Western Washington University PROJECT PROPOSAL PARKING SPACE FINDER

Transcription

1 Western Washington University PROJECT PROPOSAL PARKING SPACE FINDER Name: Dan Dam Professor: Todd Morton Class: Etec 471 Date: November,

2 INTRODUCTION: Indoor parking garages are the way to save space in cities. Compared to outdoor parking, indoor parking garages occupy a smaller space, because they are expanded vertically to multiple floors; therefore they can contain thousand of cars. The disadvantage of the indoor parking garage is that it takes time to find a parking space and of course wastes gas. This is a proposal for a Parking Space Finder system. This system helps drivers to find spaces before they enter an indoor parking garage, by providing the available spaces on a display. This system will save drivers time, money, and emotional stress. DESCRIPTION: Every parking space has a car detector and a 1-wire memory chip. The car detector detects the presence of a car, and then it sends a signal (high or low) to save in the memory chip. The car detector can be a switch. When there is a car in a space, the switch is turned on otherwise the switch is turned off. One side of the switch is connected to 5-6 Vdc source, the other side of the switch is connected to one port of the memory chip. Therefore the switch controls the level of the port. The 5-6 Vdc source can be the local power source for the memory chips. The memory chip has its own registration number to provide a guaranteed unique identity for absolute tractability. The memory chip connects with a microprocessor through a 1-Wire bus and a 1-Wire master (optional). The 1-Wire master helps to communicate to 1-Wire memory chips in their system without tying up valuable CPU cycles. The microprocessor first provides one of ROM function commands such as Read ROM, Match ROM, Search ROM. After a ROM function command is successfully executed (this means the microprocessor found the match registration number), the microprocessor will read the data in the memory chip. The data is then sent to the microprocessor to interpret whether the parking space has a car. The available space 2

3 will be shown on the display. This ends the cycle to determine the status of a parking space. The 1-Wire master continues to do the same to other memory chips. The 1-wire bus can extend to 600 m, and 200 slaves (memory chips) can share the bus. LCD DISPLAY Memory chip (n) Car detector(n) 68HC12 MICROPROCESSOR 1-WIRE MASTER CLK 1-WIRE BUS Memory chip (3) Memory chip (2) Car detector(3) Car detector(2) Memory chip (1) Car detector(1) Figure 1- Block diagram IN-DOOR PARKING na nb CPU 3A 2A 3B 2B 1A 1B Figure 2- Product sketch. 3

4 Therefore if an indoor parking has 1000 spaces, five 1-wire buses are needed, and parallel to each other. Each 1-wire bus system needs an external circuit called Microprocessor Interface. This circuit helps to transfer data between microprocessor and slaves, without distortion. BENEFITS OF THE PARKING SPACE FINDER : The parking space finder will help drivers to find parking spaces before they drive in an indoor parking garage. The drivers do not need to drive around to look for empty spaces; therefore it saves drivers time and gas. It is frustrating to look for a parking space while we are in a hurry; this Parking Space finder will surely solve this problem. COMPARISION OF SIMILAR PRODUCTS: There are not similar products on the market; therefore this Parking Space Finder does not have competitors. In the mean time the goal of this Parking Space Finder is to minimize the cost of components and to have enough information for drivers. DEMONSTRATION: For demonstration purposes, the Parking Space finder will be built in a small model with some parking spaces. In a real Parking Spaces Finder, the parking spaces can reach thousands. In this model, the car detectors are some switches. The components of this project are: a 68HC12 microprocessor, a LCD display, a 1-wire master, memory chips, car detectors, and some resistors, capacitors, transistors, and switches. CONCLUSION: A Parking Space Finder system helps drivers find spaces before entering an indoor parking garage. The drivers do not have to spend time looking for empty spaces, therefore it will 4

5 save drivers time and gas. It also reduces the stress while driving around for empty spaces. As In-door parking increases, a Parking space finder will be a necessity. D C B AVAILABLE SPACES 1A 3B 5C A THE DISPLAY Figure 3- The indoor parking garage with a Parking Space Finder system. 5