Team Member: Michael Cooley; Junya Chen; Yuchen Zhang
The problem:
Unsheltered homeless people experience extreme risk for hyperthermia in winter and efforts from the office of Homeless Services to get individuals inside rely solely on word of mouth:
Homeless people who live on the street in winter are very vulnerable because low temperatures in the winter may cause hypothermia. Hypothermia is a subnormal body temperature health condition, that may lead to injury and death.
Philadelphia has very cold winters. According to the NOAA weather data archive, from November 2017 to April 2018, 76% of Philadelphia’s daily low temperature is below 40 degrees, and 30% of daily low temperature is below 30 degrees.
Additionally, Philadelphia also has an increasing number of homeless people. The number of homeless people increased about 10% from 2017 to 2018, and there about 1,020 people living out in the cold in January 2018 (according to volunteer’s count). As we searched on the internet, we have seen several news reports from recent years about cold-related death in Philadelphia.
Therefore, we are particularly concerned about this urban problem, and our project aims to help homeless people in the city to go through the harsh winter, and prevent cold-related deaths.
The Solution:
We developed WARM ( Weather Alert Response Monitoring) to integrate with the Office of Homeless Services “Code Blue” efforts to relocate homeless people in winter.
What is Code Blue?
Code Blue is an alarm system that is issued during extremely cold weather. Here are three conditions that will trigger the alarm system:
(1) Temperature drops below 32 degrees; (2) Wind chills below 0 degrees; (3) Ice storm; (4) Freezing rain; (5) Snow is greater than 6 inches.
This alarm is issued by the Office of Homeless Services ( http://philadelphiaofficeofhomelessservices.org/）. OHS sends a homeless outreach team, often individuals who overcame homelessness themselves or work closely with the community, to patrols the streets and respond to pedestrian calls reporting homeless individuals location in order to encourage homeless people to come indoors. Their effort is quite successful in the past few years. Furthermore, the outreach team understand and is compassionate about homeless people’s feelings and situations.
Their current strategies to find homeless people who sleep on the street is to encourage the public to call the Homeless Outreach Team, which is inefficient and is not marketed well to encourage public engagement- many Philadelphians are unaware of OHS’ Code blue and hotline number. Therefore, we propose our WARM system to help locate homeless people more efficiently, thus helping unsheltered individuals survive harsh winters in Philly.
Our Project WARM
Walking around the city in winter, you may found that homeless people tend to sleep on or around the grates that have warm steam coming out from it see (figure 2). Therefore, our projects purposes to integrate pressure sensors around those grates, so we can locate homeless people who sleep on the street by tracking triggered sensor response over a period of 20 min to not confuse regular foot traffic with a resting person. Once triggered our system then notifies the homeless outreach team via text message to come to grate(x) where a person is likely sleeping, see (figure 3). The whole system will only activate when the temperature dropped below 40 degrees as to not waste municipal energy.
Figure 2:
Project Diagram
Figure 3:
WARM Shield and Public engagement button
Typically it is encouraged for the public to address homeless individuals themselves though good intentioned individuals living on the street face a wide range of factors that have lead to their predicament- drug abuse, mental illness, displacement etc for example. The WARM Shield contains all other parts need for our technology and safely protects components from the elements while also displaying a “freezing tonight go inside sign” to encourage those who can relocate themselves. The button on our WARM Shield is used to engage public and allows the public to help even if they were previously unaware of OHS’ Code Blue efforts. When the button is pressed, the waiting time will shorten to 5 minutes to trigger the response from either our pressure or break beam sensors and notifies homeless outreach team the button has been pressed patrol area of that WARM Shield. In this way, we can help homeless people more quickly. At the same time, we can double check to make sure that it is not someone who pushes the button for fun.
How WARM effects OHM’s existing efforts:
Scenario 1: Button not pressed and people stand on grate for less than 20 minutes.
- Nothing will happen. The system will keep detecting the force but there will be no responses.
Scenario 2: Button not pressed but a person is asleep or sitting on the grate for more than 20 minutes.
- The system will count steady readings of 95 lbs for 20 min, then a text message will be sent to homeless outreach team dispatcher with the grate number and its location.
Scenario 3: Someone presses the button and there is a homeless person sleeping on grate.
- The system will receive the signal, reduce the time for sensor readings from 20 to 5 mins for triggered response to the dispatcher as well as a note that the button has been pressed.
Scenario 4: Someone pushes the button for fun.
- The system will still receive the button’s signal and start to count the force. The dispatcher will receive notification that the WARM Shield button has been pressed.
- As long as the force does not reach the threshold within 5 minutes, it is possible that the homeless people may not be at the location or has already left. But the driver can still drive there on their patrol.
Campaign
As mentioned previously in this post, the general public is disengaged and unaware of the challenges the homeless population face in any given city. For Philadelphia, the City of “Brotherly love” it is essential to our and the Office of Homeless Services to raise awareness about these challenges such as surviving winter and how the public can help in everyday situations. While highlighting the Code Blue alert as not only an OHM, WARM or Philadelphia Police Department effort but a citywide network that can ensure our city’s most vulnerable population is cared for. When considering smart city design and project development it is critical to consider how innovation uplifts, supports and validates those most marginalized. Digital Posters on Septa’s train, bus and trolley stations ad boards will be the best way to distribute information across the city as Septa serves 512,000 riders a day.
Other Scenarios
There a many types of grates that release steam often grates and manhole covers that lead to the subway for this reason we purpose an additional sensing alternative utilizing break beam sensors which detect when something is present between two led diodes.
Implementations
(dots represent SEPTA subway station)
We propose to implement 10 sensors in the center city area because there has a relatively high density of homeless people. The other 10 sensors will be implemented in suburbs or other neighborhood that is not in the center city. Most of them will locate around subway stations because grates are usually close to this kind of infrastructure. The sensors do not locate in the center city can help us to learn about areas that may not be covered by OHM’s regular patrol area.
Future Vision:
- There will be a backstage team to operate the entire system.
- The operator will be the facilitator between the drivers and the response of sensors. Instead of disturbing the sensor, the operator will use the data information to generate a route. Then the pick-up operates will be sent to the van drivers. it will potentially make the entire process more robust and efficient by reducing the pick-up time.
- Data will be collected and analyzed frequently. Data can be mapped or use to analyze the distribution and social behaviors of the Homeless people.
- Based on the distribution, we will move those sensors where not many homeless will stay in some new areas every 6 months.
- If the city of Philadelphia will develop the LoRa Network, then we can start our system by using the data from the weather station. Moreover, we can not only tell people the current temperature but also the predicted future temperature. It can notify the homeless people how dangerous it will be if they keep staying here.
- We may not implement our system in summer due to the consideration of energy consumption.
Check Out out Video!
Our code:
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//CPLN 571. 11/14/2018 This tutorial is about how to change the light of RGB when temperature changes. // The project extends code form USK circuit 3 and 7. #include <Adafruit_FONA.h> #include <SoftwareSerial.h> const int Button_PIN = 8;//the digital pin for button pin const int RED_PIN = 9;//the digital pin for red pin const int GREEN_PIN = 10;//the digital pin for green pin const int BLUE_PIN = 11;//the digital pin for blue pin const int temperaturePin = 0;//the analog read pin that is used to reat the temperature const int FSR_PIN = A1; // Pin connected to FSR/resistor divider // Measure the voltage at 5V and resistance of your 3.3k resistor, and enter // their value's below: const float VCC = 4.98; // Measured voltage of Ardunio 5V line const float R_DIV = 3230.0; // Measured resistance of 3.3k resistor #define FONA_RX 2 #define FONA_TX 3 #define FONA_RST 4 //FONA800 set-up SoftwareSerial fonaSS = SoftwareSerial(FONA_TX, FONA_RX); SoftwareSerial *fonaSerial = &fonaSS; // Hardware serial is also possible! // HardwareSerial *fonaSerial = &Serial1; // Use this for FONA 800 and 808s (We are using this code, since we use FONA 800 here.) Adafruit_FONA fona = Adafruit_FONA(FONA_RST); // Feel Free to use this one for FONA 3G //Adafruit_FONA_3G fona = Adafruit_FONA_3G(FONA_RST); uint8_t readline(char *buff, uint8_t maxbuff, uint16_t timeout = 0); uint8_t type; void setup() { pinMode(RED_PIN, OUTPUT); pinMode(GREEN_PIN, OUTPUT); pinMode(BLUE_PIN, OUTPUT); Serial.begin(9600);//the bound rate for serial monitor pinMode(FSR_PIN, INPUT); while (!Serial); Serial.begin(115200); Serial.println(F("FONA SMS basic test")); Serial.println(F("Initializing....(May take 3 seconds)")); //make it slow, read it easier. fonaSerial->begin(4800); if (! fona.begin(*fonaSerial)) { Serial.println(F("Couldn't find FONA")); while (1); } type = fona.type(); Serial.println(F("FONA is READY.")); } const int threshold = 700; //value for force in Grams( grams is defined later) roughly 90lbs int countAboveThreshold = 0; // counts how many long the threshold value is being match detected int iterationsToHold = 10; // 20min/2sec (loopdelay)= 600. if the threshold is >= threshold then signal send //const int iterationsToHold_intense = 4; const int loopDelay = 2000; void loop() { float voltage, degreesC, degreesF;//get numbers with decimals voltage = getVoltage(temperaturePin);//get voltage from the temperature pin degreesC = (voltage - 0.5) * 100.0;//calculate the celcius degree degreesF = degreesC * (9.0/5.0) + 32.0;// calculate the Fahrenheit degree Serial.print("voltage: ");//print volrage in serial monitor Serial.print(voltage); Serial.print(" deg C: ");//print the celcious degree in serial monitor Serial.print(degreesC); Serial.print(" deg F: ");//print the farenheit degree in serial monitor Serial.println(degreesF); delay(1000); if (degreesF > 40) //if the temperature is greather than 40 degree, turn off the RGB { // Off (all LEDs off): digitalWrite(RED_PIN, LOW); digitalWrite(GREEN_PIN, LOW); digitalWrite(BLUE_PIN, LOW); } else if (degreesF >= 30) // Blue (turn just the blue LED on): // if the temperature is larger than 20 degrees and smaller than 40 degrees, show blue color { digitalWrite(RED_PIN, LOW); digitalWrite(GREEN_PIN, LOW); digitalWrite(BLUE_PIN, HIGH); // char screen[141]; // sprintf(screen,"Someone push the button at LocationX. Wait for another 5 more minutes.") int pushbutton; pushbutton = digitalRead(Button_PIN); if(pushbutton == LOW){ Serial.println("Someone push the button at LocationX. Wait for another 5 more minutes."); iterationsToHold = 4; PressureSensor(); } else{ iterationsToHold = 10; PressureSensor(); } } if (degreesF < 33)//if the temperature is below 20 degrees, show purple color { digitalWrite(RED_PIN, HIGH); digitalWrite(GREEN_PIN, LOW); digitalWrite(BLUE_PIN, HIGH); // char screen[141]; // sprintf(screen,"Someone push the button at LocationX. Wait for another 5 more minutes.") int pushbutton; pushbutton = digitalRead(Button_PIN); //push down button if (pushbutton == LOW){ Serial.println("Someone push the button at LocationX. Wait for another 5 more minutes."); iterationsToHold = 4; PressureSensor(); } else{ iterationsToHold = 10; PressureSensor(); } } } float getVoltage(int pin)//get voltage { return (analogRead(pin) * 0.004882814);// conver 0 to 1023 value to 0 to 5 value (the true voltage) } void PressureSensor() { int fsrADC = analogRead(FSR_PIN); // If the FSR has no pressure, the resistance will be // near infinite. So the voltage should be near 0. if (fsrADC != 1) // If the analog reading is non-zero { // Use ADC reading to calculate voltage: float fsrV = fsrADC * VCC / 1023.0; // Use voltage and static resistor value to calculate FSR resistance: float fsrR = R_DIV * (VCC / fsrV - 1.0); Serial.println("Resistance: " + String(fsrR) + " ohms"); // Guesstimate force based on slopes in figure 3 of FSR datasheet: float force; float fsrG = 1.0 / fsrR; // Calculate conductance // Break parabolic curve down into two linear slopes: if (fsrR <= 600) force = (fsrG - 0.00075) / 0.00000032639; else force = fsrG / 0.000000642857; Serial.println("Force: " + String(force) + " g"); Serial.println(); if (force >= threshold) { countAboveThreshold += 1; } else { countAboveThreshold = 0; } if (countAboveThreshold == iterationsToHold) { Serial.println("person is resting on grate#X "); //Placeholder action to communicate with GSM sensor FONA-mini cellular SMS breakout SendMessage(); } delay(loopDelay); } else { // No pressure detected } } /* void PressureSensor_Intense(){ int fsrADC = analogRead(FSR_PIN); // If the FSR has no pressure, the resistance will be // near infinite. So the voltage should be near 0. if (fsrADC != 1) // If the analog reading is non-zero { // Use ADC reading to calculate voltage: float fsrV = fsrADC * VCC / 1023.0; // Use voltage and static resistor value to calculate FSR resistance: float fsrR = R_DIV * (VCC / fsrV - 1.0); Serial.println("Resistance: " + String(fsrR) + " ohms"); // Guesstimate force based on slopes in figure 3 of FSR datasheet: float force; float fsrG = 1.0 / fsrR; // Calculate conductance // Break parabolic curve down into two linear slopes: if (fsrR <= 600) force = (fsrG - 0.00075) / 0.00000032639; else force = fsrG / 0.000000642857; Serial.println("Force: " + String(force) + " g"); Serial.println(); if (force >= threshold) { countAboveThreshold += 1; } else { countAboveThreshold = 0; } if (countAboveThreshold == iterationsToHold_intense) { Serial.println("person is resting on grate#X "); //Placeholder action to communicate with GSM sensor FONA-mini cellular SMS breakout SendMessage(); } delay(loopDelay); } else { // No pressure detected } } */ //call function SendMessage() here: void SendMessage() { // send SMS message char message[141]; sprintf(message,"Person is resting on Grate #X. LocationX: 32 ST across Chestnut St."); Serial.println(message);//print message on serial monitor char sendto[12] = "8058956287" ; // put the phone number that you want to send. fona.sendSMS(sendto,message); //send the message via SMS delay(1000); } |