Parking Assist Device

ECE 196 Fall 2024

Aria Mottaghi, Cleavant Yang, Danny Wu

Project Description

We are developing a device to assist drivers with parking, specifically in compact spots. This will be done with a LiDAR sensor that will map a 2D birds eye view of obstacles in front and to the side of the car. This map will then be displayed on a screen for the driver to see and make judgements accordingly while parking. The device will assist the driver to measure the dimensions of a parking spot and help judge whether or not it is too compact to park in.

Demo:

IMG_8439.mov

Example Use Case:

The LiDAR sensor, the red dot, would be placed on the front hood of the car and detecting proximity data (each sampled point being green dots).

The effective range of the sensor is the semicircle in black

This data would then be wirelessly transmitted from the sensor to a screen the driver can see, giving real time updates to the spacing around their car making it easier to park

We can also take measurements of empty parking spots and share judgements to the driver on whether or not it is too tight of a fit (orange)

System Flowchart:

Milestones:

Completed:

Demo a working LiDAR sensor (by week 4)
Establish wireless communication between 2 ESP32s (by week 5)
CAD the base to hold the sensor (by week 5)
Reiterate/re-CAD the sensor base to mount on the car (by week 6)
Test to see if wireless communication is fast enough to output and input the sensor data (by week 6)
Reliably read and process data coming from the sensor (by week 7)*
Tested wireless communications between ESP32s through Circuit Python (Week 9.9)
Lidar and the screen with ESP32 designs work off computer, powered by batteries
Final iteration of CAD of the sensor base to mount on the car (by 11/22/24)
CAD/print case for screen (by 11/25/24)
Demo a working screen (by 11/22/24)
Map out data points from sensor onto a 2D birds eye view (by 11/25/24)**
Figure out how to display information on the screen (by 11/27/24)
Final Accomplishment: Lidar successfully detects obstacles, wireless transmit data to the screen, the screen display correct obstacles as dots on screen, all powered only by batteries

*Originally a week 5 goal, I've been having major difficulty reading data from the sensor, so much so where I'm testing with different LiDAR sensors purchased out of pocket. Evidently this pushed back other milestone that would've been completed at a sooner time

**Delay in parts arriving caused us to push this back by a week

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