Bus Seat Counter

1. EET 419 Team 4 Bus Seat Counter

2. Project Scope • Problem • correctly identifying the occupancy of a passenger bus and that the passengers remain safely seated throughout the extent of the ride. • Goal • to design and build a pressure sensor system that will detect how many people have boarded onto the bus, if the bus is full, while alerting the bus driver whether someone is out of their seat during duration of the ride. • Specific • Pressure sensors built into seats will be connected to a microprocessor and will determine and display if the bus is at max capacity, and will notify when someone has left their seat during the bus ride. • Measurable • Counts number of seats occupied and if bus is available for more passengers • Assignable • Pressure sensor, programming, designing system • Realistic • Sensors are cheap, programming is relatively easy • Time • based- Initial prototype can be made in months; final project can be installed within few weeks. • Success • Program can count the number of seats, alert when passenger has left their seat during motion of the bus, alert when bus is full. • Objectives • Accurately count number of passengers on a bus • Making sure all riders are safely seated during ride • Alert when the bus is at maximum capacity • Determine between one and two passengers per seat • Obstacles • Precisely alerting driver that passenger is out of their seat • Maintain a proper count of passengers on board during length of ride • Being able to tell the difference between one or two passengers

3. BLOCKD IAGRAM

4. United States Patent Number: 8285454 Inventor: Peter Norton of Farmington, MI Vehicle Occupant Presence and Position Sensing System

5. What it is… • Pressure sensor system used to create the classification of type of object in a car seat and its position on the seat. • It also calculates the weight of the object. • Determines whether the seat belt is latched. • Based on type of object, decides whether the airbag system should be turned on or off.

6. Summary of the Claims • The System Claims: • To have sensors that respond to distance using a reference location to the actual location of the object, there by classifying the object into categories. • To have categories of the object in normal seated position or object in other position. • To have categories of person or object. • To have sensor to define object as a person or an infant car seat.

7. Summary of the Claims • The System Claims: • To have sensor to recognize whether the seat is occupied or vacant. • To have categories defining object as child or adult. • To determine, based on object data, if airbag system should be on or off.

8. Conclusion of Invention • This system provides means of classifying seat occupants into 3 categories: • Adults • Children • Cargo • If the object is an Adult, the system accounts for person’s location on the seat. • Depending on the type of object the system determines whether airbag system should be on or off.

9. Work Breakdown Schedule

10. Components • Research and find all components • Pressure Sensor • Micro controller • LED Display • Operational Amplifier • Order components • Est. time: 1 week • Est. Cost • Op Amp: $ 4 each • Micro Controller: $6 • LED Display: $1.50 • Pressure Sensor: $2 each

11. Circuit Design • Design circuits for different parts of the network • Create circuit for pressure sensors • Create circuit for LED Display • Create circuit for Micro Controller • Implement circuits into overall network • Test and refine at each stage • Est. time for each stage: 2-3 weeks

12. Programming • Create program for the Micro Controller • Test with individual parts of the project • Est. time: 4 weeks

13. Gantt Chart

14. Risk Analysis

17. Test and Verification