Feels the “heartbeat” of the road

user end map location
flow diagram

Inspiration

Bad roads and unnoticed potholes cause accidents every day. We wanted to build something simple and low-cost that could feel the heartbeat of the road — helping drivers and cities understand road conditions in real time.

What it does

Our project detects vibrations and road noise using Free-Wili’s built-in accelerometer and microphone. It identifies bumps or potholes and logs them to a live dashboard, creating a visual “pulse” of the road.

How we built it

I used Free-Wili’s sensors to collect vibration and sound data, processed it in Python to detect abnormal patterns, and displayed alerts and graphs in real time through the Free-Wili GUI.

Challenges we ran into

Setting up device
Calibrating sensor thresholds for different surfaces.
Filtering background noise from actual bumps.
Synchronizing live data visualization smoothly.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

Built a working prototype in under 5 hours.
Achieved accurate bump detection using only onboard sensors.

What we learned

I learned how to integrate multiple sensors, tune signal thresholds, and visualize data effectively — all while balancing simplicity and speed in a hackathon environment.

What's next for Feels the “heartbeat” of the road

I am planning to expand it into a network-based solution that maps road quality across cities and integrates with navigation systems to suggest safer routes.