Student startup Elbowroom and Atlanta's MARTA trial passenger counting technology
Student startup PopTracker is working with MARTA (Atlanta Metropolitan Rapid Transit Authority) to trial their real-time passenger counting technology. After proposing ideas to help maintain social distancing during the pandemic, the team believes that their approach has potential even when pandemic restrictions are relaxed. (Photo courtesy: Josh Hallett via Flickr)
At the beginning of the Covid-19 pandemic, five Georgia Institute of Technology students decided to apply the data science knowledge they learned in class to help those affected by the pandemic.
Biomedical engineering undergraduates Davis White, Thomas Beckler, and Jaime Vera collaborated with Ricardo Meizoso (ME), Leonardo Ricci (CS), and Nicolas Mirchandani (ID) to adopt a data science-focused approach to achieve social distancing and epidemiological regulations, And created an automatic passenger counter for transportation vehicles.
The team’s device can track the number of people entering and leaving public transportation. It was inspired by the pre-Covid-19 technology used on university campuses to track the movement patterns of major buildings such as libraries and restaurants. Their plans for an automatic passenger counter device led them to participate in the MIT Covid-19 Challenge Hackathon, won their department, and created their startup PopTracker. The desire to help the community and use classroom skills to achieve change has been the norm in the team’s journey from a hackathon competitor to a student-led startup.
"I know that some of the skills that Georgia Institute of Technology taught me can help change the community if applied in the right way, so Thomas Beckler and I organized a team of people who wanted to do something," said White, who has already He completed his degree in biomedical engineering and is now the company's CEO and project leader, now known as Elbowroom.
Members of the PopTracker team installed a passenger count sensor on MARTA trains as part of their pilot program in cooperation with the Atlanta Transportation Authority. (Photo courtesy: PopTracker)
The team hopes to create a device that can be used as a low-cost automatic passenger counter that can be placed in public transportation or train cars to count the number of people in a given space and report the data to public transportation applications in real time, such as Google Maps Or WAZE. To achieve this, Elbowroom devices use WiFi sensors and Bluetooth sniffing, which is a common method for counting devices in a certain area; however, the number of devices in a train car is usually not equal to the exact number of passengers, and this This is where the team’s novel machine learning algorithms come into play.
"We are using data science methods to solve the inaccuracies caused by WiFi and Bluetooth sniffing," White said. "We use machine learning algorithms not only to obtain data collected from sensors, but also data from other different data streams to more accurately estimate the number of people in a train carriage."
After the Elbowroom team created ideas for their device and prototype of the Bluetooth sensor, they applied for Georgia Institute of Technology’s Startup Launch, a 12-week project where students can "intern" to start their startup. Provide seed funding, legal services, maker space, guidance and intellectual property protection for the team.
Raghupathy "Siva" Sivakumar, Director of CREATE-X, said: "Launch provides students with an excellent opportunity to create real startups. In the past six years, we have helped start more than 230 companies. This is easily the most numerous. Student startups are initiated by any university campus in the country during this period."
Rahul Saxena, deputy director of CREATE-X, said: “Elbowroom is a great example of how student founders can use the latest technology in a cost-effective way while using novel and flexible methods to solve practical problems.” The team identified a social need that they are very motivated to address without being hindered by legacy or bureaucracy."
Through Startup Launch, Elbowroom gained valuable resources, such as lawyers and community connections, and they learned how to network, conduct presentations, and continue to develop their equipment. White also emphasized his new interest in the Internet, and emphasized its importance to PopTracker's development and popularity.
"The most important thing I learned from the Startup Launch program is how to become a more pragmatic and entrepreneurial leader," White said. "As part of the future entrepreneurial space, I feel more comfortable."
According to White, the most difficult part of the team's process of becoming a startup is the technical development of the physical equipment and the equipment-related pitfalls the team experienced. In addition, the company found that they had to interact with other companies to add certain data streams to their counting algorithm. This process is new to White and the team, and the company must adapt to this complex process. Startup Launch provides the team with the tools and connections needed to adapt and grow the company.
To test their equipment and its ability to receive different data streams, Elbowroom and MARTA (Atlanta Metro Rapid Transit Authority) established a development pilot program. They were introduced by one of the team's mentors, VentureLab project manager Melissa Heffner, and put forward their idea-put the equipment on some of their trains to test the algorithm and use the data it collects to further develop the equipment.
"Through the network and the connection between our mentor and MARTA, I finally found someone at MARTA. He listened to our crazy ideas and saw the value in them, and realized that as engineers, we have the technical expertise to build valuable things. ," White said.
The pilot program requires the installation of four Elbowroom devices on MARTA train cars. After the team completes the development of the program they are currently working on, they hope to use the verification statistics obtained from their data to support Elbowroom and begin to expand and collaborate with other transportation agencies.
In addition, with data from the equipment on the MARTA train, the new company plans to market to transportation applications that can use and broadcast the data collected by the Elbowroom equipment.
"The problem is not the lack of transportation apps," White said. "The problem is that there is no data producer, because this technology is too expensive for general public transportation. We will develop an enterprise software through which organizations can access bus data in a way that helps them broadcast. ."
Co-creator of PopTracker, an automatic passenger counting technology for transportation systems: clockwise from the upper left corner, Ricardo Meizoso (ME), Thomas Beckler (BME), Nicolas Mirchandani (ID), Jaime Vera (BME) ), Davis White (BME), and Leonardo Rich (CS).
White said that in the short term, the company plans to collect and use data from MARTA equipment to ensure that its algorithms are fully operational, and ultimately obtain funds from venture capitalists. However, looking to the future, he believes that Elbowroom can survive in the multi-billion-dollar global automated passenger counter industry and help people when the pandemic begins and ends.
The team is still active in student entrepreneurship competitions, such as the Student Internet of Things Innovation Challenge held at Tech’s Internet of Things Technology Development and Application Center, where they won the second place.
Through the process of co-founding and becoming Elbowroom's public image, White is interested in the possibility of combining his passion for biomedical and biotechnology research with the entrepreneurial space in his future career.
"Elbowroom made me realize that I really like starting organizations, coordinating teams, and creating new products," White said. "I have always been interested in research, but what I want to do is applied research and translational engineering. I am happy to have the opportunity to organize teams and even biotech startups in the future."
Joshua Stewart Communications Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
Joshua Stewart Communications Wallace H. Coulter Department of Biomedical Engineering
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