SlugSpot

Hate leaving early and still not being on time all because you can't find anywhere to park? Meet SlugSpot, the app revolutionizing campus parking. Say goodbye to parking woes and hello to punctuality.

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Inspiration.

Many of us have experienced the frustration of driving for hours, only to find that there's no available parking. This issue is particularly acute on campus during busy periods, such as class times, making parking a challenge. For those living off-campus and relying solely on driving to fulfill their commitments, this often leads to tardiness due to the scarcity of accessible parking spots. Moreover, there is an absence of mobile solutions in most cities to update drivers on parking garage availability. This is leading to traffic congestion, contributing to unnecessary fuel consumption and heightened driver irritation. The endeavor to ease this process inspired us to create SlugSpot.

What it does.

SlugSpot tracks real-time availability in parking garages near your destination, delivering instant updates directly to your phone. The app also analyzes parking patterns to recommend the best times for hassle-free parking allowing you to arrive at your destination on time.

How we built it.

SlugSpot calculates the number of parking spots available through images captured on a video camera. To develop SlugSpot, we used React-Native to build our user interface and FireBase to create our database and backend. We built our car detection software using open-cv. In order to observe the output of our application, we used Expo Go. Figma served as our go-to way to create our designs and GitHub was our main resource to store and share files.

Challenges we ran into.

Creating an API that would communicate between Firebase and our programs is the most challenging part of our project. Our project utilizes several different languages that each require different methods of query to access the data. Creating a React Native app was a first for all of us and posed its own challenges.

Accomplishments that we're proud of.

We are very proud of how we managed to ensure scalability if we wanted to continue this project after the hackathon, and we feel our efforts rewarded us with a very developed and professional full-stack project that could benefit our community.

What we learned.

Through the course of this project, our team learned a whole new language in the form of React-Native. React-Native is a framework that allows you to build mobile applications natively across multiple platforms. Learning React-Native was a challenge. Furthermore, collaborating through git and Liveshare on VScode presented its own challenges. We spent a lot of time learning workflow prioritizing to ensure that when each member finished, we could integrate our programs together quickly and without pain. Through a lot of research and collective debugging, we were able to tie a lot of different programs together and create a project we are proud of.

What's next for Slug Spot.

Sleep, and then we’ve already discussed creating our own hardware for real-world testing around campus. This would be a camera microcomputer machine that we could mount in several parking lots. This would involve purchasing equipment, designing parts, and a lot more experimentation than what we have done so far.

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Problem Statement: Many face the frustration of searching for parking spaces, leading to wasted time, fuel consumption, and driver irritation. Campus parking during peak hours exacerbates the issue, causing tardiness and inconvenience. Existing solutions lack real-time updates and comprehensive coverage.

Solution: Introducing SlugSpot - an innovative app providing real-time parking availability updates. Utilizing computer vision and existing security cameras, SlugSpot ensures hassle-free parking, reducing traffic congestion and promoting a smoother driving experience.

How It Works: SlugSpot uses computer vision on security cameras to calculate available parking spots at each UCSC parking lot. Live updates on the number of cars are sent directlyon to the user's phone, optimizing their parking experience. The app analyzes parking patterns, suggesting optimal times for stress-free parking.

Technology Stack: React-Native for the user interface. Firebase for database and backend. OpenCV for car detection. Figma for design. GitHub for collaborative development. Expo Go for real-time application testing.

Comprehensive Coverage: Tracks ENTIRE parking lots, not just designated spaces. Suitable for campus environments and city structures, and anywhere where a camera can be integrated

Easy Integration: Minimal infrastructure requirements - just a few cameras needed. compatible with various camera systems, such as already-installed security cameras

Scalability: Designed for scalability, ensuring effectiveness beyond the initial implementation.

User-Friendly Interface: Simple and intuitive design for seamless user experience.

Market and Competitors: Initial focus on TAPS (UCSC transportation service). Potential expansion to other campuses and city structures. Competitors include ParkMobile and SpotAngels, but SlugSpot stands out with its ease of integration and comprehensive coverage.

How do we stick out? Being eco-friendly and sustainable through the usage of old security cameras that are already integrated Rather than reintegrating whole new devices and systems for one specific lot, we can use pictures of security footage to track the current amount of cars at a time 4th place in the sustainability challenge at CruzHacks

Revenue Model: Monthly/yearly fees for device implementation. Discounted subscription 1-year fee for UCSC students, monthly charge for tnon-student Additional charges for premium services, such as detailed parking statistics and reports.

Business Model: Initial 6-month beta period with free access. Gradual introduction of premium features in 3-month releases. Examples of future feature releases: Busiest/emptiest parking lots graph. Reporting system for parking lot issues. Integration with Parkopedia for city parking and UCSC schedule for campus free parking times. parking tracker for specific permit types. Tracking electric vehicle lots, disabled parking spots, etc.

Execution Plan: Initiate discussions with TAPS for collaboration + legality approval / no trespassing Collaborate with campus authorities for approval. Implement a robust backup system for camera and server failures. Release beta after 1-month testing period

Future Endeavors: Hardware development for real-world testing. Expansion to other campuses and city structures. Continuous improvement based on user feedback and evolving technology.

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