COP-2271 Executive Summary

Executive Summary: Optimizing our Campus

Presented by:

Team 2 : Gator Hacks

Tuoxin Li

Karl Moody Jr

Kamila Hernandez

Camila Del Sol Pina

04/21/2021

Mendoza-Garcia pg. 1 Design Project Executive Summary

COP-2271 Executive Summary

Table of Contents
2-4....................................................................................................................Executive Summary

Mendoza-Garcia pg. 2 Design Project Executive Summary

COP-2271 Team # _____

Executive Summary

Introduction:

We are gator hacks, a group of Matlab project developers for solving energy problem in
UF. The goal of our project is to improve efficiency and traffic safety of the Retiz union. We
have provided the user with information on how much energy they will be saving the University,
and thus how much tuition money they could save if the Retiz union were to transition to solar
power. We will also be allowing the user to optimize their time on campus by providing them
with a program that tells them where to park within the Reitz. Depending on how long they will
be on campus and whether they have a decal. The goal of this program is to save students and
faculty time by not having to look for parking spots!

Project :
Team2 GatorHacks
A video with an in-depth explanation of how this program works can be found here:
https://youtu.be/kqtngSTaxN4https://youtu.be/G_zWlD00fXA

Larger Problem and Specific Problem:

The larger problem we are solving is that of climate change in our world and improving
the efficiency of the Reitz. We are helping the efforts to combat climate change and make the
university of Florida an eco-friendlier campus by suggesting the use and cost of solar panels in a
particular building. We are improving the efficiency of the Reitz by allowing students to find a
parking space at the Retiz union before even getting to campus, thus, reducing traffic on campus.

One of the specific problems we are solving is related to wasted time when looking for
parking spaces on campus. Our program takes a birds-eye view snapshot of the Reitz parking
garage. We have also implemented a color code within each parking space. Hypothetically, our
program uses image recognition to recognize the color code within each parking space and detect
the number of that parking space. When a car is in a particular parking space, the color code is
not seen in the snapshot and the program will let the user know that the particular parking space
is not available. As of now, there are no cameras installed in the Retiz garage and we also do not
have the parking spaces color coded, so our team has made a model of what we would like it to
look like. The program also lets the user know what the price of parking is depending on their
conditions.
Additionally, we wanted our program to integrate student interaction. Since this code is
aimed towards the University of Florida, we believe it is important that the students of the
university have some knowledge of the cost of electricity at the university. Moreover, we wanted
them to see how different devices consume electricity at different rates. For this reason, our code
has a component in the student section in which the user inputs the devices used and hours spent,
and the program outputs their estimated cost inside the building.

Mendoza-Garcia pg. 3 Design Project Executive Summary

COP-2271 Team # _____

Another specific problem we are solving is related to cost effectiveness of the energy
source on campus. We must decide if the solar panels would have net positive gain for the user.
We discuss the monetary benefits when compared to solar panels usage production, and
maintenance.
Furthermore, we wanted the user to have more intractability with the program. Thus,
there is an app within the program in which the user inputs the amount of electricity consumed in
the past year, and a graphical estimation of the cost of solar panels appears. Moreover, the graph
will display a line estimating the cost of solar panels for electricity consumed. The user has the
ability to interact and input different amount of solar panel systems with a slider.

Solution:
To improve the problem of safety hazards caused by traffic on campus we have created the
traffic solution. To improve the problem of sustainability on campus we have created the solar
panel suggestion solution.

Solar Panel Solution:

Within our code that compares the original cost of electricity compared to the cost after
the solar panel installation, we use plots to create a graph in which the user can visualize the
difference.

Traffic Solution:
Ideally, we would have cameras installed in the Reitz union and our program will link
directly to the live images displayed on the camera. Because right now we do not have live
images from the cameras we created models and prototypes of what the Reitz garage parking lot
would look like. The program works by having each parking spot color coded within the
pavement. When a car is parked the color code will be covered and the program will not detect
that as an available parking spot. Our code utilizes image recognition to detect whether a parking
spot is available. Our code reads the image uploaded and detects a specific color and related the
color to a parking spot number. This uses user inputs and conditionals, for color detection, to
output whether a parking spot is available. The color detection first creates a 3D matrix using the
image colors, and the conditionals detect the specific color ranges.
Our program also works with the Reitz data to provide users with information on how
much parking will cost.

Evidence:
Our design works with the user to create an interactive experience in which users can estimate
the cost of the solar panel installation, the amount of systems required, as well as the payoff.
Moreover, users have the unique opportunity to utilize our design to find parking at the Reitz
Union Center with more ease than before using image recognition code.
After submitting prototypes of our program to users we received helpful feedback. One of our
suggestions was to expand on the parking solution not just for the Reitz union but for the
entire campus. Another was to make the interface more user friendly. This is something we
will be taking into account and working to improve.

Mendoza-Garcia pg. 4 Design Project Executive Summary

COP-2271 Team # _____

Project’s Web Page for Design Project:

Green Gators
https://gatorhackssolar.weebly.com/

Mendoza-Garcia pg. 5 Design Project Executive Summary