piCounter, a social distance controller, will process the signals it receives from the ultrasonic sensors on it and count the people inside.

This project was designed and prototyped in 9 days for the contest organized by PCBWay.

https://www.pcbway.com/project/shareproject/piCounter_for_social_distancing_control.html

piCounter v1.0 for Indoor Social Distancing Control

Due to the Covid-19 pandemic, the importance of social distance, which should be at least 1.5-2 meters, has increased. While this increase caused many new rules, it also brought some obligations.

It is obvious that one of the most important of these obligations is the limit of the maximum number of people that can exist indoors.

In an interior; for example, a cafe, a bakery, a grocery store, or a public toilet, etc. It is necessary to monitor the number of people inside and the distance of this number to the limit.

piCounter is a device that will provide exactly this tracking and carry out the necessary pre-planned instructions.

The piCounter will process the signals it receives from the ultrasonic sensors on it, count the people entering and leaving, and will give a warning when the limit is approached by showing the current number inside. When the limit is reached or no one is inside, it will do its part by carrying out the necessary pre-planned instructions (such as sounding an alarm when the limit is reached, activating the security system when no one is inside, and turning off the lights, etc.).

piCounter can be easily transported and installed with the advantage of having an internal battery. The internal 18650 battery can be charged via the power panel, output can be obtained if desired. This battery is rechargeable, can be used as a power source. It can give linear 5V 1A output.

piCounter is a customizable device. You can change the limit according to the place where you will install, and the direction of the entrance according to the door you will install from the set mode.

When we set the distance to the door of the sensors with the potentiometer on the front panel can make a more accurate count.

Range Adjustment Video: https://youtu.be/IEdSpMCow6k

There are three push buttons used to adjust the person limit that can be indoor and also to adjust the entrance direction. When the left button is pressed once it will enable the set mode for the limit, each press on the middle button will decrease the limit and each press on the right button will increase the limit. The second press for the left button will enable the set mode for the direction of the entrance. The middle button will set the direction from the left to right and the right button will set the direction from the right to left. The third press on the left button will disable the setting mode.

Limit and Entrance Direction Adjustment Video: https://youtu.be/-sgoK5WXbf0

With the potentiometer on the other side of the box, the brightness of the screen can be adjusted, the piCounter can be reset, or it can be turned off and on completely.

Left Panel : https://youtu.be/Urr0BtKUpM0

It starts to flash when 2 people are left to the limit assigned by the led on it. When the limit is reached and the limit is exceeded, the LED lights continuously.

Video Showing the Limit Working Principle: https://youtu.be/GrBPvjgM4Z4