Assignment 2: Needs Assessment

Project: Autonomous Parking Lot Management System (2/5/2024 - 5/2/2024)

1. Identify needs that justify an electrical and computer engineering problem-solving effort.

•   There is a need for efficient distribution of parking spots in order to help individuals save time in busier hours.

2. Develop a design proposal that justifies the need to develop a technical solution to a problem.

• Objective (why?): The objective of our project is to develop a system that would detect empty parking spots within a parking garage/parking lot via a camera system. The system would then display at the entrance of the parking garage/lot how many available spots there are on each level of the parking garage. This would save drivers time as they would be able to immediately know which floor they have to go to in order to find an open parking spot. 

• Background (who? where?): This system would be implemented in the Babbio parking garage with the potential for other suitable lots at Stevens, which would help benefit not only the staff members at this university but the commuting students as well.

• Methodology (how? when?): This system will use cameras positioned and trained to recognize empty parking spots.  These cameras can take pictures of the empty lot during installation and then search for inconsistencies in-between the lines of each space and mark that spot as full during operation. This will inform a central system to direct incoming cars from the entrance of the parking garage. 

• Expected results (what?) The expected result would be a system where cars can drive to the entrance of the garage/lot and know immediately if there is available spots. A digital sign would be present at the entrance displaying all of the available spot numbers, making it extremely easy to drive right in and find the numbered spot that's open.

• Costs (how much will it cost?) The cost of the project will include the labor costs of each team member, the cost of cameras, and the cost of a digital screen. Estimating 4 hours of mental labor per team member at a rate of $50/hr until project completion is $10,000. Great mid-tier security cameras range from $250-$500, so based on the parking garage/lot, only about 6 cameras would be required per floor making this cost around $9,600. The digital screen must be durable to all conditions costing around $900. The total cost estimation is $20,500 for the project.