Team: 47
School: Melrose High
Area of Science: psychology
Interim: Interim Report
Team: Chantilly Fulgham and Erika House. Melrose High and Middle School
Team Number: 47
Sponsor and Mentor: Alan Daugherty and Dewayne Fulgham
Problem:
We are continuing our project from last year in which we made a program to help people with special needs or people in a new environment, navigate a space they are unfamiliar with. We had this idea because of a new student we had last year; who has special needs and had a hard time getting around our campus. Last year we made the interface and the waypoints and the basic components of out project. We didn’t really know a lot about how to set it up, but this year we know more! Last year we had a small grid size, it was only a 64X64. This year it is 160X260 and we made a rectangle. We made this into a rectangle because we could overlay a map of our campus into our code.
Progress to date:
We have the working model of the app we created last year and are now trying to make the map bigger and more realistic. We have found a map of our school and we are using that in the code, as we overlaid it onto the interface of the program. We are also working on making the rooms more detailed on the interface. We have done more research on the RFID tags and scanners and found that it would be better to use something else. We have investigated Bluetooth technology and think it will work better than the RFID technology for when we release the app. We have also tried to make the app more user friendly. It is now easier to use for someone who is unfamiliar with how to use it.
Now we are trying to determine the positions of the rooms by using trig functions. We have discovered new functions in NetLogo to help make the model more realistic. We will load all of the different maps into an interface to make the transitions from one building to another. We will do that by using the Level Space Extension to load multiple models when going between buildings. We will use Excel Spread Sheets again this year because it makes it easier for people who don’t know how to code be able to change the data in order to customize it for individual usage.
Expected results:
We’re doing this model to prove the concept is able to be used on mobile devices. Once we get this running and able to be downloaded on mobile devices, then it will be a great success. We want this to help people in everyday life. It doesn’t just have to be for people with special needs. It can be for people who are in a new place or in a new job quickly move through an unfamiliar environment. It can be adapted for any school, job, or building. We hope that it is a success and that people can use it freely and it is available to everyone.
Computer Model Plan:
We are making our computer model to look as if the person was seeing their location in a classroom or any environment they might be in through a bird’s eye view. It will show how to get from room to room in an efficient way. Currently we are making upgrades to the code so now there is more detail. We are revising the code so there is a new way to make the waypoints by clicking the mouse on the screen and it records that location in a file which is used to navigate. We are adding a geofencing function to the application to keep the person from wandering away from the route into unknown locations.
Citations:
https://www.infsoft.com/solutions/indoor-navigation
https://www.infsoft.com/solutions/indoor-digitization
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/261237209_Using_RFID_in_localization_for_indoor_navigation_of_mobile_robots
https://www.microsoft.com/en-us/research/blog/path-guide-new-approach-indoor-navigation/ s://www.proximity.directory/blog/indoor-tracking-using-beacons-or-passive-rfid-what#!
Interview: Michelle Fulgham, Mother of a special needs child and special needs advocate.
Team Members:
Sponsoring Teacher: Alan Daugherty