ParkIt

The Raspberry Pi sensor system.

Inspiration

We identified the difficulty and frustration in finding parking as an epidemic several consumers across the world face daily.

What it does

Provides users with a live feed of available parking spots relative to the user's end location. It minimizes the time spent looking for parking and shortens the distance between the parking spot itself and the user's desired destination.

How we built it

We used a combination of ultrasound sensors connected to a raspberry pi that measures whether an entity is in front of each of the sensors. This data is then transferred to a local server and read by the android application on a android phone.

Challenges we ran into

It was our first time using Android Studio. While some of us have had Java Experience, working with the more complex system was a tough challenge.

Accomplishments that we're proud of

We incorporated both hardware and software together from multiple platforms. In addition, we built an application on Android Studio that is able to access a live server in our first 24 hours of coding in Android Studio.

What we learned

We learned that it is important to also develop a business view towards an idea/hack. In order to do so, we modeled our design to appeal both consumers and corporations.

What's next for ParkIt

We would like to scale up and implement a dual business model accommodating consumers AND corporations. In doing so, we plan to provide our technology and services to companies based on a subscription model to allow them to receive higher volume consumer traffic.