À propos du projet
Endlessly circling around congested city streets trying to find a place to park is not everybody's idea of fun. Probably, while you are missing your empty parking spot at home, there are plenty of spaces just a few blocks away.
But, what if you could “talk” to parking spots and find out where the nearest free space is, thanks to smart sensors? What if your smartphone could tell you that the area is plenty of free spaces at a lower rate? What if you could pay to use a private parking spot while someone is paying you for using yours?
Given that 30% of traffic congestion is caused by people searching for parking, you could contribute to decrease traffic and CO2 emissions by just joining the PickParking Community. We want You! Join and Share Your Parking Spot!
PickParking is ideal if you own a parking spot and live in a busy city center or near a train station, an airport, a sports stadium or a theater. We all know how expensive and stressing it can be to find a parking space, especially during rush hour. Just think about all the people that would be happy to pay less than public parking and use your spot when you don't need it. You will not be able to do without PickParking!
The PickParking sensor is a Wireless Sensor able to detect if a parking lot is empty or not and communicate with a Management Web Platform using Smartphones with Bluetooth 4.0.
The PickParking App is a smartphone parking space sharing application that represents the bridge between the sensor and the PickParking Community: the user and the sharer.
Basically, PickParking connects people who have empty parking spaces to people that need them.
And the presence of the PickParking Sensor just ensures a safer, more reliable and smarter way to share a private parking spot.
Is it clear? Let's see some action...
This video shows some details about the current development of the PickParking prototype such as the debugging of the HW/SW sync and the spot occupancy detection. Please note that, as we mention below, what you can see in our videos is a working prototype that needs to be engineered and a demo app that needs to be completed. The Smartphone-sensor pairing and the occupancy detection are shown in debug/testing mode.
We cannot show you more functionalities/features of the web platform because, as we explained, they are not ready and need to be developed. Please refer to "Our plan" section for more details.
We need your support in order to complete the development and create the PickParking Community!
Do you have a parking space that cries when you leave it alone for so many hours? Have you ever thought that right now someone might be looking for a parking spot in your neighborhood? How much do you think using your parking space should cost?
If you can answer these questions… you should become a PickParking Owner and start making money while helping the city!
- Get your PickParking Sensor and App
- Install the Sensor in your parking spot
- Create your user account
- Specify your parking spot details and availability schedule
- Set the price: how many credits are needed to use your parking spot?
- Start sharing your parking! As more PickParking drivers use your parking you will get credits!
- When you reach a minimum number of credits you can turn them into gifts (e.g. Amazon Gift Cards, Amazon Coins)
- Download the PickParking App
- Create your user account and charge your credit
- Use the website or the app to look for parking when you need it
- Check schedule and price and if it suits you, you can book the space
- Go to the parking spot and check-in. Done! You don’t need to look for one anymore!
- When you check-out, the platform will calculate the
total time and price and withdraw credit from your account
The PickParking Sensor that you see in the video and photos is a prototype that needs to be completed and transformed into a production ready unit. In fact:
- we have completed the design of the PickParking case and a first prototype has been printed using a HackerBot 3D printer
- the Detection and power optimization algorithms have been designed and developed
- a preliminary version of the electronic component has been designed and prototyped for debug purposes
For what concerns the App and the Web Platform:
- we have defined use cases, actors, high level architecture and software requirements
- we have developed a basic demo app in order to start creating the community
But we still have a lot of work to do!
With your support, we can bring PickParking to your home. Your contribution will help fund:
- Getting to the first production ready unit
- CE/FCC Certification
- Production tooling
- Large component order
- App & Web Platform
Development
What is the PickParking Agents Puzzle?
We hope that, with your help, we will be able to create the PickParking Community. That’s why we would like to include your pic in our special Puzzle, dedicated to those who have made it possible! If we reach our goal, we will ask you to send us a photo and if you like it, your face will be part of our history! Check our Website!
Participate in the PickParking T-Shirt Competition!
We need you to choose our official T-shirt! Don’t forget to vote for your favorite! Only one will win!
We have decided to concentrate our efforts on the future, Bluetooth 4.0 LE. But even though you don’t have a smartphone BT 4.0 support, we would like you to become a member of the PickParking Community. So, if we reach the $199,000 stretch goal we will release a BT Gateway based on the UDOO Platform that will allow your smartphone to interact with the PickParking Sensor.
UDOO is a mini PC that can run either Android or Linux, with an embedded Arduino-compatible board. UDOO is an open hardware, low-cost computer equipped with an ARM i.MX6 Freescale processor for Android and Linux and Arduino DUE’s ARM SAM3X on the same board!
PickParking is a joint effort of a multidisciplinary team with expertise in Internet of Things, embedded electronics and sensor networks.
CUBIT, our company, was born as a Spin-off Lab of the University of Pisa and has now spread throughout Europe, America and Asia.
We have spent the past 5 years working on wireless sensor networks applied to smart cities and smart parking. And now we are ready to deliver a system that makes the parking space sharing experience smarter and more reliable.
Many people have been involved in various ways in the development of this project:
Giuliano Manara: President of CUBIT; Renee Jacobs: Legal Representative & International Marketing Manager of CUBIT Inc.; Marco Magnarosa: CEO of CUBIT Inc.; Stefano Giordano: President of CUBIT Scientific Committee; Luca Boggioni: Firmware Developer – University of Pisa researcher; Alessia Canu: Graphic Designer; Sandra Correas: International Business Developer & R&D Project Manager; Rossella Frasca: Senior Software Developer & Product Manager; Nicola Galli: Senior Hardware & Firmware Developer; Federica Gelli: Business Developer & R&D Project Manager; Gianluca Lerose: Testing Engineer; Gabriele Leto: 3D Designer; Riccardo Lucchesi: 3D Designer; Lorenzo Monti: Hardware & Software Developer; Guido Nenna: R&D Lab Manager and Senior Testing Engineer; Antonio Padovano: App Developer; Elena Parenti: Administration; Salvatore Rosania: CFO & Business Developer; Eleonora Rosania: Administrative Consultant; Alessandro Scatà: Junior Developer; Manuela Tassoni: Marketing & Communication Manager; Marco Tonsini: Video Maker; Yabin Zhang: Firmware developer. Digital Strategy by iDNA.
We have come a long way in the development of smart parking solutions, from our first wireless sensor, all the way to the PickParking prototype.
We have spent countless hours thinking about different applications, the user experience, deployment and communication issues and other technical aspects.
Now it’s time…You can help make our Community real by being the very first person to own the PickParking Sensor!
Risques et défis
As you are all aware, the concept of a smart and shareable city is fostering the creation and worldwide spread of smart parking and parking-share solutions. However, there is not yet a private parking-share system currently available on the market that features both an app and a wireless sensor, as the PickParking system offers. That’s why we believe that we can provide a smarter and more satisfying parking spot sharing experience.
Our product is still under development. We have a functional hardware prototype and a demo app that will be optimized and improved for the final version. That’s why our biggest challenge is to be on Kickstarter and try to reach the goal with your support.
As we described in “Our Plan”, before entering mass production, we still have a lot of work to do in the coming months. The timeline we’ve defined is conservative in estimating commercial manufacturing and software development times, but we know sometimes unexpected things happen in projects like this so we prefer to be ready for any surprise that might delay the PickParking delivery.
We will constantly update our supporters and backers on the PickParking progress!
For technological concerns, a good integration between sensor interfaces will be critical: a solid HW design integrated with adaptive FW can access all the capabilities of the system and overcome any limitation. During the final phases, some best practices will be followed in order to minimize risks that can lead to high production costs, misjudged computational performances and market disapproval: using working prototypes and including a 100 unit pilot run, completing the design of the BT wireless interface with emphasis on certification directives and using high-quality components as often as possible.
The team will be able to face any technological issue thanks to the consolidated expertise in electronic and firmware design and development of RF-based devices. In addition, the CUBIT expertise in infrastructural testing, assessment of quality of network services, CE/FCC Certification and RFID ISO 14443 Compliance will reduce the time and cost to achieve the fully compliant production-ready unit.
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