ResourceFull Authors: Matt Kaye (EE ‘12) Nitin Puri (SSE ‘12) Advisor: Dr. Alejandro Ribeiro Special Thanks To: Dr. Ken Laker Dr. Peter Scott Sid Deliwala Chip Bucholtz Abstract The University of Pennsylvania supplies various types of physical resources to improve students’ learning environment, but unfortunately, these resources are not being used efficiently. Some studying resources such as computer labs, study areas with desks, and private study rooms are under-utilized, while others suffer from overcrowding. Students do not have the knowledge or time to research these locations and as a result lose precious time searching for open studying space. ResourceFull proposes a solution. ResourceFull monitors several study spaces, distributes information on availability to users over a web application, and enhances the overall studying experience for members of the Penn community. The system incorporates several software and hardware components in order to monitor these resources. The data collected travels through our custom database server and is processed and displayed via web application for easy student consumption. By seeing resource information and status on the go, students can make smart decisions and save valuable time. System Overview ComputersPhysical Desk Spaces (PDS) Web Application Conclusion With the help of Computing and Educational Technology Services (CETS), ResourceFull tracks availability of several rooms in the Moore and Towne buildings within the Engineering school. The process for tracking availability can be summarized as thus: Students’ log-ons to CETS-controlled computers are anonymously tracked by a centralized Engineering server. CETS script pulls information from this server on a scheduled basis and writes a data file to the ResourceFull server (Fling). ResourceFull runs another scheduled script to continuously read and place this data into the ResourceFull PHP database. ResourceFull monitors in real time the use of physical desk spaces, or PDS. PDS consist of any table or desk that a student may use to study. Common PDS areas include Van Pelt and Engineering Libraries. PDS can be tracked through the use of two temperature sensors: MLX90614 Infrared Thermometer LM34 Thermometer The MLX90614 is used as a line of sight sensor and the LM 34 is used as an ambient room temperature sensor. This combination will prevent differences in environments from affecting accurate recognition of PDS availability. Other hardware includes: Microcontroller (Arduino Duemilanove) Wireless Transmission Module (XBee) Ethernet Port Connection Demo Day: Thursday, April 19 th, 2012 Detkin Laboratory 10 AM – 12 PM MLX90614 LM 34 From quality analysis on the ResourceFull system, it can be shown that the end product achieved: 95% accuracy or greater in monitoring 3 minute information delay or less Fast access to information on Web-App (< 10 s) Also achieved was the accurate understanding of certain resource usage. Data was collected and aggregated to show average computer usage trends that can be stratified by location, time of week, time of day, and type of computer. M62 (Fishbowl): Weekly Usage Trends M62 (Fishbowl): Daily Usage Trends ResourceFull has succeeded in laying the foundation for an accurate and scalable solution for monitoring resources. When used, application users and resource managers experience real benefits from the information provided by ResourceFull. Consistently updated resource status information along with static resource information such as resource software are combined via SQL queries to give users the most important information about the resource they seek. CETS ServerFling Server phpMyAdmin CETS Script Update.php Log On Overview DesignFeatures The Web Application component of ResourceFull is the portal through which the end user interfaces with the overall system. The application lists all of the relevant buildings, rooms, and resource availability in an organized fashion for a user to efficiently determine a suitable place to work on Penn’s campus. The application has a pre-configured mobile framework that uses JavaScript and HTML markup to layout the different sections of the application. This allows the application to maintain a consistent and familiar mobile app layout that is instantly user-friendly. Multi-platform for use on any internet enabled device Scalable design for adding more rooms and resources. List of software and machine type for each computer resource Dynamic map of availability for monitored rooms In order to provide users with resource information, ResourceFull architecture focuses on three main aspects: Data Collection from Resources Database Storage Web Application Front-End Users are able to view information on Desks, Computers, and Reservable Rooms through the ResourceFull system. With this information users will make smarter studying decisions and positively affect how resources are used around campus.