DECLARATION

I declare that the project design hereby submitted by us to the Computer

Engineering, College of Engineering at Eastern Samar State University is our own

independent work and has not been previously submitted by us to another university or

faculty.

I further cede copyright of this project design in favor of the Eastern Samar State

University.

I sign this with free act and deed this May 2019.

AMADOR B. BALBUENA JR.

ALDRED CALAPANO

NICKO GONZALES

CAMILLE JOY RODRIGUEZ

ALEXIS TONOG
 PASSENGER COUNTER

A Project Design presented to the Faculty of

Computer Engineering Department
Eastern Samar State University
Borongan City

In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree

Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering

AMADOR B. BALBUENA JR.

ALDRED CALAPANO
NICKO GONZALES
CAMILLE JOY RODRIGUEZ
ALEXIS TONOG

MAY 2019

ii
 APPROVAL SHEET

The project Design hereto attached titled “PASSENGER COUNTER”

prepared and submitted by AMADOR B. BALBUENA JR., ALDRED CALAPANO,

NICKO GONZALES, CAMILLE JOY RODRIGUEZ, and ALEXIS TONOG.

CHARITO D. SABATE, ME-CpE JACOB A. GODINO, R.E.E.

Adviser, Advisory Committee Member, Advisory Committee

_________________ _________________
Date Signed Date Signed

NOEL P PACAYRA, E.C.E. MARVELO A. PADRO, R.E.E.

Member, Advisory Committee Member, Advisory Committee

_________________ _________________
Date Signed Date Signed

ARNALDO N. VILLALON, R.E.E. JEFFREY A. CO, ME-CpE

Member, Advisory Committee Chairman, Advisory Committee

_________________ _________________
Date Signed Date Signed

Accepted and approved as partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree

of Bachelor of Science in Computer Engineering.

LEOVIGILDO E. CARDINAS, Ph.D.

Dean, College of Engineering
Eastern Samar State University

_________________
Date Signed

iii
 ACKNOWLEDGEMENT

The researchers would like to express their most profound gratitude to the

following people who, in any way, guided and helped them in realizing this project.

To Dr. Leovigildo E. Cardinas, Dean of College of Engineering, for the

unwavering support he imparted to the students and staffs of the Computer Engineering

Department, especially, for allowing them to conduct the first-ever outdoor Project

Design Final Defense.

To Engr. Charito Sabate, Project Design adviser, who rendered her full

assistance and patience and encouraged the researchers all throughout the study.

To Engr. Noel Pacayra, Thesis Committee, for the ideas, knowledge, and

encouragement they have shared to the researchers.

To the beloved parents and family of the researchers, for all the love, care,

understanding, moral and financial support that they gave to them and all the courage

and inspiration that they have rendered.

Above all, to Almighty God for the wonderful life given to them, for the

knowledge, healthy body, strength, courage, determination, and self-confidence which

all serves as their weapon to success.

iv
 DEDICATION

With earnest thanks and deepest gratitude, we, the researchers, heartily dedicate

this study to our family, who were always there to give their undying love,

understanding and encouragement during the period of this study. Moreover for the

never-ending support they have given us, morally and financially.

To the faculty of Computer Engineering Department, for always sharing their

ideas and knowledge and helping us in carrying out this research.

Most of all, to the Almighty God, for all the blessings He had showered upon

us by guiding and enlightening our minds while conducting this study.

v
 TABLE OF CONTENTS
Preliminaries .………………………………………………………..…………. PAGE
DECLARATION ......................................................................................................................... i
PASSENGER COUNTER ........................................................................................................... ii
A Project Design presented to the Faculty of ........................................................................ ii
APPROVAL SHEET .................................................................................................................. iii
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT ........................................................................................................... iv
DEDICATION ........................................................................................................................... v
TABLE OF CONTENTS............................................................................................................. vi
LIST OF FIGURES .................................................................................................................. viii
LIST OF APPENDICES ............................................................................................................. ix
ABSTRACT............................................................................................................................... x
Chapter I..................................................................................................................................... 1
INTRODUCTION ...................................................................................................................... 1
Background and Rationale of the Study ............................................................................ 1
Statement of the Purpose .................................................................................................. 3
Significance of the Study .................................................................................................... 3
Scope and Limitation of the Study ..................................................................................... 3
Scope .................................................................................................................................. 3
Limitation ........................................................................................................................... 4
Definition of Terms ............................................................................................................ 4
Chapter II.................................................................................................................................... 7
REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES................................................................... 7
Review of Related Literature ............................................................................................. 7
Review of Related Studies................................................................................................ 10
Conceptual Framework .................................................................................................... 13
Chapter III................................................................................................................................. 14
METHODOLOGY ................................................................................................................... 14
System Development ....................................................................................................... 14
Casing Construction ......................................................................................................... 16
Chapter IV ................................................................................................................................ 18
RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS ................................................................................................. 18
System Design .................................................................................................................. 18
System Development ....................................................................................................... 20

vi
Chapter V ................................................................................................................................. 21
SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS ..................................................... 21
Summary .......................................................................................................................... 21
Conclusions ...................................................................................................................... 21
Recommendations ........................................................................................................... 22
BIBLIOGRAPHY ..................................................................................................................... 23
APPENDICES ......................................................................................................................... 24

vii
 LIST OF FIGURES

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of the System ......................................................... 13

Figure 2: Arduino Uno ................................................................................................. 14
Figure 3: Ublox NEO-6M GPS.................................................................................... 15
Figure 4: SIM800L GSM ............................................................................................. 15
Figure 5: Force Sensing Resistor ................................................................................. 16
Figure 6: Showing the casing’s interior ....................................................................... 17
Figure 7: A square box casing ..................................................................................... 17
Figure 8: A molded tin sheet ........................................................................................ 17
Figure 9: A foam inserted for absorbing shocks .......................................................... 17
Figure 10: Showing perspective view of the Passenger Counter System .................... 18
Figure 11: Right view .................................................................................................. 19
Figure 12: Bottom view ............................................................................................... 19
Figure 13: Left view..................................................................................................... 19
Figure 14: Block Diagram of the project ..................................................................... 20
Figure 15: Schematic diagram ..................................................................................... 32

viii
 LIST OF APPENDICES

Table 1: Gantt chart ..................................................................................................... 26

Table 2: Billing of materials for the whole system ...................................................... 28
Table 3: Hardware Aspects .......................................................................................... 30

ix
 ABSTRACT

AMADOR B. BALBUENA JR., ALDRED CALAPANO, NICKO

GONZALES, CAMILLE JOY RODRIGUEZ, ALEXIS TONOG, EASTERN SAMAR

STATE UNIVERSITY, BORONGAN CITY, May 2019, PASSENGER COUNTER.

MAJOR ADVISER: Engr. Jeffrey Co

Transportation is vital in our everyday life; there are many means of

transportation in country, the most popular is the UV EXPRESS services. UV

EXPRESS is a licensed to operate utility vehicles, particularly vans, as an alternative

mode of public transportation in the Philippines. The term also refers to the vehicles

themselves. This is one of the two types of share taxi services in the country with bus-

like jeepney. When it comes to transportation there is a lot of ways to use or to take.

Here in Eastern Samar, there are 3 major means of transportation; tricycle, jeepneys,

and UV EXPRESS. Jeepneys including some small busses and UV EXPRESS are the

means of transportation when a passenger wants to go from another town or another.

Sometimes tricycles will do but taking it is not that practical because of the cost and

time of travel. Operators are the one who manage the transportation system.

Transportation is their business. It is important for them to monitor the progress of their

business specifically the units their owned. To monitor their units they hired inspectors

to monitor it located in specific location. When the unit arrives in the location the

inspector inspect the total number of passengers, vacant seats and the total amount of

cash that the driver has. The inspector will now report to the operator about the progress

of the unit and total profit it has. The total number of passengers determines the profit,
x
so it is important to monitor the flow of passenger directly by the operator to prevent

loss of profit due to human-error of the inspector and/or dishonesty. The fare is

determined by the location where a passenger is going. The fare is known both by the

driver and the operator.

xi
 Chapter I

INTRODUCTION

Background and Rationale of the Study

The proposed project is a system device to be installed into a passenger van

routing from the Municipality of Oras via the City of Borongan and vice versa. Arduino

Uno as the major component of the system device will monitor and keep track on every

single trip of the said vehicle by the time its engine starts. A GPS module device is also

installed along with the processor to provide geolocation and time information. The

monitoring device creates a system log (syslog) containing the number of passengers

and its current location. The system includes a GSM module that forwards the real-time

syslog of the system over the operator's phone via SMS. The numbers of passengers are

determined by a force sensor resistor platform that is widely used as of today.

A traditional method of transportation is being used as of today, wherein the

driver or sometimes accompanied by a conductor manually count the number of

passengers and collect their fares. Fares are collected accordingly that sum up from

their origin up to their destination. These current state of discipline has the non-

differential misclassification of exposure or outcome. It leads to a more probable error

or it has more dangerous limitation and inconsistency. The operator basically is not

aware of any insubordination on the matter and therefore can be denied of his right to

know the whereabouts. This impact could result in an imbalance that will reflect on the

future of the whole business operation, therefore, must be taken action accordingly. It

is the basic instinct of the operator to monitor business activities personally. In other
places like the Middle East and China in which passenger counter is currently applied

facial detection or recognition. The American Public Transpiration Association uses

Automatic Passenger Counters such as IRMA's Infra-Red Motion Analyzer for public

transportation systems that need reliable data on passenger activity relative to stops,

routes, dwell times, schedules, vehicle load, passenger miles, and other criteria for them

to conduct service monitoring, productivity assessment, service planning, service

optimization, and applications for funds to improve or maintain the operation of public

transportation. Increasingly, they are using Automatic Passenger Counters such as

IRMA's Infra-Red Motion Analyzer. There is no major limitation on the use of

passenger counter and therefore it is highly recommended. Although the current design

of passenger counter is already satisfying and has incredible result any upgrades and

enhancements are always a good thing. Referring to the current limitation on the matter

we included a GPS and a GPRS for enhancements. This enhancement is to the benefit

of the operator to acquire updates on the number of passengers and the current location

of the passenger vehicle.

As subject to our proposal, the design is to ensure that every shortcoming of the

current discipline is overcome. The system aims to precisely as possible monitor and

maintain the stability of the whole business operation. The concept of our system may

also be applied to all passenger vehicles available to help them in monitoring their

business. The innovation can be used that help monitor the accounting of revenues that

will be transparent to both the operator and the personnel.

2
Statement of the Purpose

The justification for conducting this research study is to develop and automate

some traditional methods in passenger van vehicle. Thus, the aims and objectives of the

research are as follows:

 To automate the counting of passengers in real time.

 To determine the exact location and arrival of the passenger van.

 To get an update on the passenger van in real time.

Significance of the Study

A conclusion reached as a result of an investigation/trial of this study is that

automation on passenger vehicles improves most the stability of the transportation

business regarding its accounting of revenues. Transactions inside the passenger

vehicle are now more visible on the operator's side. The system design will contribute

to the benefit to both the driver and operator individuals considering that transparency

on the business is as of great importance.

Scope and Limitation of the Study

Scope

This study is focused in designing and constructing a new and automated

counting of passengers in a passenger van. The project is Arduino based and a real time

update monitoring. The GPS module provides the exact current coordinate of the

passenger vehicle that is then accepted by the microprocessor and pass through a GSM

module sending the number of passenger and its current location. The system allows

the operator to take an update of the vehicle by sending a “status” code message to the

3
GSM module. The system also sends an update to the operator via SMS every 5 minutes

interval.

Limitation
The system output is definitely dependent on satellite signals and therefore

cannot complete the whole procedure when satellite signals are out of reach or even

completely out. An error on counting may occur due to sensitiveness of the sensors and

therefore must be taken a further consideration of the adding more logical conditions

of inputs.

Definition of Terms

Arduino Uno

Arduino is an open-source hardware and software company, project and user

community that designs and manufactures single-board microcontrollers and

microcontroller kits for building digital devices and interactive objects that can sense

and control both physically and digitally. Its products are licensed under the GNU

Lesser General Public License (LGPL) or the GNU General Public License (GPL),

permitting the manufacture of Arduino boards and software distribution by anyone.

Arduino boards are available commercially in preassembled form or as do-it-yourself

(DIY) kits.

ATMEGA 328
The ATmega328 is a single-chip microcontroller created by Atmel in the mega

AVR family (later Microchip Technology acquired Atmel in 2016). It has a modified

Harvard architecture 8-bit RISC processor core. The Atmel 8-bit AVR RISC-based

microcontroller combines 32 kB ISP flash memory with read-while-write capabilities,

4
1 kB EEPROM, 2 kB SRAM, 23 general purpose I/O lines, 32 general purpose working

registers, three flexible timer/counters with compare modes, internal and external

interrupts, serial programmable USART, a byte-oriented 2-wire serial interface, SPI

serial port, 6-channel 10-bit A/D converter (8-channels in TQFP and QFN/MLF

packages), programmable watchdog timer with internal oscillator, and five software

selectable power saving modes. The device operates between 1.8-5.5 volts. The device

achieves throughput approaching 1 MIPS per MHz.

Microcontroller

A microcontroller (MCU for microcontroller unit, or UC for μ-controller) is a small

computer on a single integrated circuit. In modern terminology, it is similar to, but less

sophisticated than, a system on a chip (SoC); a SoC may include a microcontroller as one

of its components. A microcontroller contains one or more CPUs (processor cores) along

with memory and programmable input/output peripherals. Program memory in the form of

ferroelectric RAM, NOR flash or OTP ROM is also often included on chip, as well as a

small amount of RAM. Microcontrollers are designed for embedded applications, in

contrast to the microprocessors used in personal computers or other general purpose

applications consisting of various discrete chips.

GPS
The Global Positioning System (GPS), originally Navistar GPS, is a satellite-

based radio navigation system owned by the United States government and operated by

the United States Air Force. It is a global navigation satellite system that provides

geolocation and time information to a GPS receiver anywhere on or near the Earth

5
where there is an unobstructed line of sight to four or more GPS satellites. Obstacles

such as mountains and buildings block the relatively weak GPS signals.

System Log (syslog)

Syslog is a standard for message logging. It allows separation of the software

that generates messages, the system that stores them, and the software that reports and

analyzes them. Each message is labeled with a facility code, indicating the software

type generating the message, and assigned a severity level.

SMS
SMS (short message service) is a text messaging service component of most

telephone, internet, and mobile-device systems. It uses standardized communication

protocols to enable mobile devices to exchange short text messages. An intermediary

service can facilitate a text-to-voice conversion to be sent to landlines. SMS was the

most widely used data application, with an estimated 3.5 billion active users, or about

80% of all mobile subscribers, at the end of 2010.

GPRS
General Packet Radio Service (GPRS) is a packet oriented mobile data standard

on the 2G and 3G cellular communication network's global system for mobile

communications (GSM). GPRS was established by European Telecommunications

Standards Institute (ETSI) in response to the earlier CDPD and i-mode packet-switched

cellular technologies. It is now maintained by the 3rd Generation Partnership Project

(3GPP).

6
 Chapter II

REVIEW OF RELATED LITERATURE AND STUDIES

The reviews related to the research topic has been already reviewed by several

researcher for last years in order to find out work carried out by various researchers.

There are many systems for remote monitoring and control designed as commercial

products or experimental research platforms. The tables shown depicts the status of the

work of select researchers who specifically developed or experimented with remote

monitoring systems using various techniques. It is noticed that most of the research

carried out belongs to the following categories a. GSM-SMS protocols using GSM

module individually or in combination with internet Technologies. b. Internet based

Monitoring using GPRS modems, Servers, etc. with different approaches. c.

Monitoring using Artificial Intelligence d. Wireless Monitoring using Infrared Sensor

(IR) e. Applications have varied widely like Home Automation, Security Systems, Bio-

medical applications, Agriculture, Environment, Reservoir, Bridge health monitoring,

etc.

Review of Related Literature

Automatic passenger counting systems for public transport

Nowadays, passenger counting operations are often developed on surveys,

throughout the territory and using manual procedures: even though these may be

capable of providing highly accurate values, which can be taken as a reference point in

analyzing the precision of the automatic systems, the manual procedures are not usually
homogeneous in surveys, since they inevitably depend on the operator who performs

them and may also be influenced by the time of the day – early morning versus the last

hours of the day and by a repetitive task.

On the other hand, the APC (Automatic Passenger Counting) systems, can be

much more appropriate and of greater interest, as related to this short analysis. It is

important to underline that even though most of them are still at a development stage

the passenger counting technologies available on the market are various and the issues

of different kinds; the combinations of technologies are such that no solution can be

considered to date better than others or economically preferable a priori; every solution

should be analyzed in detail for applying it thereafter to the actual conditions of the

public transport system or company.

GPS Based Vehicle Tracking System and Using Analytics to Improve The Performance.

Track anything system is a mobile application which tracks the location of the

devices containing GPS service and shows the updated location on google map, and

applying analytics on tracking based data probably increases the profitability of fleet

control system. The proposed system is made using technology which connects a smart

phone with the cloud data base platform, which makes the system inexpensive

compared to others. The system is developed such that it can be modifiable for the users

according to their needs. Some of the business analytics concepts and prediction

methods are used for analyzing the outcome and making it more efficient.

The mobile Application performs most of the functions by consuming web

services from the web server. The mobile App will use rest web services exposed by

8
the server. The GPS devices will post data to the App server and this location data can

be shown on both android and web application.

When the user starts the application, with the help of GPS sends the signal to

the satellite and GPRS provides location storing into the database, using the middle

ware service providers the location data into the cloud database keeps on updating in

some defined interval. On request from the user, the targets are displayed on the map

with their present location information and moving status. An SMS gateway is used for

SMS messaging alerts for the Application users.

GSM based Android Application: Appliances Automation and Security Control System

using Arduino

Now-a-days, automation is playing significant role using android phone in

human life, particularly, handicapped and senior citizens. Appliances automation

allows users to control different appliances such as light, fan, fridge and AC. It also

provides security system like door controlling, temperature & fire detection and water

shower. Furthermore, security cameras are used to control and monitored by the users

to observe activity around a house. It has been observed that the internet services in

interior Sindh are not as much better as required. Hence, GSM SIM900A based android

application is developed named Appliances Automation & Security Control System

using Arduino. The developed system is decomposed into two separate entities: (1)

hardware is designed and developed using Arduino (MEGA 2560) with other required

electronics components which is programmed using embedded C language, (2) an

Android app which provides freedom to user to control and access the electronic

appliances and the security system without internet.

9
Review of Related Studies

A Framework for How to Make Use of an Automatic Passenger Counting System

APC systems are used to count passengers in public transport. There exist

different APC technologies and they can be divided into two categories: static and on-

board systems. The static systems are installed in stations and the on-board systems are

embedded in vehicles. In technical terms the on-board APC system is a module installed

inside a vehicle and a central computer in an office used for storage of the APC data.

The on-board module consists of sensors and a non-board computer that converts and

stores the information registered by the sensors into passenger counts. The most

common technique for counting in APC systems is infra-red (IR) sensing. Other

techniques used are: pressure-sensitive mats, horizontal beams and cameras. The IR

sensors are mounted above each door and are only active to register passengers

boarding and alighting when the doors are open. The stored counts are transferred from

the on-board computer to the central computer at a regular time for storage. Most

analysis of APC data requires a moderate data sample, which can be met with APC

systems installed on 10-15% of a transit agency’s total vehicle fleet (Furth, Hemily,

Muller and Strathman, 2006, p. 6; 18; 21).

GPS/GSM Based Bus Tracking System (BTS)

Vehicle tracking systems are available vastly in market, but a good and effective

product tends to be of more cost. This paper is to design and develop a tracking system

that is much cost effective than the systems available in the market. The tracking system

here helps to know the location of the college bus through mobile phone when a SMS

(Short Message Service) is sent to a specific number thus noticing the bus location via

10
SMS. By incorporating a GPS (Global Positioning System) and GSM (Global System

for Mobile communication) modem the location of the device by sending a SMS to the

number specified. No external server or internet connection is used in knowing the

location at user end which in return reduces the cost Keywords: Global positioning

system (GPS), Global System for Mobile communication (GSM), Short Message

Service (SMS).

Vehicle tracking has become so advanced and simple with various upcoming

technologies. But the cost effectiveness and its implementation have become high. The

problem lies in maintaining high grade servers to back up the data for vehicle tracking

and the use of internet to track these vehicles. Although real time tracking of vehicles

through internet gives an overall advantage in vehicle tracking, the system fails to

provide less cost of investment and maintenance. The system uses an internal database

to look up the location of the vehicle with the GPS coordinates received. So it doesn't

use the GPRS and TCP/IP protocol for internet for data transfer between servers and

the user device. Hence this reduces the cost of the tracking system. Also the location

details are sent quickly through SMS via the GSM modem.

The tracking device consists of the GPS, GSM modem and the microcontroller.

Location name and GPS coordinate values are stored as a LUT (Look Up Table) in the

microcontroller. As soon as the GSM modem receives SMS request for location, the

microcontroller checks for a closest location match inside the LUT with the received

GPS coordinate data. The matched location detail is sent to the user as an SMS using

GSM modem thus completing the request. Further service enhancements like

breakdown alert can be made into the proposed system in a cost effective manner.

11
Literature Review on Home Automation System

One of the topics which is gaining popularity is Home Automation System

because of its innumerous advantages. Home automation refers to the monitoring and

controlling of home appliances remotely. With the never ending growth of the Internet

and its applications, there is much potential and scope for remote access and control

and monitoring of such network enabled appliances. The effort targeted on the home

automation concept of where the controlling and monitoring operations are expediting

through smart devices. Wide-ranging home automation systems and technologies

considered in review with central controller based (Arduino or Raspberry pi), cloud-

based, Bluetooth-based, SMS based, ZigBee based, mobile-based, RF Module based,

web based and the Internet with performance.

Because of the mobile phone and GSM technology, the GSM based home

automation is lure to research. The SMS based home automation, GPRS based home

automation and dual tone multi frequency (DTMF) based home automation, these

options we considered mainly for communication in GSM. Home sensors and devices

interact with the home network and communicates through GSM and SIM (subscriber

identity module). The system uses transducer which convert machine function into

electrical signals which goes into microcontroller. The sensors of system convert the

physical qualities like sound, temperature and humidity into some other quantity like

voltage. The microcontroller analysis all signal and convert them into command to

understand by GSM module. Select appropriate communication method among SMS,

GPRS and DTFC based on the command which received GSM module.

12
Conceptual Framework

FSR 1 FSR 2 FSR 3

Arduino Uno GPS SATELLITE

GSM CELL CELLULAR PHONE

SITE

Figure 1: Conceptual Framework of the System

Figure 1 illustrates the conceptual framework of the design project. It shows the

flow of the system operation. The Passenger Counter utilizes wireless technology in

application to an advance practice of passenger counting. This refers to the automatic

detection of the number of passengers inside the passenger vehicle and the

determination of the geographical location of the said passenger vehicle in real time.

Thence, having interpreted by the microcontroller simultaneously the actual current

number of passengers through the use of Force Sensing Resistors within its current

geographical location. The now said data is sent to the cellular phone of the operator

through the use of GSM module showing the currently number of passengers specifying

the actual geographical location of the passenger vehicle at certain time.

13
 Chapter III

METHODOLOGY

The following describes the materials, processes and evaluation of the system.

It is composed of System Development and Casing Construction.

System Development

The main goal of the study was to create a passenger counter to be able to count

the number of passengers in a passenger van vehicle. The components of the system is

divided into two: Hardware and Software. To create a low cost passenger counter the

hardware components used are Arduino Uno, GSM, and GPS module. The software

program is C++ program.

Arduino Uno

The Arduino Uno will serve

as the central processing unit of the

system. Run by C++ program, it can

operate and is capable of running

the system. The Arduino Uno is a

microcontroller board based on the

ATmega328P (datasheet). It has 14

digital input/output pins (of which 6 Figure 2: Arduino Uno

can be used as PWM outputs), 6 analog inputs, a 16 MHz quartz crystal, a USB

connection, a power jack, an ICSP header and a reset button. It contains everything
needed to support the microcontroller; simply connect it to a computer with a USB

cable or power it with an AC-to-DC adapter or battery to get started. You can tinker

with your UNO without worrying too much about doing something wrong, worst case

scenario you can replace the chip for a few dollars and start over again.

GPS

A GPS receiver, or simply GPS

will be used to provide information on

its geographical position. This module

can retrieve from the GPS system

Figure 3: Ublox NEO-6M GPS
location and time information in all-

weather condition, anywhere on Earth. It only requires an unobstructed line of sight to

four or more GPS satellites. Thus, the current location of the passenger van vehicle can

be determine anywhere at any time.

GSM

The GSM (Global System for Mobile communications)

is used to send the information of the passenger van vehicle via

SMS to the operator. The GSM is global standard for mobile

communications with over 90% market share, operating in over

Figure 4: SIM800L GSM
193 countries and territories. 2G networks developed as a

replacement for first generation (1G) analog cellular networks, and the GSM standard

originally described a digital, circuit-switched network optimized for full duplex voice

telephony. This expanded over time to include data communications, first by circuit-

15
switched transport, then by packet data transport via GPRS (General Packet Radio Services)

and EDGE (Enhanced Data rates for GSM Evolution, or EGPRS).

Force-sensing resistor

A force-sensing resistor is also being

used on this project to detect the presence of a

passenger occupying on a certain chair. It’s

material whose resistance changes when a force,

pressure or mechanical stress is applied. They are

also known as "force-sensitive resistor" and are Figure 5: Force Sensing Resistor

sometimes referred as "FSR".

Force sensing resistor can be defined as a special type of resistor whose

resistance can be varied by varying the force or pressure applied to it. The FSR sensor

technology was invented & patented by Franklin Event off in 1977. The FSR sensors

are made of conductive polymer which has a property of changing its resistance based

on the force applied to its surface. Hence, these are termed as FSR sensors, force sensing

resistor is a combination of resistor and sensor technology.

Casing Construction

Figure 2, shows different views of the Passenger Counter casing. The casing of

the project is a 5 ½ inches width square box with 2 inches in height that provides enough

room for the whole system to be fitted. The antenna for GPS is fixed inside the case

while GSM antenna is just mounted on the GSM itself that is also fitted inside. The box

has holes openings that serve both for ventilation and for better reception of the GPS

16
and GSM. The square box casing is mounted on a molded tin plate designed and

attached in the ceiling of the passenger van located near the driver’s seat. A foam is

also inserted in between the square box casing and the molded tin plate to absorb shocks

and vibration due to unexpected bouncy and rocky roads in some cases during and every

trips. The circuit boards of Arduino Uno, GPS and GSM are fixed inside by plastic

screws. The wirings from the power supply and sensors connecting to the circuit boards

are inserted in a hole at the side of the casing. The following figures shows the different

views of casing construction

Figure 7: A square box casing Figure 6: Showing the casing’s interior

Figure 9: A foam inserted for absorbing shocks Figure 8: A molded tin sheet

17
 Chapter IV

RESULTS AND DISCUSSIONS

This chapter contains all the results and discussions obtained by the researchers

on developing and evaluating the system.

System Design
A casing is made as a whole packaging for the components of the system project

except for the Force Sensing Resistor itself. The Force Sensing Resistor is placed just

below the foam on the passenger seats.

The casing containing the circuit boards is directly connected to the 12 V power

supply from the passenger vehicle.

The following figures show the actual image of the project attached on a

passenger vehicle displaying different angles of the system.

Figure 10: Showing perspective view of the Passenger Counter System

 Figure 11: Right view

Figure 12: Bottom view

Figure 13: Left view

19
System Development

The figure below shows the block diagram of the passenger counter system. A

wooden box will serve as the casing for the project. Antennas for the GPS and GSM

modules are mounted outside the box for better signal reception.

GPS

ARDUINO FSR
UNO

GSM

12 V
Battery Supply
12 V
Figure 14: Block Diagram of the project

The Arduino Uno, GPS and GSM modules are the main components of the

proposed project that is then powered by 12 V battery supply of the vehicle.

20
 Chapter V

SUMMARY, CONCLUSIONS, AND RECOMMENDATIONS

This chapter discuss the summary and conclusions gained by the researchers all

throughout the study. Furthermore, recommendations were presented to further

enhance the functionality of the system.

Summary

The study was conducted to meet the following purposes: (1) To design and

develop a passenger counter system in which it can monitor the number of passengers

of the said passenger van vehicle. (2) To evaluate the performance of the project in

terms of its functionality, usability, maintainability, reliability, efficiency and

portability.

For this project, the researchers used the following components to construct the

passenger counter project: one (1) unit of GPS module, one (1) unit of GSM module,

and three (3) units of FSR.

The casing is made of wooden box in which the processor and its circuit are

situated while the antennas of the GPS and GSM modules are intentionally located

outdoor for a better signal.

Conclusions

With the foregoing results and findings, the study concludes that:

1. The accurate number of passengers cannot be fully justified.

 2. The output of the project can be determined and is dependent on the

strength of cell sites signals.

Recommendations

Although the objects in this chapter have been achieved, the device still has

some limitations and should undergo improvements. For the passenger counter, the

design is currently limited in services. It is recommended that the passengers to have

the same benefits as of the operator.

As for the side of the passengers, it would be useful if they could track the

current location of the passenger van vehicle and be able to determine its seat vacancies.

This proposal will upgrade our current research into a more serviceable system.

Of course an additional number of cell sites would be exceptionally beneficial

to our system to able to grant more reception in sending data enclosed.

22
 BIBLIOGRAPHY

Ivano Pinna, Bruno Dalla Chiara, Francesco Paolo Deflorio Transport Engineering,
Politecnico Di Torino and Francois Mbarga Bessala, Industry Professional,
“Automatic passenger counting systems for public transport.” Intelligent Transport.
15 December 2010. 26 February 2019.
<https://www.intelligenttransport.com/transport-articles/3116/automatic-passenger-
counting-systems-for-public-transport/>

Panchal, Nirali. “GPS Based Vehicle Tracking System and Using Analytics to Improve
The Performance.” ResearchGate. June 2016. 3 April 2019.
https://www.researchgate.net/publication/304129283_GPS_Based_Vehicle_Tracking
_System_and_Using_Analytics_to_Improve_The_Performance

Kainat Fareed, Javed Ahmed, Hidayatullah Shaikh, Hafiz Ahmed Ali, Farhan Ali.
“GSM based Android Application: Appliances Automation and Security Control
System using Arduino.” ResearchGate. February 2017. 3 April 2019.
<https://www.researchgate.net/publication/314166825_GSM_based_Android_Applic
ation_Appliances_Automation_and_Security_Control_System_using_Arduino>

John Fihn, Johan Finndahl. “A Framework for How to Make Use of an Automatic
Passenger Counting System.” April 2011. 26 February 2019. <http://uu.diva-
portal.org/smash/get/diva2:438096/FULLTEXT01.pdf>

Christeena Joseph, A.D.Ayyappan, A.R.Aswini, B.Dhivya Bharathy. “GPS/GSM

Based Bus Tracking System (BTS).” 12 December-2013. 26 February 2019.
<https://www.ijser.org/researchpaper/GPS-GSM-Based-Bus-Tracking-System-
BTS.pdf>

Neha Malik, Yogita Bodwade. “Literature Review on Home Automation System.” 3

March 2017. 3 April 2019. < https://ijarcce.com/upload/2017/march-
17/IJARCCE%20173.pdf>

23
APPENDICES

24
Appendix A
(Gantt chart)

25
Table 1: Gantt chart

2018 2019
ACTIVITIES
Aug Sept Oct Nov Dec Jan Feb Mar April May
Requirement Anaylysis
Planning

Conceptualizing the requirements

Estimation budget
System Design
Gathering Studies
Documentation Chapters I & II
Designing the output and buying
the needed components
System Interfacing
Interfacing the components
Documentation Chapter III
Pre-Oral (First sem)
Casing construction
System Testing and Evaluation
Testing and Evaluating the project
Documentation Chapters IV & V
Operation and Maintenance
Maintenance of the project
Final Oral (second sem)
Submission of Thesis Book

26
 Appendix B

(Bill of Materials)

27
Table 2: Billing of materials for the whole system

Items Materials Quantity Price Total

1 Arduino Uno 1 250.00 250.00

2 GSM 1 579.00 579.00

3 GPS 1 730.00 730.00

4 Force Sensing Resistor 3 815.00 2,445.00

5 SIM Card 1 40.00 40.00

6 Casing 1 78.00 78.00

7 GSM Cellular Quad-Band Antenna 1 312.00 312.00

8 Miscellaneous Fees - 500.00 500.00

Grand Total 4,934.00

28
 Appendix C

(Hardware Aspects)

29
Table 3: Hardware Aspects

Name of Hardware Figure Specification

1. Arduino Uno Microcontroller ATmega328
SMD Operating Voltage – 5 V
Input Voltage (recommended) 7-
12V
Input Voltage (limits) 6-20V
Digital I/O Pins – 14
Analog Input Pins 6
DC Current per I/O Pin – 40 mA
DC Current for 3.3V Pin – 50 mA
Flash Memory – 32 KB
(ATmega328)
SRAM – 2 KB (ATmega328)
EEPROM – 1 KB (ATmega328)
Clock Speed – 16 MHz
2. GSM Supply voltage: 3.8V - 4.2V
Recommended supply voltage: 4V
Power consumption: sleep mode <
2.0mA
idle mode < 7.0mA
GSM transmission (avg): 350 mA
GSM transmission (peek): 2000mA
Module size: 25 x 23 mm
Interface: UART (max. 2.8V) and AT
commands
SIM card socket: microSIM (bottom
side)
Supported frequencies: Quad Band
(850 / 950 / 1800 /1900 MHz)
Antenna connector: IPX
Status signaling: LED
Working temperature range: -40
do + 85 ° C
3. GPS Power Supply Range: 3 V to 5 V
Model: GY-GPS6MV2
Ceramic antenna
EEPROM for saving the
configuration data when powered
off
Backup battery
LED signal indicator
Antenna Size: 25 x 25 mm
Module Size: 25 x 35 mm
Mounting Hole Diameter: 3 mm
Default Baud Rate: 9600 bps

30
4. Force Sensing Power Supply: 5 V
Resistor Length: 88mm/3.47
Width: 43.7mm/1.72in
Thickness: 0.42mm/0.0165in
Weight: 1.12g/0.04oz

5. SIM card Smart/Globe Micro SIM card

31
 Appendix D

(Schematic Diagram)

32
Figure 15: Schematic diagram

32
 Appendix E

(Instruction for Operation)

33
Instruction

A. Using the Passenger Counter System

a. Make sure the SIM card has unlimited load for text messaging

recommended for at least one month registration.

b. The whole system will begin to operate by the time the ignition of

the passenger vehicle is switched on.

34