based programs are also included along with an ability to share data with friends. The bluetooth plugin feature will transfer data from the other sensors in the car to the application to give more insight to the user about their driving habits. Coding using matlab was utilized to create formulas that would accurately represent the environmental impact in a comprehensible and visually aesthetic fashion

Challenges we ran into

The main challenge was finding a concrete idea that is viable. Along with this, we had a lack of supplies that ultimately cause the team to use other methods to find the same data.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

The team is proud of the mathematical model that was derived to allow accurate simulation. We are also proud of the completely interactive application that was developed. The coding that was created to conduct accurate simulations of the carbon footprint score is an accomplishment in itself.

What we learned

Members of the team learned more about coding and how hackathons worked. Others learned how to operate solidworks in more efficient ways.

What's next for carbon

The next steps consist of improvements to the incentive programs, legislative deals, and deals with companies. Also, the exhaust tips will be able to be fully customized.

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