Inspiration
At Penn State, buses have been the main means of transportation to go anywhere in State College. However, we noticed that the bus driver has to count passengers to keep the bus under control manually. Sometimes, this situation also consumes time, leading to late arrival.
What it does
Our smart passenger tracker is responsible for counting the passengers getting in and out of the bus. Besides that, our creation will also notify the driver via an LED light when the passengers reach the maximum capacity.
How we built it
On the hardware side, we created an electronic circuit, which includes two IR sensors and an LED. The circuit is connected to an Arduino Uno R3. On the software side, we write a code using Arduino IDE.
Challenges we ran into
The main challenge we encountered was ensuring the sensor counted accurately without double-counting. Since the IR sensor detects any movement within a certain range, we had to ensure that after the initial detection, it wouldn't register additional counts if the hand remained near the sensor for a moment.
Accomplishments that we're proud of
We figured out how to use IR sensors to both increase and decrease the total count, and how to avoid the count from being negative.
What we learned
We learned how to solve real world problems through coding and problem-solving skills using simple electronic kit.
What's next for SmartBus Counter
Having this automatic passenger counter could give the company real time data which can improve the service whenever there is an event that requires more buses running.
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