Parking services is currently testing two student-designed apps that will alert students and faculty to available parking on Auburn University’s campus.
The two apps chosen were: MySmartSpot app created by Parking Grid Technologies and FoPark created by Focus Engineering.
Parking Grid Technologies was created last year by Alex Wakefield and Jonathan Philip as part of Auburn University’s Tiger Cage competition. The competition was based off of the ABC show, “Shark Tank” where contestants compete to have their inventions patented.
“It was through this competition that Jonathan and I were able to fully vet our idea and get validation on its worth,” Wakefield, chief operating officer, said. “Winning the competition also gave us funding and momentum to get our business off the ground.”
Don Andrae, manager of parking services, will determine which app is chosen to implement next fall. Students and faculty are able to download the apps and provide feedback.
“We sent emails to all people with C-zone permits about testing the apps,” Andrae said.
Andrae said Focus Engineering approached him last year about the same time Parking Grid Technologies won the Tiger Cage competition.
Focus Engineering's app will send information to the app from a system of cameras mounted to the light poles. Parking Grid Technologies works on a ground sensor system that looks like hockey pucks.
“They [Parking Grid Technologies] want to use a hockey puck that has a battery in it [as the sensor],” Andrae said. “The cameras [for Focus Engineering] take less infrastructure, but I don’t know yet how dependable it is in the rain or cold.”
Focus Engineering was created by Sakthi Kandaswaamy in 2011. Originally the company’s primary focus was to be an engineering company for the automotive and aerospace industries.
“We were just talking about it one day, because when I was in school we would have to leave class early to find a parking space,” Kandaswaamy said. “We spent time and money to come up with a solution that is better than any other technology.”
Both apps will essentially provide the same service for smart phones: to allow users to find available parking spaces on campus. However, each one uses different technology.
“The system has two main purposes: help parking administration better understand it’s parking usage statistics,” Wakefield said. “And to help drivers find available parking spots.”
Instead of batteries, Wakefield's system requires wires to run through the sensors to power them.
“We now found a better way to install the wires,” Andrae said. “Instead of through the light poles you could cut a little V-shaped trench in the lot and put the wires in there.”
Andrae said both apps use routers that will send a signal to the app. The camera system designed by Focus Engineering will take updated pictures of each angle of the lot, which are then analyzed by algorithms to find empty parking spaces.
Parker Roan, research and developer for Focus Engineering, said the cameras are the same ones already used now for security in campus lots so they will have no problem withstanding all types of weather.
“We have been fiddling around with different techniques,” Roan said. “We started making prototypes to make sure the technology is constantly improved.”
Each app has been currently assigned a certain area of campus for testing. MySmartSpot app was assigned to the lots behind Biggio and Samford halls, and FoPark was assigned to the backside of the Poultry Science Building.
Andrae said he is proud of the work the students made and is excited to implement the technology soon.
“We help these students get started,” Andrae said. “And I feel like we are going to be a part of something very successful.”
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