IP Enabled Parking Spot Detector

NET 499Leonard Paul Vinas

Network Security and ElectronicsDepartment of Technology

Motivation for the ProjectI am a driver and life would be much easier if

I already know where I’m going when I enter a parking area or a building.

I wanted to challenge myself on doing something I have never done before.

Learning about microcontrollers and the different applications you can do with it is just so much fun.

Proposed SolutionUsing a microcontroller, program sensors

which will be displayed in a browser through the internet.

Why the internet?The internet makes everything easy for us

nowadays. We can know what happened in China here in the US a few minutes after it actually happened there. It basically made the whole world into a small town.

Also, with the smart phones getting really popular nowadays, a handy application like this can really help. (especially on thanksgiving sale).

Why use Netduino plus?I was initially going to use the basic stamp

that we learned in class but as I did more research, I came upon this really neat microcontroller that has a built in ethernet port. It also gets its power from USB so I don’t have to worry about building my own power supply.

The Netduino plus is one of the latest microcontrollers and a lot of people gave many positive feedbacks about it.

VideoThis video shows the functionality of the

project and how it was built.

What do you not like about the Netduino plus microcontroller?The memory is too small!

That’s all!

Here’s the block diagram

How does it work?A user gets his phone, laptop, ipad or anything

that can connect to the internet and has a web browser and puts in the ip address or the url of the web server. In my project’s case, since I haven’t registered for a domain name yet, we can only put the ip address of my web server.

The user will then see a map of the parking area that he wanted to go to. Each parking spot is color coded by either red or green. If it’s green, the spot is available and red if it’s not.

Parts and Equipment usedMicrocontroller parts were ordered from Adafruit

IndustriesNetduino plus, USB cable, 10k ohm resistors,

breadboard, light sensorsRouter (thanks Dr. Rawat)Soldering Machine,wires, pliers (thanks Dr. Vigs)Ethernet cable (thanks to my roommate Zhou Yi)Iphone 4 for recording( thanks to my other

roommate Bunleng Chan)

Parts and Assembly

Parts and Assembly

Parts and Assembly

Webpage

ConclusionIt worked well and “almost” according to my

initial plan.I wanted to add more functions on it but

didn’t have enough time.I had a lot of fun learning about

microcontrollers.

Future WorkAdding more functions into it like texting or

automated voice operator.Having an actual phone app for it.This idea can be used on many different

applications like checking if certain items are still available or not.

Contact Information

Leonard Paul Vinaslvinny24@hotmail.com

ReferencesBrown Wes,Super Toaster: The Brown Toast Experience.

Retrieved from http://people.eku.edu/chandrav/CEN_CET/Capstone_2010/capstoneProjects_2010.html

Fred. Updated Web Server. Netduino Forums. Retrieved from http://forums.netduino.com/index.php?/topic/575-updated-web-server/

Microsoft. .Net Micro Framework Deployment Tool(MFDEPLOY). Available from Download Center http://www.microsoft.com/enus/download/details.aspx?id=5475

Microsoft. Microsoft Visual C# 2010 Express. Available from http://www.microsoft.com/visualstudio/en-us/products/2010-editions/visual-csharp-express

References ContinuedNetduino.Technical Specifications. Retrieved from

http://www.netduino.com/netduinoplus/specs.htmNetduino. (August 8,2010). Pressing the Button(Netduino

Tutorial)[Video file]. Video posted to http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=bFdv88fx80M&feature=player_embedded#!

Omar. Analog input photocell and webpage. Netduino Forums. Retrieved from http://forums.netduino.com/index.php?/topic/791-analog-input-photocell-and-webpage/

Zimmers, Greg (March 5,2011). Netduino Plus Web Server Hello World. Posted to http://netduinohacking.blogspot.com/2011/03/netduino-plus-web-server-hello-world.html

 

AcknowledgementsThank you to Netduino Forums for all the

information and tutorials.Thank you to my friend James Dimayuga for

giving me a hint on this project.Thank you to “Fred”, a senior member of the

Netduino forums, for his base web server.Thank you to “Omar”, another senior member

of Netduino forums, for his photocell application.