Infrastructure Systems: Mobility Sensing and Analytics for Smart Cities

Project: RSSI as a Long-term Localization Metric

REU Mentor: Jason Hallstrom, Ph.D.

REU Scholar: Nathan Hurtig

REU Scholar Home Institution: Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology

REU Mentor: Jason Hallstrom, Ph.D.

REU Scholar: Artemis Pados

REU Scholar Home Institution: Stanford Online High School

REU Mentor: Jason Hallstrom, Ph.D.

REU Scholar: Maren Sorber

REU Scholar Home Institution: Brigham Young University

This project focuses on gathering real-time information on how residents and visitors move throughout a city, and how those movements are impacted by city improvement and economic development initiatives. The project will result in the deployment of a transparent monitoring fabric that captures mobility patterns at the scale of an individual, with the capacity to aggregate across individuals to establish population-wide patterns, and to monitor changes in those patterns over time. The intellectual merit of this project derives from (1) passive triangulation of wireless devices, including smart phones and watches; (2) path reconstruction in the presence of sparse location data and device identifier randomization; and (3) integration of mobility data with GIS content to understand the myriad connections among mobility patterns and environmental factors (e.g., tree canopy, raised bike lanes). Project results will be deployed in the heart of West Palm Beach, along the iconic Clematis Street, in close collaboration with the city. The broader impacts impacts of this project derive from the insights that will be gained into the impact of specific city initiatives on human mobility patterns (e.g., path preference changes, increases in foot traffic versus vehicle traffic). The system will support the City of West Palm Beach in meeting the current and future needs of residents and business owners, maximizing livability, economic prosperity, and environmental sustainability. Under the leadership of Dr. Hallstrom and Dr. Zhai, the project will provide an engaging research experience for two REU participants each summer. The first participant will focus primarily on passive triangulation of wireless devices based on WiFi and Bluetooth probe requests, as well as path reconstruction. The second participant will focus on data analytics, exploring correlations among aggregate mobility patterns and GIS content layers spanning the coverage area. This project leverages a recently announced collaborative award from C-7 the City of West Palm Beach, the Knight Foundation, and the Community Foundations of Martin and Palm Beach Counties, which would run concurrent to the proposed REU site. No associated publications have yet been produced.